West Coast – The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced that the Kennedy Hill section of Highway 4, which has been under construction since the fall of 2018, will soon open to two-way traffic.

The announcement came in a November 22 Ministry update on the project which was originally scheduled to be complete by fall 2020.

The 1.5 section of highway is being made safer and will include a rest area with washrooms.

One year after an advisory panel warned that a large proportion of B.C.’s oldest forest is at risk, the province is reporting the lowest levels of old growth logging on record.

The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation is hosting the upcoming Trauma and Resiliency, Two-spirit/LGBTQ+/Indigiqueer workshop to address the compounded issues that members of the community face.

Diane Labelle, a researcher and trainer for two-spirit/LGBTQ+ issues and one of the facilitators for the workshop, said, “Colonization has really done a big number on us. I mean, residential schools, new ideas, new values, that have led us to move away from our central values, such as the inclusiveness of people.”

B.C.’s police watchdog has ruled out criminal charges from a fatal RCMP shooting in Opitsaht last year, but those affected by the tragedy will have to wait until an upcoming trial is completed for reasons why the officer is being cleared.

In early October Vancouver Island reached a drought Level 4 which impacted wildlife across the coast. After a mass salmon die off in Bella Bella, concern grew regarding drought and a delayed salmon spawning season.

Currently east Vancouver Island is at a drought level of 3, which means adverse impacts are possible, while west Vancouver Island is at a drought level of 2 with less likely impacts.

Dave Rolson, Tseshaht First Nation’s fisheries manager, said, “Timing is everything, really, when it comes to fish and when it comes to environmental conditions.” 

It’s been more than two years since the last official homeless count in Victoria, and Herb Dick, an Indigenous outreach worker from Ahousaht, believes the number of Aboriginal people living in the streets is increasing - even in the face of weekly losses due to street drug overdose deaths.

“I don’t know the number but there’s been a real growth in tents, some people just in blankets and under tarps,” said Indigenous Outreach Worker Lacey Jones.

It has been more than two years since the last official Point-in-Time Homeless Count in Victoria.

After three years, seismic upgrades announced for Ucluelet Secondary School (USS) have officially been completed. A similar project at Ucluelet Elementary School has also been finished.

Among the upgrades at USS include a new music room, administration offices, classrooms, a library, and a neighbourhood learning centre that can be used for additional child care space within the community.

The small, remote village of Houpsitas will soon see improved internet thanks to the provincial government’s investments in improving high-speed service to rural communities in the province.

In a statement made Nov. 8, the Ministry of Citizens' Services announced that faster internet will be coming to 10 Indigenous, rural, remote island communities, including Kyuquot.

Alberni Valley’s lakes and rivers still remain low after minimal fall rainfall following a severe summer drought across B.C.

The Alberni Valley reached Drought level 4 last month, causing a risk of salmon die offs. The drought level for the area has now gone down slightly to level 3, which means adverse impacts to ecosystem values are possible. 

“It seems like there’s a funeral every week – having to do with overdoses,” says Indigenous Outreach Worker Herb Dick.

Herb, a member of Ahousaht First Nation, has been providing support to Victoria’s marginalized community for many years.

By nature, street drugs are unregulated concoctions that can contain unexpected, unwanted, even deadly substances. Without quality control in the manufacturing process, street drugs can have unknown potency and toxicity, increasing the risk of accidental poisoning, according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.