Island Insider

Gardening is a powerful and symbolic medicine for what ails us during the pandemic, mental health experts say.

Island residents will no longer board BC Ferries before tourists after the B.C. government revised the COVID-19 emergency order Thursday.

Three cases of entangled humpback whales have been reported within the past four days, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has confirmed.

Judy Darcy, B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, says a controversial bill that would allow youth to be involuntarily hospitalized after they overdose is on hold. But critics want it permanently nixed.

Food insecurity can only be solved by raising incomes and food banks are an ad hoc solution that senior levels of government rely on to avoid repairing a frayed social safety net, says expert Graham Riches.

Cortes Island area director Noba Anderson is suing the Strathcona Regional District for legal costs and punitive actions linked to a 2019 lawsuit.

"Slipper skippers', who have never fished a day in their lives, are leasing quota to commercial fishers who can see 85 per cent of their catch going to quota and licensing fees,” Gord Johns, NDP Fisheries critic on who benefits from B.C's fish and what needs to change.

In June, 175 people died from illicit drug overdoses across the province, up from the previous record high of 171 fatalities set in May, the BC Coroners Service reported Thursday.

B.C. First Nations people continue to be disproportionately impacted by the opioid overdose crisis during the pandemic. Though First Nations people comprise 3.3​ per cent of the province's overall population, they represent 16 per cent of all overdose deaths as of May 2020.

Discovery Islanders want BC Ferries to act on an emergency measure allowing residents priority boarding.

“It’s special, and it deserves protection," says Read Island resident Lannie Keller on how her tiny B.C. coast community rallied to save 20 acres of mature rainforest from being clear cut. And, how it now aims to save more.

Sea lice from open-net fish farms are contributing to the massive decline in wild salmon stocks, the First Nations Leadership Council stated Thursday, calling on the B.C. and federal government to immediately transition to closed-containment salmon farms.

Tim Green, Canada research chair in shellfish health and genomics at Vancouver Island University, received a $300,000 grant earlier this year to look for markers suggesting the presence of noroviruses and how they travel in the marine environment.

Not even a global pandemic is quashing Cortes Island’s Queer community and allies from celebrating Pride this year.

Q̓ʷalayu House in Campbell River will largely support expectant mothers and families, by giving them a place to stay while they, or their children, receive care at the adjacent North Island Hospital in Campbell River or from local health-care providers. It's scheduled to open next summer.