Candice Servatius, the mother of two students who attended Port Alberni’s John Howitt Elementary School back in 2015/16 was in the B.C. Court Appeal on June 5 and 6 seeking to have Justice Douglas Thompson’s Jan. 8, 2020, ruling overturned.
The plaintiff sought to have smudging and other Indigenous cultural practices banned from the provincial public school system.
A vital hub on Vancouver Island’s northwest coast will soon be getting a major facelift.
That’s because the past-its-prime marine dock at Fair Harbour, a key access point to Kyuquot Sound, will be replaced later this year with a new full-service marine dock.
The Fair Harbour Marina and Campground is owned and operated by the Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k'tles7et'h' First Nations (KCFN).
The facility provides access to 10 marine parks, managed provincially or federally, within the region.
It also supports tour operators and area residents with supplies and services.
A new report from the Auditor General of Canada, Karen Hogan, says the federal Correctional Service has failed to adjust its programs in response to the diversity of the offender population.
This has disadvantaged certain groups of offenders in custody by allowing persisting systemic barriers to remain unchanged, read a release from the auditor general.
After nearly three years, Ahousaht First Nation Elected Chief Greg Louie said the community’s new wastewater treatment plant is in the commissioning stage.
Once any “minor deficiencies” are worked through, Louie said the plant should be fully operational later this fall.
The federally funded $28-million project was developed to meet federal requirements and to accommodate the growing number of people moving to the community on Flores Island, Louie said.
Ditidaht First Nation members are the proud owners of a new, 28-foot, custom-built landing craft that will be used to monitor and study the hahulthi around Nitinaht Lake.
Funded through the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX)’s Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee (IAMC) fund, the boat, worth $415,000, was delivered to the shores of Nitinaht lake on June 1, as proud community members applauded.
The second phase of Ahousaht First Nation’s road-paving project is underway, despite setbacks in May due to rainy weather, said Elected Chief Greg Louie.
It has been at least two years since the nation, located on the remote Flores Island, completed the first phase of the project by paving the roads in the community’s Happy Hill neighbourhood.
In the spring and summer, the roads get really dry, Louie said.
A heavy mist chills Nootka Sound one morning in mid May, as Ray Williams scans the rugged shores he has known for his whole life. With the motorboat resting in shallow water, Ray’s son Darrell has jumped from the vessel’s driver seat to search for a painting on a rocky cliff that Ray encountered over 30 years ago while helping with an archaeological survey in the area.
“I’d know exactly where it was if I had my eyesight,” admits the 80-year-old as Darrell scales a cliff in Hisnet Inlet.
Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park and the surrounding stretch of highway will see new pedestrian and vehicle safety improvements as soon as this summer.
Adding vehicle and pedestrian safety measures to the popular tourist attraction, on the edge of Nuu-chah-nulth territory and along Highway 4, has been a topic of discussion for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) since before the pandemic. In 2019, the ministry held several engagement sessions in neighbouring communities to hear from the public about what they envisioned to improve the area.
The Harbour Quay Clock Tower, built in the 1980s, has gotten a facelift and is about to be unveiled at National Indigenous Day celebrations, hosted jointly by Tseshaht First Nation and the City of Port Alberni.
The Clock Tower has been under wraps for months as it goes through its transformation to the Wolf Tower, or ƛuukʷatquuʔis, which means Wolf Ritual Beach in the Tseshaht language.
Port Alberni City Council and the Tseshaht First Nation leadership have been collaborating on the transformation of the clock tower.
One week after being diagnosed with bone cancer, Leo Manson Sr.’s nose started to bleed profusely while visiting his son in Ty-Histanis, a Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation community on Vancouver Island.
His wife, Maxine, immediately brought him to the Tofino General Hospital before he was transferred to the Nanaimo General Hospital for further care.
After being awake and by his side for nearly 24-hours, Maxine said she left him in the hospital’s care to get some rest.