During the third annual Red Dress roundtable in Ottawa at the end of January 2025, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations, appointed Jennifer Richardson as Canada’s new chief advisor to combat human trafficking. 

Richardson, who is herself a survivor of human trafficking, says she “uniquely understands the barriers and challenges that victims face” and that she will work towards making support and services more accessible.

It has been nearly 10 years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hosted its final gathering in Ottawa, presenting 94 calls to action as a guide for reconciliation between Canada and its Indigenous Peoples.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was established as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Its purpose was to inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian residential schools and to document the stories of the survivors and those personally affected by the Indian residential school experience. 

Six more Indigenous justice centres have been introduced across British Columbia - including a third location on Vancouver Island – support aimed to address the fact that Aboriginal people are five times more likely to be incarcerated than other B.C. residents.

Canada is investing $24.2 million in Indigenous sport programs to empower First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.

The Honourable Terry Duguid, minister of Sport and minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, announced the 2024-2026 funding recipients for the Sport for Social Development in Indigenous Communities (SSDIC) initiative on Feb. 7 at a media event outside the Indigenous Sport Gallery BC Sports Hall of Fame in Vancouver.

Island Health is assuring residents and visitors of the central Vancouver Island region that it has strategies in place to keep the West Coast General Hospital (WCGH) emergency department running in the event of staffing shortages. 

“Like most health authorities around B.C. and across Canada, Island Health is challenged by a shortage of trained emergency department nurses and physicians. These challenges are even more prevalent in rural and remote regions,” Island Health wrote in an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa.

Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island could potentially benefit from a recently released study.

The study, released last month and led by University of Victoria postdoctoral fellow Graham Epstein, suggests that seabed sediments can potentially be utilized for carbon storage and that they should be considered for protection.

This in turn can help limit the effects of climate change.

Epstein believes First Nations officials will be rather interested in the study findings as their communities could benefit.

Registered Professional Forester (RPF) Len Apedaile is the general manager of Tiičma Forestry LP, a small market logger based up in Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’ First Nations (KCFN) territory on Vancouver Island’s north coast.

“Again? Did he hurt anyone this time?” 

Those were the words of Sophie Campbell (now Lambert) who suffered serious injures in a 2011 head-on collision that claimed the life of her cousin and left her and her father, Angus Campbell, badly injured.

Cradled in Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ - Ucluelet First Nation (UFN) traditional territory on Vancouver Island, Olsen Bay, or C’iiłukᵂis meaning “soft beach”, is the site of a 24.8-acre high-density residential development proposed by Australian businessman Josh Hunt, CEO of ERIF Sustainable Solutions.

Traditionally described as the “shallow soft bottomed bay reaching close to the road”, the site at 221 Minato Road in Ucluelet was partially cleared about five years ago by its former owners for a seasonal RV and campground. 

The lives of college students are about to get easier as both North Island College in the Comox Valley and Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo announce new student housing projects. 

The NIC Comox Valley Student Housing Commons is located in Courtenay, B.C., on the traditional territory of K’omoks First Nation. Beginning fall 2025, for the first time ever on this campus, students can apply to rent student housing. The newly completed housing includes four-unit styles to suit single students or students with families.