It was late in the evening on June 20, 1942, when the Japanese submarine I-26 shelled the Estevan Point Lighthouse and the Dominion government’s radio telegraph station. The incident occurred on the Hesquiaht First Nation’s former main village on the west coast of Vancouver Island. 

Nobody was hurt and no damage was done to the lighthouse, but the incident marked the first time enemy militants attacked Canadian soil since the War of 1812, according to official reports. 

Manned lighthouses on Vancouver Island are becoming a thing of the past and that is raising alarm among the seafaring people of the remote west coast communities. 

The Canadian Coast Guard and the federal government announced in July that lighthouses at Pachena Point and Carmanah Point would no longer have keepers as of Friday, Oct. 25 due to seismic concerns. While the Coast Guard acknowledged the facilities’ role in alerting mariners to hazards, the safety of lighthouse personnel “is the highest priority”.

Leading up to Remembrance Day on Nov. 11, Canada officially recognizes the role Indigenous veterans have held in international conflicts, an occasion that is about “honouring our ancestors,” says a Tseshaht member.

Today is Indigenous Veterans Day, when the country acknowledges the Aboriginal people who fought for Canada. According to Veterans Affairs Canada, this totaled over 12,000 in the 20th century’s conflicts, with at least 500 losing their lives. 

Regulators have responded to calls for cracking down on bootlegging that continues to flood Ahousaht with hard liquor by placing purchase limits on Tofino’s government-owned liquor store.

Former Canadian Anishinaabe judge and senator Murray Sinclair died early Monday morning in Winnipeg at the age of 73.

Sinclair is remembered most for chairing Canada's National Truth and Reconciliation Commission, being an instrumental part of bringing to light the residential school experiences of Indigenous people in Canada and bringing forth a number of reports outlining the role of different Canadian institutions in the suffering of Indigenous people, and recommendations for how to work towards reconciliation. 

Port Alberni and Ucluelet parents struggling with lofty grocery bills can access free, nutritious lunches and snacks for their kids thanks to a recent partnership between Pacific Rim School District (SD70) and B.C. food charity Nourish Cowichan.

The School Meal Program, co-funded by the Ministry of Education and Child Care’s Feeding Futures funding, is available at all six elementary schools in Port Alberni, Alberni District Secondary School, Eighth Avenue Learning Centre, Ucluelet Elementary School and Ucluelet Secondary School for the 2024-2025 scholastic year. 

Sunshine Coast-based ride-hailing company Coastal Rides is now servicing the Alberni Valley and the traditional territories of Hupacasath and Tseshaht First Nations.

Residents and visitors to the region can pre-book rides through the Coastal Rides app, available on both iOS and Android, in just a few taps. 

“If you need reliable transportation that is scheduled in advance, then we’ll be there,” said Coastal Rides founder Ryan Staley.

The original October 18 completion date has come and gone, and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) has extended the finish date on Highway 4 road repairs by about a month.

“The previous atmospheric river event resulted in additional work to ensure the safety of the public through the side,” the ministry said in an email statement to the Ha-shilth-sa. “As a result, the project has been extended to accommodate for that work with a new anticipated completion date of Nov. 15, pending any unforeseen challenges.”

By using the waste of Koi fish to grow fresh produce, Vancouver Island University (VIU) engineering student Jayden Corbeil (Iversen) is hoping to improve food supply issues in remote communities with an open-source aquaponics project.

A collaboration with the Haíɫzaqv Climate Action Team from Bella Bella in the central coast of B.C., the Hesquiaht member’s capstone project looks at manufacturing a small scale, semi-automated aquaponics system. The project will be placed in a classroom at the Bella Bella Community School. 

Editor’s note: The following story contains profanity and reference to child abuse.

British Columbia’s political landscape has changed overnight, creating a dynamic that has some concerned about how the complexities of an ongoing drug crisis will be handled.