Infrastructure in Remote Communities

A single-vehicle accident has claimed the life a Huu-ay-aht man just one week after physical work on road improvements began.

The BC RCMP issued a statement saying that there were four occupants in the single-vehicle accident.

“On October 24th, 2021, just before 1:30 a.m., the Port Alberni RCMP were advised of a single-vehicle collision on Central South Main Forest Service Road near Frederick Lake near the Centre Main Connector,” stated the RCMP press release.

Another traveler saw the accident, gave assistance and called for emergency services.

On Monday, Oct. 25 the Nickel Bros moved a building from the Best Western Plus Tin Wis Resort to the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation’s main administration office, which sits off the Pacific Rim Highway in Tofino.

The relocation makes way for a new outdoor swimming pool the nation is building for the resort and its new development project, the Tsawaak RV Resort and Campground.

It will also provide additional office space for the nation’s economic development corporation.

The Highway 4 Kennedy Hill Safety Improvements project was originally slated for completion in the summer of 2020. 

That spring, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced that its end date was pushed back to the winter of 2021. 

Now, it’s expected to be “substantially complete” by September 2022, with finishing touches continuing into the fall.

After decades of lobbying – and multiple fatalities – construction work on the road to Bamfield is beginning, with a hard surface over the entire 77-kilometre route expected to be complete in a year.

The province is strengthening its ambulance system through its largest hiring push in B.C.’s history in rural and remote areas. 

Health Minister Adrian Dix said 24 ambulance stations will move from on-call staffing to 24-7 service, with eight full-time paramedics in each location. 

An additional 26 smaller stations will be getting more "permanent, regular paramedics” beginning Nov. 1.

Some of the communities listed to benefit from these improvements include: Lake Cowichan, Tofino, Tahsis and Zeballos, all of which Nuu-chah-nulth nations rely on.

This week marked the two-year anniversary of the bus crash that killed two university students who were traveling to the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre on an annual field trip. 

On Sept. 13, 2019, a chartered bus carrying 45 students and two teaching assistants from the University of Victoria slid down an embankment on a logging road between Port Alberni and Bamfield. The accident claimed the lives of 18-year-old John Geerdes and Emma McIntosh Machado, prompting further conversation around improving the safety of the gravel road.

Both children and adults are enjoying a new playground which has opened at the Ditidaht Community School.

“It’s something the students have wanted for a long time,” said Emily MacLennan, the principal of the school located on Nitinaht Lake.  “For years I’ve been trying to get funding for this project.”

Students started fundraising for a new playground a half dozen years ago, when MacLennan arrived at the school to serve as a teacher for those in Kindergarten through Grade 2.

With a growing community relying on aging infrastructure, Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k'tles7et'h' leaders are forced to look for alternate power sources to serve residents.

Kyuquot’s electricity comes from a privately-owned company that purchases power from the BC Hydro grid and resells it to Kyuquot. There is a single cable feeding the electricity to the village and it is at capacity.

“The old line is maxed out. It is a single-phase line and we need a three-phase line,” said Cynthia Blackstone, KCFN chief administrative officer.

New owners have stepped up to ensure MV Frances Barkley continues operation.

Business partners Greg Willmon and Barrie Rogers, who own Devon Transport along with a group of rental and leasing companies, announced Monday, Aug. 16 that Lady Rose Marine Services has accepted their offer to purchase the business. They gave assurances the passenger and freight service, a fixture of west coast life for generations, would continue uninterrupted.

The people of Houpsitas, the home of Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k'tles7et'h', can sleep well now that a new tsunami warning system has been installed.

According to Elizabeth Jack, the First Nation’s emergency coordinator, Kyuquot did not have a proper tsunami warning system until October 2020. Residents of the low-lying ocean-front community relied on a donated fire siren that was attached to the KCFN administration office.

“But it was pointed outward toward Walter’s Island so people behind it or even next door to it couldn’t hear it,” Jack told Ha-Shilth-Sa.