The suspicious January fire dispossessed 15 families in Port Hardy ZOE DUCKLOW, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER Feb. 3, 2021, 3:52 p.m. Published in the North Island Gazette Two weeks after a fire ripped through an apartment in Port Hardy, the six families still looking for new homes are drawing attention to the housing shortage on […]
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Sisiyutł serpent ready for the new Bighouse
The triple-headed serpent is one of several intricate carvings artists have made for the Bighouse ZOE DUCKLOW, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER Jan. 28, 2021, 5:30 a.m. In the carving shed on the Tsulquate reserve there are four house posts and two cross beams, carved and painted. Lying flat they are like slumbering monsters, each measuring […]
COVID-19: Vancouver Island in a January spike while B.C. cases decrease
Island’s top doc Dr. Stanwick breaks down the Island’s rising numbers ZOE DUCKLOW, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER Jan. 26, 2021, 4:00 p.m. Published in Vancouver Island Free Daily. Dr. Bonnie Henry is calling it a precipice, a plateau from which the novel coronavirus could spring upwards, or decline. New cases in B.C. have hovered around […]
‘Suspicious’ Port Hardy apartment fire could keep tenants out of their homes for months
A burning mattress created smoke and heat, causing several tenants to jump from windows ZOE DUCKLOW, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER Jan. 19, 2021 1:57 p.m. A hallway fire that ousted dozens of people from their homes late Sunday is considered suspicious, say RCMP, and an investigation is ongoing. The fire started in the second floor […]
Are Conservative Senators Going to Kill Law Protecting Indigenous Rights?
Bill adopting UN declaration stalled and in danger of dying Almost a year after the House of Commons passed a law committing Canada to accept the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the legislation is stalled in the Senate. And there is a growing risk that the legislation will die there. Once the […]
Site C Is Shortchanging BC Workers and Apprentices, Say Unions
Megaproject a missed opportunity to address skills shortage, critics argue. The largest public works project in B.C.’s history — the Site C dam — is providing a much smaller share of the jobs to British Columbians than previous BC Hydro projects. And despite promises the $10.7-billion megaproject would provide a training ground for a new […]
Jody Wilson-Raybould: ‘She Has Always Just Gone for It’
She’s a fearless ‘uniter’ say watchers of her rise and the Liberals’ crisis. By Zoë Ducklow and Katie Hyslop She was called a rookie MP when she was appointed justice minister and attorney general of Canada in 2015. Yes, it was her first time as a Member of Parliament, but Jody Wilson-Raybould was no rookie […]
Judy Wilson’s Message for Canadians: ‘The Land Defenders Are Doing This for Everybody’
RCMP raids in Wet’suwet’en territory can’t bring justice, reconciliation or a better future, Neskonlith chief says. Chief Judy Wilson of the Neskonlith First Nation, east of Kamloops, is secretary treasurer of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, a community leader, strong opponent of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and an advocate for clean energy. The Tyee […]
Nine Things You Need to Know about the Unist’ot’en Blockade
The RCMP moved Monday to break up a First Nations protest. Here’s how we got to this point. Where is the Unist’ot’en blockade and what’s it about? The gated checkpoint is on a forest service road about 120 kilometres southwest of Smithers in Unist’ot’en territory at the Morice River Bridge. Two natural gas pipelines are […]
Site C Injunction Request Has Strong Argument but Poor Odds

Construction needs to stop so that rights ‘aren’t gone before the First Nations can have their day in court,’ lawyer says. The federal government made a splash in the Site C news cycle earlier this month when Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould announced it would not oppose an injunction application from two First Nations groups. It […]