On a crisp morning in early May, a group of teenagers from Port Alberni’s Eight Avenue Learning Centre were working the field in front of their school, realizing the garden they had conceived over the previous winter months.

Within a metal fence that had been erected a month prior, the Grade 8 and 9 class were measuring out where the garden beds would be made, while others carted loads of leaves to the site from a large pile that had collected behind the school.

Tenants of Port Alberni’s King George Apartments are both happy and relieved that their affordable rental rates will be unchanged after the purchase of the building by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Port Alberni and the Province of BC.

Located at 3131 5th Ave., the building provides 41 one and two-bedroom units that cost considerably less than average market rents in the area, ranging from approximately $500 to $633 per month. The Canadian Mental Health Association Port Alberni had leased the apartment building for the past nine years.

As Jenzen Thomas sat in a circle with nine other men from Ahousaht First Nation, he thought he was apart of just another support group.

Gathered together for the first time on May 7, the group’s facilitators explained they would be focusing on exploring pathways to stop sexualized violence in their community.

The men sat quietly, nervously looking around at each other, Thomas recalled.

But nobody walked away.

“It was very powerful,” said Thomas. “I can’t stop praying now. I can’t stop praying for no [more] sexual abuse.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic was dragging on in 2020 and the situation was looking bleak for her Indigenous tourism business, Naomi Nicholson knew one place she could count on for support.

Nicholson, who owns and operates Chims Guest House in Port Alberni with her husband Ed, was fortunate to receive a $25,000 grant last year from the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) to help keep her business afloat.

Because of pandemic restrictions, Chims closed in March of 2020 and did not reopen until this past September.

The RCMP moved into an area near the Fairy Creek Watershed on Monday to enforce a court injunction banning blockades from preventing old-growth logging in southern Vancouver Island, within Pacheedaht First Nation’s traditional territory.

In a statement, RCMP said that anyone who breaches the injunction, as well as those refusing to leave the access control area, will be arrested.

Even though there have been 156 recorded wildfires in the province up until May 4, the BC Wildfire Service say they expect the 2021 Vancouver Island wildfire season to be average.

“On a 10-year average, the Coastal Fire Centre has about 198 fires per year. Of those 198 fires, 129 of them are human caused, and 69 are lighting caused,” said Donna MacPherson of the Coast Fire Centre.

The COVID-19 pandemic will not stop the First Nations Spring Festival this year, as School District 70 has opted to offer the showcase of artwork and Aboriginal content in schools through an online format.

Accessible through the SD70 website, as well as the sites for the individual schools, the district plans to make a presentation available by the end of May. The event is held every two years, usually taking place at Alberni District Secondary near the end of the school year, although COVID-19 restrictions against gatherings have forced this year’s festival to be held online.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on its operations, Chims Guest House has received some prestigious recognition.

The Port Alberni business, which was opened in July of 2018 by Tseshaht First Nation member Naomi Nicholson, was a finalist this year in the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) annual commercial business awards.

This marked the 14th year of the VIREB awards, which were held virtually this year. Winners were announced on May 7.

Daily new counts of COVID-19 among First Nations in British Columbia continues to fall and is at its lowest level since June 2020.

According to the First Nations Health Authority’s (FNHA) latest Community Situation Report, more than 83,400 First Nations people, along with non-Indigenous people living in or near First Nations communities, have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of May 6, 2021. More than 10,900 have received their second.

Mariah Charleson, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) vice-president, said the decreasing case count is welcome news.

While Nuu-chah-nulth nations are celebrating a favourable ruling from the B.C. Court of Appeal, it remains to be seen how the DFO will adjust fisheries allocations beyond the small fraction set aside for the coastal communities this spring.