Beem Credit Union donates $1,000 to 456 students province-wide – BC News

Stefan Labbé / Business in Vancouver – May 20, 2025 / 10:42 am | Story: 551388

Photo: Bailey Repp

Logging in a BC Timber Sales lot in Bigmouth Creek in B.C.’s Northern Selkirks.

The B.C. government-run corporation responsible for administering a fifth of the province’s annual logging quota says it will pause new operations that overlap with habitat of a threatened caribou herd north of Revelstoke.

BC Timber Sales said it had halted pursuing “new investments” in unprotected core caribou habitat of the Columbia North caribou herd, according to correspondence sent to the Kootenay-based Wildsight March 7 and seen by Business in Vancouver.

The pause is expected to last until planning has restarted or government gives BCTS direction, a BCTS planning forester wrote.

“We are not operating within caribou core areas,” the email reads.

Just how much land will be protected in the Revelstoke-Shuswap region and why the region was targeted over others is not yet clear.

The Ministry of Forests did not respond to BIV’s question before the deadline for this story.

Eddie Petryshen, a conservation specialist with the Kootenay-based group Wildsight, said about 112,000 hectares of BCTS tenure overlap in some way with critical habitat of the Columbia North caribou herd.

Petryshen described the decision to pause logging in the area as “significant” and one that came after sustained pressure from First Nations and environmental groups.

“BCTS has thousands of hectares of tenure in that neck of the woods,” said Petryshen. “That’s a pretty good chunk of land.”

BIV reached out to five forestry companies operating in the region to understand how the pause would impact their operations or if they were also considering a pause. None had responded by the time of publication.

Caribou a failed test case of federal Species at Risk Act

Southern mountain caribou are listed as threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act. Their wide range has put efforts to protect the species in direct confrontation with companies seeking to harvest timber or extract fossil fuels buried deep under their forest habitats.

Overall, B.C.’s caribou populations have seen a 51 per cent decline since 1991. Ten herds are now considered either locally extinct or functionally extirpated, according to B.C. government data.

The latest surveys suggest recovery actions — including maternal penning and predator reduction — have helped to reverse that trend, and have already saved the lives of an estimated 1,500 animals across the province.

The Columbia North herd has grown in recent years — from 147 individuals in 2017 to 209 individuals in 2023.

But those represent “modest” gains at a time the herd’s core critical habitat keeps shrinking, said Rob Serrouya, co-director of the Wildlife Science Centre for Biodiversity Pathways, an independent research group that collects data to help recover wildlife populations in western Canada.

In a 2020 study, Serrouya and his colleagues found that despite government recovery efforts, and requirements listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, caribou subpopulations lost twice as much habitat as they gained between 2000 and 2012.

“In this test case of caribou, the Species at Risk Act has not worked to slow down habitat loss for these herds,” he said.

Serrouya pointed to Alberta oil sands and B.C.’s gas fields and vast timber industry places where the future of industry collides with the survival of caribou.

“There’s no other species like it,” said Serrouya. “The economic conflict is enormous.

“On land, I can’t think of another case study in North America living on something that’s worth so much money.”

BCTS direction to halt logging does not apply to ‘existing investments’

The latest direction from BCTS applies to core habitat where caribou regularly live — eating, sleeping and avoiding predators.

It does not apply to matrix habitat, surrounding areas where predators are attracted to feed on prey. When logged, shrubs appear and moose and deer tend to proliferate, in turn, attracting wolves and cougars.

Some of those predators inevitably access the neighbouring core caribou habitat, leading to a spillover effect.

“If you only protect where the caribou live, it’s not enough,” said Serrouya.

BCTS’s logging pause also does not apply to unprotected cut blocks with “existing investments” nearing completion, the BCTS forester added.

Petryshen said exempting existing developments from the BCTS pause leaves a 40-hectare timber sale overlapping with core habitat just south of BC Hydro’s massive Mica Dam — built under the Columbia River Treaty in 1973 and still Canada’s tallest dam.

