After stalled negotiations with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, in August hereditary chiefs of five Nuu-chah-nulth nations authorized their people to harvest according to their First Nations’ own respective fishing plans, thereby disregarding allocations that were set by DFO. Do you support this? Who has the final authority over ocean resources off Vancouver Island’s west coast? 

Conservative combined answer:

Mary Lee, Courtney - Alberni

Shelley Downey, North Island - Powell River

Alana Delonge, Cowichan - Malahat

Despite a pledge from the premier that Indigenous people will see an expanded role in forestry, a group of First Nations are feeling left out of the consultation process as the province seeks to modernize the sector.

Modernizing Forest Policy in B.C., a government document released last spring, admits that the province’s forestry policy framework that was implemented nearly 20 years ago is out of date. The paper notes that B.C.’s timber supply is decreasing, particularly among older trees.

Three Nuu-chah-nulth nations are participating in a housing survey to better understand their community’s needs.

Tla-o-qui-aht, Toquaht and Ucluelet First Nations are collaborating with the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, the District of Tofino and the District of Ucluelet to develop an accurate picture of the housing situation on the west coast. 

This summer British Columbia residents experienced the direct effects of global warming, with record breaking temperatures and nearly 1 million hectares of forest burned from wildfires. Why have past efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions failed, and what does Canada need to do to better mitigate the factors that contribute to our warming planet?

Jessica Wegg, Green, North Island – Powell River

The Grades 6 and 7 students of Haahuupayak School played host to a very special guest on Wednesday, Sept. 15. Tundra, a domesticated wolf hybrid arrived with her owner, Gary Allen, to help the students learn about the importance of the animal in a healthy ecosystem.

Tundra, a nearly 15-year-old female wolfdog, is calm, gentle and remarkable in that the average lifespan of a wild wolf is five years. Ninety per cent wolf and 10 per cent Samoyed dog, Tundra is a gentle, geriatric wolfdog who feels the effects of age in the form of arthritis in her hips.

Over the last year multiple Nuu-chah-nuth people have been shot during confrontations with the police – in some cases fatally. What systemic changes are needed to decrease the number of First Nations people who come into conflict with the justice system?

Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay-Alberni

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.

The opening of Ahousaht’s Maaqtusiis Elementary and Secondary Schools has been delayed due to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the village. According to Rebecca Atleo, Ahousaht’s director of education, the school will hopefully open Sept. 27, 2021.

“Unfortunately, the numbers of positive COVID cases in our departments warranted closing all the departments in our education system,” Atleo wrote in an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa.

She went on to state that janitorial staff will do a deep sanitizing of all Ahousaht’s education buildings.

The City of Port Alberni has recently purchased five parcels of land from Western Forest Products, including the Somass Sawmill lands, and they plan to continue consultation with local First Nations on redevelopment plans going forward.