Housing affordability is a main concern for Port Alberni city council when it comes to reducing poverty in the Alberni Valley.

City council received the Poverty Reduction Action Plan from the Alberni-Clayoquot Health Network on Monday that provided several recommendations to help individuals out of poverty and to avoid becoming destitute in the first place.

Marcie DeWitt, Alberni-Clayoquot Health Network coordinator, provided council with highlights from the 63-page report that she said should provide advocacy tools for municipal governments in the region.

Although it took more than two years to produce since the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was passed in Victoria, First Nations leaders are calling an action plan released today “a step in the right direction”.

A new book detailing how to make a chaputs (cedar dugout canoe) from beginning to end by Nuu-chah-nulth master carvers is about to be released. Making a Chaputs – The Teachings and Responsibilities of a Canoe Maker was written by Master Carver Joe Martin and Alan Hoover, formerly a curator and manager at the Royal British Columba Museum in Victoria.

Ahousaht people have blessed the ground that will soon be home to their very own healing center. The ceremony took place on March 28 adjacent to the site of the former Ahousaht Residential School, said Elected Chief Greg Louie.

Louie said that there are members willing to go to a treatment centre for addictions, but barrier exist in the long wait and endless requirements needed to get in.

“Many give up and we thought there has to be a better way,” said Louie.

Vancouver Island University (VIU) Chancellor Judith Sayers was honoured in her new role through a talking stick gifting ceremony on March 24. 

Carved by Ts’usquinuxn (William Good), a hereditary chief and master caver from Snuneymuxw First Nation, the talking stick was crafted in the traditional Coast Salish style while paying homage to Sayers’ Nuu-chah-nulth heritage. It was gifted to Sayers by the University of Victoria, which commissioned the creation of the piece.

A Ditidaht man has died after being stabbed in a residence within the First Nation’s community west of Lake Cowichan on Saturday, March 26.

An RCMP spokesperson said it appears the incident occurred in Malachan, Ditidaht’s primary reserve located at the head of Nitinaht Lake.

In a media release dated March 27, police say on the previous day numerous 911 calls were received reporting an altercation between two men in a rural (location) of the Lake Cowichan area.

After six years at the Junior All Native Basketball Tournament (JANT), Joe Charleson Jr. managed to lead a squad to a podium finish.

Charleson has been a familiar face at the prestigious youth hoops event, which attracts Indigenous clubs from across British Columbia.

Charleson coached the Tseshaht Pride, a girls’ under-17 squad, to a second-place finish in its division at this year’s tournament, which was held in Kelowna and wrapped up on Friday (March 25).

Since time immemorial, Byron Charlie said the Ahousaht First Nation has been taking care of the salmon rivers within their traditional territory around the Clayoquot Sound, off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

“This has been our job since the beginning of time,” he said. “The only thing more integral to the fabric of coastal B.C. than the ancient rainforests is the Pacific salmon.”

Charlie has been working as a full-time guardian for the Maaqutusiis Hahoulthee Stewardship Society (MHSS) for the past year. It’s a role the Ahousaht man considers his sense of duty.

Since time immemorial, Byron Charlie said the Ahousaht First Nation has been taking care of the salmon rivers within their traditional territory around the Clayoquot Sound, off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

“This has been our job since the beginning of time,” he said. “The only thing more integral to the fabric of coastal B.C. than the ancient rainforests is the Pacific salmon.”

Charlie has been working as a full-time guardian for the Maaqutusiis Hahoulthee Stewardship Society (MHSS) for the past year. It’s a role the Ahousaht man considers his sense of duty.

The Province of British Columbia’s 2022 budget makes big investments in responding to and preventing homelessness across the province.

Investments include new complex-care housing, rent supplements and extending support for youth aging out of care until age 27.