Clearcutting that block of trees would further fragment the Columbia North herd’s low elevation habitat, said Petreyshen.

“This commitment means that they are getting more serious about protecting that habitat,” he said.

“But that one is problematic. It is in core habitat.”

More than a third of herd’s habitat disturbed by logging activities

Death often comes to caribou in the jaws of a predator. But that deadly moment has deeper roots. Logging and oil and gas exploration have carved up forests across B.C., opening up paths for predators to hunt mountain caribou.

Without human influence, the species has adapted to escape that fate, migrating with the seasons from low-to-high-elevation old-growth forests. Using their wide hooves, caribou can travel on top of deep snow and reach lichen hanging off trees in places few predators can reach.

But as their forested habitat becomes more fragmented, caribou have been pushed to higher elevations where food becomes increasingly scarce and conflicts with heliskiers and snowmobilers more common.

A study published in science journal Nature last year concluded that between 1985 and 2019, southern mountain caribou herds were the most threatened species in B.C. yet experienced the highest rates of disturbance — with nearly 23 per cent of their forested disturbed during the study period.

That number is even higher for the Columbia North herd.

The latest provincial study shows the sub-population has had at least 37 per cent of its core critical habitat disturbed by logging roads and cut blocks.

Only 35 per cent of the territory is considered protected, according to the 2023 analysis.

Logging rates still exceeding habitat recovery, says biologist

Serrouya says his latest data shows the region is still losing more habitat than it gains every year. While trees grow back, that process takes decades and hasn’t kept up with logging rates, he said.

Between 2000 and 2021, the amount of core and matrix caribou habitat disturbed by logging in Columbia North saw a 40 per cent spike over two decades, according to the biologist’s data.

“The disturbance is at a level that exceeds what the population would need to be self-sustaining,” Serrouya said. “The baseline is still getting worse more than it’s getting better.”

“We know now that the habitat is too disturbed to be self-sustaining.”

Until that corner is turned and logging disturbances start to decline, the biologist said controversial programs like the wolf cull will likely need to continue.

Between December 2023 and March 2024, the B.C. government reported killing 248 wolves as part of its province-wide predator reduction program. This season, that number has jumped to 362, the second highest on record since it began a decade ago, records show.

Serrouya says the BCTS decision to pause logging in old growth forests is a step in that direction, though it’s not clear for how long and how big the impact will be.

“You need the counterfactual,” he said. “How much would they have logged? We don’t know that.”

Photo: DriveBC

Highway 3 near the Paulson Summit,

Travellers are being warned that driving conditions on B.C. Southern Interior mountain passes may be less than ideal today.

Environment Canada on Tuesday issued a special weather statement, warning of snow near summits on the Okanagan Connector, from Merritt to Kelowna; Highway 3, from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass; the Coquihalla Highway, from Hope to Merritt and Merritt to Kamloops; and Highway 3, from Princeton via Allison Pass.

“A cool airmass has settled over British Columbia with snow falling over the interior highway passes,” reads the alert from the national weather agency.

“Snow levels have lowered to near 1,200 metres and the risk of snowfall is possible once again for the Coquihalla Highway, and Highway 3, Princeton via Allison Pass with accumulations between a trace to five centimetres.”

Over Paulson Summit and Kootenay Pass, wet snow will end by this afternoon. Snowfall accumulations from trace to five centimetres are expected.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press – May 20, 2025 / 6:07 am | Story: 551340

Photo: The Canadian Press

The setting sun reflects off of power lines as a motorist in a pickup truck travels on the Trans-Canada Highway in Walhachin, B.C., west of Kamloops, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.  

British Columbia’s power utility is facing transformational challenges of drought, rising costs and a trade war with the United States as it works to meet electricity demand that’s surging after two decades of relative stability.

