It’s flu season and you’re starting to feel achy, tired and your throat is a little sore. The mental juggling starts – do you go to work and risk spreading illness to other workers? Do you call the doctor…if you have one, and hope you can get that doctor’s note so you can take time off to recover? Maybe you think about going to a walk-in clinic or hospital emergency to get that note – but there’s sick people there and wait times are hours long.

A staffing shortage has forced the West Coast General’s ICU to close, meaning those taken to the hospital with life-threatening ailments will be transported out of Port Alberni to intensive care units elsewhere. 

“This is a temporary measure until adequate nursing, allied health and physician staffing levels are in place for the ICU,” stated Island Health, noting that the closure began Nov. 20 at the Port Alberni hospital.

The newly passed federal budget includes language to “wind down research”, “scale back” some programs and “reduce management layers” within Fisheries and Oceans Canada – part of plans to cut half a billion in the department’s expenses over the next four years.

Tseshaht First Nation members Leisa Hassall, 36, and Sylvia Dick, 38, shot their first Roosevelt elk this fall. 

Hassall dropped a four-by-four bull in the Comox Main area on Sept. 27 and Dick took down a massive seven-by-seven Imperial in the Taylor Arm area on Sept. 29. 

“When I harvest animals, I am always thanking the Creator. Being connected to our culture and our traditional prayer is always a meaningful way of grounding ourselves,” said Hassall, who was hunting with her husband John Morgan Hassall and brother Jordan Dick when she shot her first-ever elk.

Nuu-chah-nulth history books can be hard to find and will command a steep price if they are rare and in good condition. That is the nature of the rare books business – the harder it is to find, the more value it has.

An internet search for the most valuable Nuu-chah-nulth history book doesn’t produce a title. Instead, the searcher will get a description of what collectors are looking for in terms of rare and valuable books. 

In October the Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k'tles7et'h' First Nations marked a historic development in their government, with the first time hereditary positions have been changed to their legislature since the Maa-nulth treaty was implemented over 14 years ago.

A new community art gallery space dubbed the Hallway Gallery was warmed on Nov. 6 with traditional songs, a shared meal and stories of fallen soldiers as Tofino Arts Council (TAC) celebrated the opening of their first exhibit, ‘Remembering Nuu-chah-nulth Veterans’.

Located below the Tofino Legion, the Hallway Gallery exhibit features a memory wall of Nuu-chah-nulth war veterans and a display of 25 beaded poppies to honour the Nuu-chah-nulth soldiers who have fought for Canada and the United States in wars.

In mid August the Mount Underwood forest fire erupted south of Port Alberni, sending a mushroom cloud over the community with a current of fear that residents of the small Vancouver Island city might be at risk of losing their homes. The city’s south-end neighbourhood of Cameron Heights was put on evacuation alert, along with the Tiipis Tseshaht reserve at Polly’s Point. 

Saturday November 8th, 2025, marks the 32nd year of recognizing National Indigenous Veterans Day, after the now country-wide occasion began in Winnipeg.

On November 8, 1993 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Mayor Susan A. Thompson signed an official proclamation declaring the day "Recognition and Remembrance Day for Aboriginal Veterans". Initiated by the National Aboriginal Veterans Association, the signing coincided with the opening of an exhibition at the Manitoba Museum.

Parks Canada is working closely with Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation to co-manage human interactions with a mated pair of habituated sea wolves in the Long Beach Unit of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (PRNPR).