Judy Da Silva’s eyes light up as she forks a piece of wild smoked salmon into her mouth.
“It’s like a privilege to me. To me, it’s like gold. It’s good medicine for our spirits when we have our traditional foods,” said Da Silva at the Tin Wis Resort on Feb. 11.
Earlier this week Parks Canada officials announced that dogs are now banned from being on a part of Wickaninnish Beach, located on Nuu-chah-nulth territory south of Tofino.
The ban, which came into effect on Feb. 11, prohibits dogs from being on the section of the beach from Beach Access E to Sandhill Creek. This area is in Ucluelet First Nation territory.
The world is reeling after hearing news of a mass school shooting in a remote town of Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
On February 10, 2026, an Jesse Van Rootselaar entered the high school shooting a teacher and five students to death before turning the gun on herself. According to reports there are at least 25 others injured from the incident including a 12-year-old girl who is fighting for her life in Vancouver’s BC Children’s Hospital.
A detailed survey has been launched, with the aim of arming Nuu-chah-nulth communities with more data about the wellness of their members.
It will soon cost more to enjoy parks throughout British Columbia, especially for out-of-province visitors.
The Ministry of Environment and Parks announced via a late January news release that new camping fees and a new surcharge would be introduced for users from outside of British Columbia on May 15.
Tamara Davidson, B.C.’s minister of Environment and Parks, believes the increased costs are justified.
Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation has partnered with Redd Fish Restoration Society (Redd Fish) and West Coast Kelp Ltd. to undertake a large-scale kelp restoration project on the Pacific Coast.
The total project budget is roughly $240,000 with a large portion of the funds coming from the provincial government, plus a patchwork of grants from the Pacific Salmon Foundation, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, according to Redd Fish.
North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP is asking for the community’s help finding a woman who was reported missing on Feb. 4, 2026.
Rosemarie Harry was last seen on Wednesday, Jan. 28 in the Duncan area on Vancouver Island. Her support worker at the Hiiye'yu Lelum-House of Friendship says she never returned to the friend’s house she was staying at.
“This is out of character for her and that’s worrisome,” said Harry’s support worker Myra Antoniuk. “She had a visible presence online, always posting 20 Facebook posts a day. There has been nothing since the 27th or 28th.”
The 66th annual All Native Basketball Tournament (ANBT), which is always held in Prince Rupert, B.C., will run from Feb.14 to 21.
For the second year in a row, the Hesquiaht Descendants women’s team are the lone Nuu-chah-nulth sqad entered. Their first game is on Feb. 14 at 1 p.m. against Lax Kw’alaams.
“The best salmon-making machine is an ancient rainforest,” according to those behind an initiative to collectively find a more holistic approach to managing First Nations’ territories.
“We need to carefully manage the resources in such a way that it doesn’t deplete our resources, it doesn’t create that imbalance that’s in societies,” said Terry Dorward, board president of the IISAAK OLAM Foundation, which promotes the establishment of Indigenous protected conservation areas. “We have a common denominator, which is working to heal broken lands and broken communities.”
Today’s health care system is overburdened and struggling, as indicated by the temporary closure of the West Coast General Hospital’s ICU wing in late 2025.
Meanwhile an estimated 700,000 to one million British Columbians still lack a family doctor, according to provincial estimates.
But expectations on the provincial system remain high, leading to the issue of how much should fall on the individual to better manage their own health.