An expected demand increase of 15 per cent by 2030 is sparking questions about whether BC Hydro is ready, with one former B.C. environment minister saying the province faces a power gap.

The Crown utility says it imported a net 13,600 gigawatt hours of power in the 2024 fiscal year, a figure representing about 22 per cent of all supply sources according to a service plan forecast issued last February.

But the utility says it has been a net exporter for eight of the past 15 years, and its outgoing CEO is unequivocal: “We have enough power.”

Customers “should feel confident that (BC Hydro) will be able to meet their needs in a range of circumstances over time,” Chris O’Reily said in an interview after addressing the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on Thursday.

O’Reily told the board tariffs on Canadian goods launched by U.S. President Donald Trump have been “weighing on everyone’s minds.”

But Canada’s trade challenges are also an opportunity to strengthen energy security, expand clean power and drive long-term prosperity, he said.

“By fostering homegrown solutions, by reinforcing regional collaboration, we can reduce our reliance on foreign markets and boost B.C.’s economy and create well-paying jobs in the renewable power sector,” said O’Reily, who retires this year.

He pointed to additional capacity coming online with the Site C dam in northern B.C. as well as 10 renewable energy projects selected through BC Hydro’s call for power in 2024 and another call set to launch this year.

O’Reily also highlighted BC Hydro’s capital plan released in January. It allocates $36 billion over 10 years to replace aging infrastructure, expand distribution capacity and connect new electricity sources to the grid, he said.

Barry Penner, who served as B.C.’s environment minister between 2005 and 2010, is skeptical about the utility’s readiness.

He said the province isn’t generating enough electricity on its own, particularly given threats from south of the border.

“We’re importing electricity on a net basis, meaning, yes, there are still brief periods where we’re selling electricity, but we’re importing a lot more than we’re selling.”

B.C. is on track to be a net importer again this year, buying most from the United States, said Penner, who chairs the Energy Futures Institute.

“Is there a guarantee we’ll be able to buy that electricity tomorrow, or next year? Can you promise that President Trump won’t curtail electricity sales?” Penner said.

“I hope he won’t. But he’s been demonstrated to be rather unpredictable and not necessarily a reliable ally to Canada.”

Penner said drought has been the driver behind imports, forcing BC Hydro to hold back water in reservoirs to ensure supply during peak demand.

In an application to the B.C. Utilities Commission in March, the utility said “persistent drought conditions and low snowpack since the fall of 2022” had required higher-than-planned electricity import costs amounting to $1.5 billion.

O’Reily said that’s partly why customers saw a rate increase of 3.75 per cent on April 1, with the same bump set to kick in next year. Each increase amounts to about $3.75 per month for the average residential customer, he said.

In addition to drought, BC Hydro’s submission to the B.C. Utilities Commission said it faced “extraordinary inflation and market escalation,” through it had benefited from higher-than-expected energy trading income.

O’Reily said the latest rate increases also reflect an “offset” provided by profits from Powerex, BC Hydro’s electricity trading business. Over the last five years, he said the average annual profit from Powerex has been about $550 million.

“All of that gets put back to our customers and it reduces rates. So it reduces rates by about nine per cent,” he said, and B.C. maintains some of the lowest rates in North America.

A report from Clean Energy Canada in February said B.C. imported 16 per cent more power than it exported between January 2019 and November 2024, but the value of exports was 35 per cent higher than the cost of the imports.

Still, Penner said it’s the recent trend that’s concerning.

He said drought was the subject of a December 2023 letter sent by the CEO of Powerex to the governing body of the Western Energy Imbalance Market that facilitates cross-border and interstate energy transfers between utilities.

The letter from Tom Bechard, who has since retired, said B.C. had been experiencing a “prolonged, widespread and severe drought” requiring “large volumes of ongoing net imports” from Powerex.

In 2023, Powerex had been a net importer for about 10,000 gigawatt hours, “greatly exceeding the previous annual net import record,” the letter said.

