Tag Archives: SFU

Youth

For Teens Who Drink and Do Drugs, Here’s How to Reduce the Harm

Editor’s notes: “In Local Health Area 72 (Campbell River), which includes Cortes and Quadra Islands, 13.5 litres of absolute alcohol are sold per person. This is considerably higher than the Island Health average of 10.9 and the provincial average of 9.0. Given that one litre of absolute alcohol is equivalent to 58 standard drinks, residents of LHA 72 are consuming 783 alcoholic beverages annually, on average” – from the the Cortes Island and Quadra Island profiles

“In Vancouver Island North, which includes Campbell River, Cortes and Quadra Islands, 52% of youth have tried alcohol, compared to 45% provincially. Similarly, 37% of Vancouver Island North youth have tried marijuana, compared to 26% provincially. Tobacco sees a similar trend, with 29% of Vancouver Island North youth trying tobacco, compared to 21% of youth provincially” – from the Cortes Island and Quadra Island profiles

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About 40 per cent of Canadian teenagers drank alcohol in the last year and one in five used cannabis, according to a bi-annual Health Canada survey that asks kids about substances. 

The 2021-22 Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey was filled out by 61,096 kids from Grade 7 to 12 — typically 12 to 17 — in all provinces except New Brunswick, which opted out. This is its 11th year collecting data on tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and drug use. 

Continue reading For Teens Who Drink and Do Drugs, Here’s How to Reduce the Harm →
Indigenous Nations History

Construction underway at Tse’K’wa heritage site

By Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Development and preservation of the Tse’K’wa national historic cave site at Charlie Lake is continuing to grow with the installation of new interpretive signage and more.

Tse’K’wa Heritage Society Executive Director Alyssa Currie says she’s excited to share the signage and is aiming to reopen to the public sometime in June. The signs will act as a self-guided tour for patrons.

“Each sign encapsulates a different Dunne-za teaching, as well as an archaeological artifact found at the site. So, it gives our visitors a chance to walk the landscape that has been occupied by the ancestors of the Dunne-za and to hear about the significance of that landscape from their perspective,” said Currie.

Continue reading Construction underway at Tse’K’wa heritage site →
Animals

The last 33 caribou: fighting for the survival of a Wet’suwet’en herd

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

There’s a serene pocket of mountainous habitat in northwest B.C. where 33 caribou live, drinking from glacial-fed creeks and grazing on alpine lichens. Though it’s peaceful, they have nowhere to go. They’re surrounded.

They’ve been cut off from where they gave birth to their young and the tracts of land that supported them through the long northern winters by highways, hydroelectric dams, rail lines, clearcuts and farmland. The herd’s range has been fragmented for more than a century and faces imminent threats.

Continue reading The last 33 caribou: fighting for the survival of a Wet’suwet’en herd →
Rivers & Oceans

Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans

Originally published by the Parliament of Canada

On 1 February 2022, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (the Committee) agreed to undertake a study to “examine how the Department of Fisheries and Oceans prioritizes, resources and develops scientific studies and advice for the department, how the results of scientific study are communicated to the Minister and Canadians, and how the minister applies data and advice provided by the department and other government departments to ministerial decisions.”The Committee heard from 57 witnesses over nine meetings held between 26 April 2022 and 7 October 2022.

Continue reading Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans →
Women

Erin Seeley, CEO of the Metro Vancouver YWCA: Listening is Leading

Originally published on qathet Living

You might remember Erin from her first job behind the concession counter at the Recreation Complex, serving chicken nuggets to hockey fans. Or, from her time in the Academy of Music choirs, or on the volleyball and baseball teams, or from Girl Guides. To Erin, Powell River was her nest and launch pad; she was born at the old hospital in 1976, and graduated from Max Cameron in 1994 – the last year she lived here full-time before leaving to study at the University of Victoria, travel in Latin America, and later attend Simon Fraser University.

Now, Erin is at the helm of one of BC’s largest social services agencies: The YWCA of Metro Vancouver. Under her leadership, the agency provides housing for women and families, childcare, job skills, legal supports, mentorship, support for those who have experienced abuse, support for single moms, and much more.

Continue reading Erin Seeley, CEO of the Metro Vancouver YWCA: Listening is Leading →