The time is quickly approaching for the government to deliver a plan to remove net pens from the ocean, although Canada’s fisheries minister is assuring those tied to the salmon farming industry that no sites will be closed in 2025.

Since 2019 salmon farming has faced a federal mandate to transition from the common industry practice of using net pens in B.C.’s coastal waters. Meeting calls from multiple advocacy groups to eliminate the practice, in December 2019 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued former fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan with a post-election directive.

It’s been more than 20 years since Robert William “Willie” Pickton was arrested on illegal gun charges at his Port Coquitlam pig farm. Armed with warrants, investigators searching the pig farm property soon found evidence that something more serious had happened. On Feb. 22, 2002 Pickton was charged with two counts of murder, launching an investigation that was dubbed the largest crime scene in Canada’s history.

The Port Alberni Fire Department was called to a house fire shortly after noon on December 19 at a home near Haahuupayuk School on the Tseshaht First Nation reserve.

According to PAFC Deputy Chief Travis Cross, one person was sent to hospital and the home sustained some damage. Sources say the occupant was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

“When we arrived, we observed smoke coming from the home, but the fire was out,” Cross told Ha-Shilth-Sa.

The cumulative “snowball” effect from multiple generations of unresolved trauma is a factor behind the opioid crisis’s toll on First Nations, says the head of a family treatment centre that delves into the roots of addictions issues.

Business in Vancouver (BIV) published its 2023 list of the top 500 most influential business leaders in the province, with four Nuu-chah-nulth leaders claiming their place.

Paula Amos, chief marketing and development officer for Indigenous Tourism B.C., Carol Anne Hilton, CEO of Indigenomics Institute, Judith Sayers, a board director for Clean Energy BC, and Kwatuuma Cole Sayers, executive director of Clean Energy BC, were highlighted as “visionaries, innovators, connectors, and trailblazers”. 

Tofino is known internationally for its stunning sandy beaches, surfable waves, old growth rainforests, and abundant wildlife, luring in surfers, transient workers, and thousands to millions of visitors each year. Home to Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, the industry has both provided benefits and concerns for the community.

This year two elected leaders stepped away from politics after serving their First Nations for over a generation - time that included the negotiation of one of British Columbia’s few modern-day treaties.

Charlie Cootes and Robert Dennis Sr. were recognized at the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s Annual General Meeting for their long terms as chief councillors. Held on Nov. 30 in Port Alberni, the meeting took place days before Cootes stepped away from being the Uchucklesaht’s elected chief on Dec. 11. Dennis completed his last term as Huu-ay-aht chief councillor in June.

A delegation representing the Tla-o-qui-aht language department claimed that B.C.’s Indigenous language programs may be at risk of losing up to 58 per cent of their First Peoples’ Cultural Council funding in 2024 if budget allocations across Canada are adjusted.

Anna Masso, TFN’s language coordinator, outlined the strides her nation is making in saving and revitalizing the Tla-o-qui-aht language. But she is afraid of what will happen if more than half of the language budget is cut in April 2024.

Recently retired, Patricia Little looks back on a quarter century with the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, a period marked by momentous transformations in the administrative world - while the surrounding Port Alberni environment was changing for her growing family.

Little concluded her career with the tribal council in June, after 25 years of working in the non-insured health benefits and accounts payable departments. It was a time of continual upgrading for the Tseshaht member, who only got halfway through Grade 12 as a youth.

After 25 years at the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s main office in Port Alberni, Cathy Watts reflects on her fondness for being where the action is, juggling constant telephone calls while attending to visitors who approached her front desk.

“It was hectic at times, but I did it,” said Watts, who retired earlier this year. “I looked forward to just helping out the people and doing the best I could in the front.”