Another former member of the province’s Environment Ministry, however, said B.C. appears to be in “reasonably good shape” to meet growing demand for power.

Mark Zacharias, who served as deputy minister between 2017 and 2020, said the Site C dam and the 10 renewable energy projects selected through the call for power last year are expected to boost B.C.’s capacity by 16 per cent.

The province has announced BC Hydro is planning another call for power this year with the goal of adding another eight per cent capacity, he said.

At the same time, B.C. is becoming more efficient in using electricity, said Zacharias, now a special adviser with Clean Energy Canada.

“There are a lot of technological improvements happening very rapidly around us … that are also going to contribute to future grid stability and basically help offset whatever might be happening with climate change and reservoir levels,” he said.

BC Hydro has projected its energy efficiency plan could result in up to 2,000 gigawatt hours of savings by 2030, equivalent to powering 200,000 homes.

Penner, meanwhile, said electricity from the 10 projects selected in the last call for power — nine wind and one solar — may take five years or more to hit the grid, and BC Hydro itself has acknowledged a risk.

“This risk may materialize as projects failing to reach commercial operation, delivering less energy than anticipated, or delivering the expected energy at a later date,” it told the utilities commission in February.

The earliest guaranteed commercial operation date among the projects is 2031, though the submission said the province is working to accelerate timelines.

Where O’Reily, Penner and Zacharias agree, though, is on the need to reduce reliance on the United States, in part by strengthening ties with the rest of Canada.

B.C. and Canada should be “energy and electricity sovereign,” Zacharias said.

“We need to look east-west across Canada, particularly when the (United States) is no longer a stable trading partner.”

O’Reily, too, said BC Hydro is interested in strengthening ties with Alberta and the rest of Canada, moving away from the traditional north-south linkages.

“More independence from the United States, I think, is a pretty reasonable thing to do given events,” he said.

“But we are going to remain connected. We generate significant revenue from that interconnection … It’s part of how we keep rates down here.”

Abby Luciano, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter / North Shore News – May 19, 2025 / 7:02 pm | Story: 551302

Photo: Shane Austin

A Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue crew searches for a young man and woman stranded on Whyte Islet in West Vancouver Friday evening. 

A man and woman in their early 20s are safe and sound after being stranded on an islet in West Vancouver during the long weekend.

West Vancouver’s Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) group were tasked around 9 p.m. Friday, May 17 to help two people who had become stuck on Whyte Islet, near Whytecliff Park in West Van, due to rising tides.

The young man and woman are arts students and had been out on a photo shoot on Whyte Islet earlier that day, bringing camera gear and props, said Shane Austin, media liaison for the local RCMSAR station. They had misinterpreted the tide chart and noticed the land connection to Whytecliff Park had become submerged as they were snapping photos.

As the pair realized their situation, they Googled what to do. They found a rescue article from North Shore News and then Googled to find the number for the Coast Guard, Austin said.

“In this case, they did exactly the right thing,” Austin said.

“It’s an [islet] that at high tide, you can walk out to,” he added. “So a lot of people go to Whyte Park and they walk out on the island and they get distracted or they are completely unaware that the ocean goes up and down, and they come back after being there for an hour or two and they realize, ‘Oh I’m now on an island and I can’t swim back there.’”

A rescue crew arrived on scene within 20 minutes after receiving the call, where they spotted the duo at the Northwest corner of the islet. But getting to the two students was no easy task, Austin said.

“We spotted them, but unfortunately the spot they were in was not a spot that we could take the boat,” Austin said. “There’s lots of rocks and these kind of things, and it needs to be a safe place for them to get into the boat.”

Volunteer rescue crews told the two to stay where they were so they could move the boat around to the other side of the islet. Once they took the boat to the other side, Austin and another rescue member climbed up onto the islet and located the pair.

The two were cold but were not showing any signs of hypothermia, he said.

