Tag Archives: Sunshine Coast

Indigenous Nations, Politics

First Nations call for co-governance in coastal economic development

By Jordan Copp, Coast Reporter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A new report outlines a transformative vision for the future of the Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET), calling for First Nations to be equal partners in regional economic governance across Vancouver Island and the coastal mainland, including the Sunshine Coast.

Commissioned by the B.C. government and ICET, the First Nations Strategic Recommendations Report by Sanala Planning is the result of a year-long Indigenous-led engagement process with 53 First Nations. 

The report proposes a co-governance model that would permanently finance and restructure ICET to include First Nations in decision-making roles.

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Animals

European Green Crabs Reach Cortes Island

Originally published, as part 4 of the Cortes Island Resonance series by the Cortes Community Radio Society.

An unwelcome visitor has arrived on Cortes Island’s shores, triggering alarm among scientists and conservationists. The invasive European green crab (*Carcinus maenas*)—considered one of the world’s most damaging marine invaders—was confirmed in Mansons Lagoon in 2024, marking the first documented sighting in the Discovery Islands. The species’ appearance has set off a coordinated response from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the Klahoose First Nation, and Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI).

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Cost of Climate Change, Indigenous Nations, Water

Feds invest $117 million to protect drinking water on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

More than $117 million in infrastructure funding will be unleashed to address water woes on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, the federal government announced on Thursday. 

The shíshálh Nation will head up the project along with the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) to upgrade the region’s water treatment plant and construct two large storage reservoirs in the Chapman Creek watershed.

Drinking water in the region, which is on B.C.’s southern coast and includes the municipalities of Sechelt and Gibsons, is under threat from a constant string of summer droughts. 

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Animals

Roxan Chicalo: Searching for the elusive Western Screech Owl

A small group of people turned out to hear an overview of FOCI’s Western Screech Owl Project at Mansons Hall on Friday September 27, 2024. Participants listened to different owl calls, examined owl feathers and learned why putting up nest boxes is important. The speakers were the two biologists from Madrone Environmental who wrote FOCI’s final report. Cortes Currents interviewed the lead author, Roxan Chicalo, afterward.  

“What gets me up in the morning, when I’m working at these species at risk, is thinking about balanced ecosystems. Everything is working together to create the ecosystem that supports our lifestyles as humans. In my mind, every animal and plant has a role that they play,” she began.

“Screech owls are a small avian predator. They eat  anything from amphibians to small mammals to fish, insects, slugs,  all sorts  of different small animals in the ecosystem. As a predator, they  keep a check on those prey species populations so that they don’t get out of control, and they also support biodiversity. If one of these prey species booms in their populations, they might start to compete against  other populations of other animals. We might see that we’re having more extinction events.  That’s why we should care to  promote a balanced ecosystem and support that.” 

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Animals, Health

Chronic Wasting Disease reported in the Kootenay Region

On January 31, 2024, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed that two cases of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) have been found south of Cranbrook, in the Kootenays. ‘The first sample came from a ‘harvested’ adult male mule deer and the second from a white-tailed doe that was struck on the road. 

CWD is a highly infectious and fatal disease, which the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention states, “affects many different species of hoofed animals including North American elk or wapiti, red deer, mule deer, black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer, sika deer, reindeer, and moose.”

This is the first report of CWD west of the Rocky Mountains in Canada or the United States.  

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