Three Ditidaht First Nation community buildings at Nitinaht Lake will receive upgrades to improve accessibility, thanks to financial support from the Rick Hansen Fund.

The Rick Hansen Foundation (RHF) announced three B.C. First Nations would be beneficiaries of grants as part of Indigenous Disability Awareness Month. Ditidaht joins Malahat Nation and the Seabird Island Band as recipients of grants that will allow them to make accessibility improvements to community facilities. The RHF program’s goal is to improve accessibility for people facing mobility challenges.

Karen and Stephen Charleson, who have lived at Hesquiaht Harbour for decades, encountered a sight early this month they’ve never seen before: two bears feasting on what appeared to be the carcass of a grey whale.

Stephen had first spotted the massive carcass floating the area about a month prior. Then on Dec. 1 he noticed the bears eating it.

After seeing a precipitation deficit through November, the West Coast's wettest month, a ‘potent and impactful’ atmospheric river brings heavy rainfall to western Vancouver Island.

According to Environment Canada, up to 150 millimetres of rain is expected in some areas, with the storm expected to calm in the early hours of Tuesday, Dec. 5.

The River Forecast Centre issued a high streamflow advisory for the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The Nuchatlaht were back in court on Dec.

The Province of British Columbia and BC Hydro are are working with First Nations and clean-energy companies to advance a call for power next spring.

In June 2023, the province announced that BC Hydro is moving ahead with a call for resources to meet the growing demand for electricity in B.C.

Objectives of the call are to acquire energy from clean or renewable sources that are cost-effective for ratepayers - projects that can come online as early as fall 2028 and initiatives that can be meaningful partnerships with First Nations.

This year DFO reported the largest herring spawn since the mid 1970s on the west coast of Vancouver Island, but Nuu-chah-nulth representatives will not consider a commercial fishery until they see a sustained recovery of the species.

Through the Clean Coast, Clean Waters (CCCW) initiative, the province has funded over $49 million for eight projects that will clean more than 1,400 kilometers of coastal shorelines, removing at least 70 derelict vessels and creating 630 new jobs.

For Nuu-chah-nulth, Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’, Tla-o-qui-aht, Yuułuʔiłʔath, Huu-ay-aht, Uchucklesaht, Tseshaht, Toquaht, Hesquiaht, Nuchatlaht and Mowachaht/Muchalaht are among the First Nations that will benefit from these projects as partners of recipient organizations.

A grieving father is disappointed that his former partner and her husband both pled guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the 2018 death of six-year-old Dontay-Patrick Lucas. The couple were initially charged with first degree murder, which, by definition, involves planning and deliberation.

On the first day of a court hearing to determine the future of a class action lawsuit over health-care related costs from illicit drug use, the province is accusing drug companies of being “bad actors who are fueling this crisis.”

Tsow-Tun Le Lum Society has opened its brand-new treatment centre in Cowichan Tribes territory. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the bigger, new facility on Nov. 27.

Tsow-Tun Le Lum, which means Helping House in the Hul’q’umi’num’ language, is a fully accredited, registered, non-profit treatment society offering holistic and cultural supports for people, not only in addictions, but also for survivors of trauma. Tsow-Tun Le Lum has been helping Indigenous individuals break free from addictions and heal from trauma since 1988, starting at their facility in Nanoose.