Tag Archives: Gaby Wickstrom

Health

Mayors in rural B.C. band together to push province to fix health-care crisis

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A coalition of small-town mayors and politicians are uniting in hopes of tackling the urgent health-care crisis in rural communities across British Columbia.

Mayors Gaby Wickstrom of Port McNeill, Merlin Blackwell of Clearwater, and Lori Ackerman of Fort St. John are some of the municipal leaders asking peers to join a rural caucus to develop solutions and draw attention to the crisis.

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Health

Primary health care ‘collapsing’ in B.C. rural communities, critics say

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Back-to-back closures of small community emergency rooms on North Vancouver Island over the weekend is another example of the overall erosion of the primary care system in rural communities, the BC Green Party and the BC Nurses’ Union say. 

Due to ongoing staffing shortages, the emergency room at Port Hardy Hospital was temporarily closed from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. That closure took place hard on the heels of another temporary emergency department closure at the neighbouring Port McNeill Hospital from 3 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m Sunday. 

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Forests

An industry response to curtailing Old Growth Logging

CKTZ News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An industry response to curtailing old growth logging appeared in the Spring 2021 edition of the Truck Loggers Association magazine.

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Rivers & Oceans

North Vancouver Island Mayors support fish farms

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Salmon farming is a significant local employer in Northern Vancouver Island. According to a recent report there are 572 Campbell River, Sayward and the Discovery Islands residents working in this sector. 702 people are said to have indirect jobs, which means the industry is bringing about $324 million a year into the local economy. Another 512 direct and indirect jobs, representing $135 million, are in Port Hardy and Port McNeill. 

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Rivers & Oceans

How will the Feds help communities depending on fish farms?

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A coalition of industry stakeholders and Vancouver Island mayors wants Ottawa to outline how it plans to address the potential impacts of its decision to phase out fish farms in the Discovery Islands.

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