Rescue crews helped the two get back to the boat as the conditions were rainy, windy and slippery, and they carrying a bunch of camera gear. The group made it to the boat and climbed in, where the man and woman were given a blanket to stay warm and dry as they headed to the Horseshoe Bay Pier.

“I think at first, they were nervous and embarrassed. We try to put people at ease that they should never be scared or embarrassed to call us, [even] if it seems like a silly reason,” Austin said. “If they tried to swim, or they’d stayed out there in the cold for hours, that could have very easily become a bad situation.”

Austin said particularly with Whyte Islet, the situation can change quickly. At low tides, people can walk out to the islet by walking across a narrow ridge of rocks, but at high tide the peninsula is underwater.

“You will be stuck out there until the tide goes back down, and that can be many hours, the tides are not a fixed thing,” he said.

Austin said people can also press *16 or #727 if they are in any situation on the water, or dial 911 if it’s an emergency.

Adam Campbell / BIV – May 19, 2025 / 12:09 pm | Story: 551249

Photo: Elise Vout Courtesy of Reel Green™ at Creative BC.

Electric power generators for film productions built by Vancouver-based MBS Equipment Co.

Economic headwinds and uncertainties in B.C.’s film and TV industry are not making it harder for productions to be sustainable, but they could be causing distractions. 

“They provide a lot of noise…opportunity for confusion,” said Zena Harris, president of the Green Spark Group.

Founded in 2014, the Vancouver-based sustainability consulting firm provides training for organizations in the film and television industry to enable sustainable production. 

In the last decade, Harris said there’s been tremendous growth in sustainability awareness from industry organizations and productions in B.C. Nevertheless, the sector has encountered headwinds in recent times, like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hollywood strikes in 2023, and now, the threat of 100 per cent tariffs on foreign-made films by U.S. President Donald Trump. 

So far, these challenges haven’t affected the sustainability journey of Big Time Decent Productions Inc., said president and executive producer Matthew Shewchuk.

“It’s business as usual for us,” he said, highlighting that the Canadian Media Fund requires productions to provide carbon footprint reports on how the production is implementing sustainable practices.  

He said the industry headwinds are dealt with separately, and in the meantime, the business must operate with a commitment to sustainability. 

However, Shewchuk also said that headwinds are generating more issues to process and deal with, which could cause some bigger companies to reduce their sustainable practices. 

Fuel consumption from transportation and equipment is a key factor in a production’s carbon footprint, said Harris. Additionally, there still isn’t a good measurement of the carbon in set materials, including things like wood in a production’s construction department, she said. 

Data shows the annual carbon footprint of a feature film in Canada is around 7,126 tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the annual energy use of 1,669 homes, according to a 2023 industry carbon footprint report produced by Green Spark and commissioned by Telefilm Canada. 

The footprint for a television series was significantly higher, coming in at about 260,843 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to the usage of 61,087 homes in a year. The report also showed the biggest carbon emitters in B.C. were travel and transport, responsible for 63 per cent of hourly emissions.

One of the main barriers for productions to be sustainable is widespread crew adoption, said Harris, and “going from show to show in a consistent manner and integrating sustainable practices.”

These are psychological and behavioural barriers, she said. Productions have the technology to reduce emissions and the means to calculate it, but staff need to feel confident and supported in that effort before utilizing equipment like electrical generators or carbon calculators, added Harris. 

In late April, Green Spark announced they would enter a partnership with the Green Toolkit, a German carbon calculator software tool based on ISO 14067. This is an international standard for quantifying carbon footprints. 

Green Spark decided to partner with the Green Toolkit to standardize their carbon accounting, to have that footprint audited by a third party and be ISO-certified, said Harris.

The industry’s sustainability trend really picked up around five years ago, when domestic producers, and most of the major film studios like Netflix Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., began implementing sustainability teams into their operations.

That’s what B.C. film commissioner Marnie Gee told BIV in February, who also said there’s been a shift in B.C. studios having very early conversations around sustainability, as opposed to midway or by the end of production.  

