Campbell River’s bear problem is escalating. There were twice as many reports of bears raiding garbage cans this year. Sergeant Mike Newton, a Conservation Officer with the Ministry of Environment, went to the June 27 city council meeting with a couple of suggestions.
They both hinge upon changing human behaviour.
Continue reading A North Island situation: solutions for Campbell River’s Bear problem
The Connected Coast is a joint communications project undertaken by CityWest and the Strathcona Regional District (SRD). They will bring high speed internet to 90,000 households in remote communities from Haida Gwaii to northern Vancouver Island. As of June 2, they have laid more than 500 of the 3,400 kilometres of the fibre optic cable needed by this project.
Continue reading 500 kilometres of fibre optic cable laid
The Strathcona Regional District is in the midst of a 30 day survey of rural housing insecurity and service needs. The Campbell River and District Coalition to end homelessness emailed copies to every Vancouver Island Regional Library in the district. There was a network of volunteers ready to work with them on Cortes Island and individual volunteers on Quadra, but some areas can only be reached through social media. The survey comes to an end on Wednesday, May 11, 2022.
Continue reading The rural housing and service needs survey
The libraries in our area are preparing for a strike. Shortly after BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU), which represents the librarians, issued a 72-hour strike notice last Wednesday, the Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) made a new offer to its librarians. This was rejected and the union responded with a counteroffer.
Their collective agreement with the VIRL expired 15 months ago.
BCGEU President Stephanie Smith said, “Unless the employer comes back with a serious offer, pickets will be up at VIRL branches starting Wednesday, March 9.”
Continue reading Library strike could start WednesdayA recent study suggests that incorrect reporting may be responsible for Southern Quadra Island, Tahsis, Gold River and Sayward not qualifying for funding under the Connected Coast High Speed internet program. Their service provider reported their internet speed already met the national standard. Consequently, the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) had to arrange for loans of up to $12.5 million.
BC’s Ministry of Citizens’ Services, the Union of BC Municipalities and the Northern Development Initiative Trust hired TANEx Engineering to study reports that the amount of broad service available in rural communities is less than what servers like TELUS, Mascon Cable Services (a TELUS company) and Bell are reporting on the National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map. According to the ‘Summary of Findings,’ released by the Ministry, ‘there was medium to high evidence of possible discrepancies in 106’ of the 940 localities studied.
Continue reading Erroneous internet speed reporting may cost the SRD $12.5 million, study suggests
