In the wake of the police-enforced removal of homeless encampments on Pandora Avenue and Ellice Street, nine members of Victoria’s unhoused population died by fatal overdose over 11 days in November, according to downtown service providers.

Last summer police began to implement a safety plan for Pandora Avenue, which had become home to a large encampment of Victoria’s unhoused, following the July 11 assault of a paramedic responding to a call on the 900-block. 

A former school play field should soon be teeming with children again, now that the City of Port Alberni has approved construction of apartments and townhouses behind Uchucklesaht’s Nucii Building on Redford Street.

The Uchucklesaht Tribe Government purchased the former Redford Elementary School in 2018. They renovated the facility, turning it into office and meeting spaces. The playing field behind the property has remained unused for years.

With an aerial view of Lovekin Rock holding space in the Pacific Ocean just off Long Beach and endless sightlines of rainforest and mountain peaks, the descent into the Tofino-Long Beach Airport (CYAZ) might be one of the most beautiful landings on earth. 

Located within the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and on Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation (TFN) unceded traditional territory, the Government of Canada built the original CYAZ runways in 1942-1943 for the Second World War.

Newly elected BC Green Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Rob Botterell and Jeremy Valeriote round off the legislature like special teams in the Canadian Football League.

Playing neither offence or defence in a parliamentary battlefield consisting of 47 NDP and 44 Conservation MLAs, the BC Greens are the third-party duo British Columbians can look to for shaping the game.

Under a canopy of warm holiday lights from within Tofino’s community hall, dozens of West Coast residents gathered for a day-long workshop to take meaningful steps towards ending sexual violence.

A new stewardship centre in Ucluelet will educate and engage visitors through interactive activities and exhibits showcasing the relationship between human activity and natural ecosystems. 

The project is led by the Redd Fish Restoration Society, a registered charity focused on ecosystem restoration, research and education. The project is moving forward through collaboration with the five nuučaanuł Nations located in Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds.

When he was about 16 Lyle Billy was travelling alone on a bus from Gold River to Victoria. In his pocket was an address for a home in upscale Oak Bay, a neighbourhood he had never been to.

“Here we go again,” thought Billy at the time. “There was nobody there to help me, there was nobody there to give me directions. I was just on my own.”

With no one meeting him at the bus depot, the teenage Billy had to somehow find his way to the Oak Bay home, where he would reside as a boarder while continuing high school. There were two other Aboriginal boarders there.

Fun-filled, family-friendly Urban Community Holiday Gatherings are scheduled up and down the Island, in Vancouver and Seattle this December.

It’s been a good few years since the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) hosted the turkey feasts for members living in the cities.

“I’m excited,” said NTC President Judith Sayers. “Urban Gatherings were something that when I first got elected, was an important part of connecting with those living away from home. I really enjoyed going out to each of the cities, talking to people, sharing a meal, some songs and culture.”

Two days without power, Ahousaht and Tofino residents are heading into their third night without electricity, as BC Hydro works to recover transmission after the worst storm the utility has seen in almost six years.

With the Nov. 19 ‘bomb cyclone’ moving away from west coast Vancouver Island, people are assessing the damage while others are stranded due to road closures.

The massive storm approached Vancouver Island late in the afternoon of November 19. Environment Canada warns that strong winds will continue Wednesday morning with southeasterly winds gusting to 110 kilometres an hour.

One meteorologist stated that a wind buoy located at the north end of Vancouver Island recorded a wind gust speed of 101 miles per hour, or 162.5 km/hr.