Initiatives like Reel Green, from the BC Film Commission at Creative BC, are putting together industry partners to drive the adoption of these sustainable practices in the province’s industry. 

Started in 2006, the initiative provides sustainable production training for crews and tools on how to reduce their footprint, and despite conversations around the future role of hydrogen power in the industry, for now, Gee said Reel Green is focusing on tying into B.C.’s clean power. 

Out of the 22 productions who participated in the Green Spark study between spring 2022 and 2023, six of these were located in British Columbia. On average, B.C. had the second-lowest average emissions of other provinces at 11 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hour, just over the Prairies and Territories region at 7.2 tonnes. 

Vancouver production companies embrace sustainability 

When talking about sustainability, there could be misconceptions around the cost of undertaking green practices, and for Harris, the perceived cost of sustainability is a hindrance, whereas the actual cost tends not to be. 

“When you start looking at the budget holistically, it is less expensive to incorporate sustainable practices,” she said.

Vancouver-based production company Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. (TSXV:TBRD), who’s sustainability journey started around two years ago, reduces emissions through logistics in pre-production and even before that, said vice-president of sustainability and business affairs Marsha Newbery in February. 

This is the stage where you can have the most impact on your footprint, and taking these steps during production is already too late, she said. 

An example of this is using electric generators and setting up filming locations relatively close together to reduce travel distances, which saved over $100,000 in fuel costs during the filming of Reginald the Vampire Season 2, according to Newbery. 

“This is becoming a part of our legal and contractual requirements,” she said. “Five years ago, people didn’t want to talk about it, and now, everybody wants to talk about it.”

Other Vancouver production companies like Big Time Decent offset carbon footprints on flights and hire locally to reduce impacts, said Shewchuk.

However, B.C.’s remoteness and the availability of electrical infrastructure is sometimes a challenge for both of these production companies, as the availability of green infrastructure is not uniform across the province, said Newbery. 

Despite these challenges, the influx of U.S. studios with green policies that come to B.C. is driving growth in infrastructure, giving the province advantages that don’t exist elsewhere, she said.

Photo: DriveBC

Pennask Summit – W Highway 97C (Okanagan Connector) about 74 km west of Kelowna, looking west. (elevation: 1717 metres)

It may be the unofficial start of summer, but Environment Canada has issued weather alerts for B.C. highways, Monday; including the Coquihalla Highway – Hope to Merritt; Coquihalla Highway – Merritt to Kamloops; Highway 3 – Hope to Princeton via Allison Pass and the Okanagan Connector – Merritt to Kelowna.

The special weather statement has been issued as a Pacific front approaches the southwestern B.C. Interior Monday morning.

“Wet snow is expected over the highway summits as snow levels will be near 1200 metres initially. Snowfall accumulations from trace to 5 cm are expected this morning,” says the Environment Canada alert.

As snow level rises above the summits this afternoon, snow is expected to change to rain, but wet snow may return again overnight tonight as snow level falls again.

Wet snow is expected on the Paulson Summit and Kootenay Pass overnight Monday as well.

“Wet snow will start near the pass this afternoon and continue through Tuesday,” says Environment Canada.

Snowfall accumulations from trace to 5 cm are expected this evening, with an additional 5 cm possible on Tuesday.

Travellers are advised to be prepared to adjust their driving as conditions may change at high elevations.

Darron Kloster / Times Colonist – May 19, 2025 / 7:24 am | Story: 551220

Photo: .

The juvenile Bryde’s whale was found dead Thursday in Port McNeill Bay, far from his normal range. VIA MARINE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH SOCIETY

The rare Bryde’s whale that washed ashore in Port McNeill Bay this week will be a feature display in the new Whale Interpretive Centre being rebuilt in Telegraph Cove.

