All posts by Rochelle Baker

Rochelle Baker is a staff reporter with Canada’s National Observer, thanks thanks to a grant from the Local Journalism Initiative of the Government of Canada. She previously worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer in BC’s Lower Mainland for over 7 years.
Rivers & Oceans

Fish fight over West Coast licences and quota resurfaces at federal committee

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A parliamentary committee investigating whether corporations and foreign owners have a stranglehold on Canadian fisheries is experiencing a serious case of deja vu. 

Witnesses speaking about the dire straits faced by commercial fish harvesters and coastal communities on the West Coast are raising the same issues first presented to the Standing Committee of Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO) starting in 2018. 

Continue reading Fish fight over West Coast licences and quota resurfaces at federal committee →
Animals, Forests

‘Birders, not blockaders’ ask B.C. to protect old-growth in Fairy Creek to save marbled murrelets

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Birders and biologists are banding together to urge the B.C. government to protect ancient forests on southwestern Vancouver Island in a bid to save threatened marbled murrelet nesting sites.

Around a dozen citizen scientists are documenting the rare robin-sized seabird, which raises its young in old-growth forest found in tree farm licence (TFL) 46, which includes the Fairy Creek region near Port Renfrew, said team leader and avid birder Royann Petrell.

Continue reading ‘Birders, not blockaders’ ask B.C. to protect old-growth in Fairy Creek to save marbled murrelets →
Health

Paramedic shortages still plague rural areas, but some remedies may be in the works

Editor’s note: According to BC Emergency Health Service, this does not apply to Cortes Island which is allegedly “well staffed with all 4 Scheduled On-call (SOC) positions filled and 3 on call staff.  SOC shifts are 24-hour shifts. Paramedics are at the station from 8am to 4pm, and carry a pager outside those hours.”

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Quadra Island resident Carol Woolsey had the misfortune to experience a medical emergency in her rural community last month after the last ferry had sailed for the night. 

After developing searing pain in her lower abdomen, the77-year-old and her cousin called911 around 10 p.m. on April 2. 

Disoriented by pain and vomiting constantly into her kitchen sink, it seemed to Woolsey it was taking forever for paramedics to arrive. She was relieved to see two people come through the door around 20 minutes later. 

However, relief turned to alarm when she learned the two were local volunteer firefighters responding because there were no paramedics available on the island. Woolsey had to wait for a crew to come by water taxi from Campbell River. 

Continue reading Paramedic shortages still plague rural areas, but some remedies may be in the works →
Rivers & Oceans

Scientists eavesdropping on fish to fathom their underwater secrets

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

New technology is allowing researchers to covertly monitor, record and identify the sounds fish make underwater to try to unravel their deepest secrets. 

Researcher Xavier Mouy, a recent PhD graduate at the University of Victoria, and his colleagues have devised a relatively low-cost portable audio-visual system that surreptitiously records the surprising range of acoustics fish produce, but more importantly, pinpoints what creature makes which sound. 

Continue reading Scientists eavesdropping on fish to fathom their underwater secrets →
Energy

Court challenge dropped after Chevron surrenders offshore oil and gas permits in B.C. ocean conservation hot spots

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Environmental groups have dropped a court case against Chevron Canada after it surrendered a number of historical oil and gas permits posing risks to sensitive marine conservation areas on the B.C. coast. 

Chevron voluntarily gave up 19 permits in the Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area north of Vancouver Island and in rare protected glass sponge reefs in Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound.

The fossil fuel giant made the announcement after the David Suzuki Foundation and World Wildlife Fund Canada, represented by the legal charity Ecojustice, launched a court challenge disputing the permits in July 2022. 

Continue reading Court challenge dropped after Chevron surrenders offshore oil and gas permits in B.C. ocean conservation hot spots →