Tla-o-qui-aht Chief Councillor Elmer Frank says Tofino mayor and council made the right move to opt-in to B.C.’s new short-term rental (STR) regulations, despite being exempt as a resort community.

During a March 12 meeting, Tofino council discussed community housing concerns for over an hour before ultimately voting 5-2 in favour of Bill 35 - STR Accommodation Act, which seeks to regulate short-term rentals throughout the province by restricting services like Airbnbs to the host’s principal residence, plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on the property.

On March 24, Ditidaht First Nation issued a warning to motorists of a hole extending five feet wide on Carmanah Mainline near the Nitinaht Lake Hatchery.

As of Sunday, March 24, the site is marked with traffic cones, but the notice issued by the First Nation reads that the hole “necessitates immediate attention” for the dangers that it poses to motorists.

With the recent announcement that the Ahousaht First Nation will not be hosting a canoe journey in 2024, other groups are quickly organizing smaller gatherings up and down the Pacific coast.

The All Nations Paddles Up website has posted the announcement that there is no host nation for

Tribal Journeys 2024, but they have listings of gatherings taking place on Vancouver Island and the B.C. and U.S. mainland.

Zeballos-area residents encountered a rare site this morning, as a beached killer whale gave her last breaths while a baby continued to swim around the dying female in the shallow waters.

Kyle Harry is a long-time resident of Ehatis, the Ehattisaht First Nation’s reserve community located right next to Zeballos. He said the orcas were first seen at 7 a.m. by Glenn McCall, who maintains the road to Ehatis. They were sighted by the Causeway bridge, a shallow portion of the Zeballos Inlet that’s approximately a 10-minute drive from the village.

Through traditional songs, food and medicine, homeless individuals who identify as Indigenous are receiving much-needed cultural healing in the Alberni Valley.

Culture Enriches Lives, a newer event put on by KUU-US Crisis Line Society in collaboration with other service providers, provides cultural healing, teachings, food and gathering for the unhoused Indigenous community.

There are 81 active mineral claims in Ehattesaht territory, but none of them will be mined without the First Nation’s permission after a provincial order came down this month.

Issued under B.C.’s Environment and Land Use Act, the order pauses mining activities and the issuance of new permits in the territories of the Gitxaala and Ehattesaht First Nations unless they agree to the activity. This also applies to the registration of new mineral claims in the territories.

They are here in abundance – k̓ʷaqmis/siiḥm̓uu/siix̣bu/Indigenous Easter eggs – herring eggs are here and coastal First Nations are excited.

Up and down the coast of Vancouver Island the seagulls are flocking while whales, seals and sea lions are feasting as herring approach the shoreline to release their gold.

According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada the Pacific herring are found from Baja California in the south to the Beaufort Sea in the north.

The province is preparing, earlier than ever, for what could be a challenging wildfire season with above-average fall and winter temperatures predicted to continue, leading to persistent drought and a lack of snowpack accumulation.

“It is no secret that we did not accumulate the snowpack that we were hoping for in main parts of the province,” said Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. “While we all hope to get more rain in the months ahead, we are taking action now to prepare for what could be a very challenging season.”