The provincial government has pledged $5-million towards development projects spanning across 24 B.C. parks. 

As part of the province’s StrongerBC economic recovery initiative to promote wellness and employment, the funds will be allocated towards improvements, such as the instillation of a raised boardwalk and viewing platform in MacMillan Provincial Park and the replacement of boardwalk and stair structures in Maquinna Marine Provincial Park.

A cane and leg brace sit near the entrance to Paul Sam’s apartment in Port Alberni. They’re familiar items for the 64-year-old, but also an indication of the empowerment Sam has gained during the last eight months over his Type 2 diabetes.

“I don’t use these anymore,” said Sam in a gentle, unrushed manner characteristic of his Ahousaht roots.

The First Nations Health Authority reports that it has, in partnership with regional health authorities, delivered more than 10,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to First Nations Communities.

Dr. Shannon McDonald, acting chief medical health officer at FNHA, told Ha-Shilth-Sa that B.C. Indigenous Communities have received more than 10,000 doses of vaccine since late December, and the number is approaching 11,000. She added that this work was made possible not only through FNHA but also through their partnerships with regional health authorities.

The first month of vaccination programs are well underway in British Columbia with the province’s most vulnerable people receiving initial doses of Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, beginning in December 2020. But a shortage in the supply of vaccines to Canada is causing concern.

Canada receives its supply of Pfizer vaccine from Belgium. According to the Pfizer website, the company is working on ways to ramp up production to meet world-wide demand. They are making modifications at their facilities to deliver 2 billion doses by the end of 2021.

“He joked he could have been the mayor of Port Alberni, he knew so many people,” said Yvonne Lucas of her husband Harry. Lucas, a well-known Nuu-chah-nulth elder, died in a boat accident on his way to Hot Springs Cove on Dec. 31, 2020.

He was a man that lived in the moment and made friends everywhere he went.

At his funeral service, Reverend Rick Lindholm joked that Harry and his elder brother, the late Dr. Simon Lucas, weren’t the shy ones in the family. Yvonne says the Lucas family is a large one and most of the siblings are quiet and reserved, but not Harry and Simon.

When Ottis Crabbe’s parents opened Abbondanza in 2014, the pizzeria became like the family’s home-away-from-home. 

To this day, Crabbe’s father, Cory, jokes that he only returns to his house in Ucluelet to sleep at night.

“We’re always here,” he said.

Crabbe got his start working at the Italian eatery by running the cash register, before transitioning to manning the wood-fire in a bid to help his father on a busy night. 

“It’s no easy feat,” said Cory. “It’s an art in itself.”

Results of an investigation looking into allegations against the Port Alberni Shelter Society (PASS) have been submitted by the contractor to BC Housing and the findings should be available soon.

A protest began late last year by individuals citing a number of allegations against the society’s management and operations, including not allowing people to return to the shelter if their name was on a banned list and strict rules.

Offshore booms and shoreline cleanup crews have so far managed to contain and collect heavy fuel oil seeping from a shipwreck in Nootka Sound, a unified command group says.

Jeff Brady, federal incident commander, said they have made steady progress since the operation began in early December 2020 but must still determine how to plug, patch or remove oil slowly seeping from the sunken wreck of MV Schiedyk.

“I guess the key word is stabilized,” said Brady, a Coast Guard pollution response specialist, summing up the situation six weeks into the response.

Roy Jack is hoping to substantially step up his efforts for his annual cycling fundraising efforts.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that Jack, a member of Ahousaht First Nation, will participate in the Great Cycle Challenge.

This event sees cyclists set a goal of how far they can cycle in a month. During the month-long challenge participants raise funds with the proceeds going to childhood cancer research.

In 2020, Jack raised about $5,600 while officially cycling 1,500 kilometres last August.

The province is imposing an overbearingly institutional system on B.C.’s young people who struggle with mental health issues, thereby failing those who need the support the most, according to a recent report from the Representative for Children and Youth.

On Tuesday Jennifer Charlesworth released a critical study of how the B.C. Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions is serving vulnerable young people in the province, noting that forced detentions into treatment facilities has gone up 162 per cent over a decade.