Jim Borrowman, who has operated the museum for more than two decades, confirmed the Bryde’s whale was gifted by the ‘Namgis First Nation. The museum is currently rebuilding after a devastating fire last New Year’s Eve and Borrowman said the whale’s skeletal remains will signal a significant “rebirth” of the museum in 2026.

“We have been blown away from the ‘Namgis and the people of Alert Bay who have gone out of their way to make this happen,” said Borrowman.

“It’s kind of a new beginning for us.”

The juvenile Bryde’s whale was found dead Thursday in Port McNeill Bay, far from his normal range. Bryde’s whales (pronounced BROO-dus) are a type of baleen whale, spanning the globe in tropical and subtropical waters, and rarely seen in waters north of latitude 35° north.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada said the Bryde’s whale was the only one ever to be seen in Canadian waters.

Starting over, the Bryde’s whale will be a centrepiece at the museum, said Borrowman.

“The Bryde’s whale is extremely rare and the only one ever known to be here, so it’s very special to have this whale be part of the new museum.”

Borrowman spent years collecting the specimens that were on display at the centre, which began in 2002 and housed skeletons of a resident killer whale, Bigg’s killer whale, humpback whale, minke whale, grey whale, a 20-metre fin whale and an extremely rare Cuvier’s beaked whale.

All were lost to the fire.

Luckily, three of the centre’s skeletons — a Risso’s dolphin, a Dall’s porpoise and a pygmy sperm whale — were all either on loan or being re-articulated elsewhere when the fire razed the waterfront.

Mary Borrowman, Jim’s wife and partner in the whale interpretive centre, added: “We are so thankful to the ‘Namgis First Nation and that Chief Victor Isaac and Hereditary Chief Ernest Alfred are passionate about what we do, and feel that this is a good home for their whale so that it can be used for educational purposes for years to come.”

Borrowman said Mike deRoos, who owns Salt Spring Island-based Cetacean Contracting, will start dismembering the dead whale on Saturday. The company specializes in cleaning and articulating marine mammal skeletons and has done many of the specimens in the Telegraph Cove museum.

“They will take all the bones apart and package them up and tarp them and take them back to Salt Spring,” said Borrowman. “We’ve done this kind of thing for years and it’s quite a process to take every rib off the vertebrae and separate everything.

“It can be quite a process as you can imagine what it’s like to take an animal of this size apart,” said Borrowman.

A provincial wildlife veterinarian completed a necropsy on the Bryde’s whale on Friday, after the ‘Namgis First Nation held a ceremony to honour the deceased whale.

The necropsy results won’t be finalized for some time. It wasn’t immediately known how the whale died.

Borrowman, who was on the site, said initial inspection of the body after the necropsy samples were taken revealed that it was a younger male whale that appeared “very healthy and who had been alive just a few days before, because the inside of the body was still quite warm.”

Borrowman said all of the bones of the whale will be stripped on the beach and taken to the deRoos property on Salt Spring Island to be cleaned and eventually dried. Borrowman said part of the process might involve burying the bones in a combination of soil and horse manure to speed the decomposition process.

“It will be mostly cleaned up over the next few months,” he said. “I don’t think this animal will take more than two or three months to be put together.”

Bryde’s whales are considered one of the great whales, or rorquals, a group that also includes blue and humpback whales, according to NOAA, the U.S. federal ocean agency.

Bryde’s whales can grow to 55 feet long and weigh up to 90,000 pounds. The head of the whale makes up about one quarter of its entire body length.

Rebuilding the historic boardwalk at Telegraph Cove is well underway after the New Year’s Eve fire.

Several buildings are expected to be completed in time for the ­summer season. The Whale Interpretive Centre, pub and restaurant buildings will follow, but might not be completed or fully operational until spring or summer of 2026. The centre plans to have a tent and interpretive displays on the wharf this summer.

The fire destroyed the whale centre, Old Saltery Pub, Killer Whale Café, Wastell Manor heritage house, Prince of Whales offices and staff housing and a portion of the boardwalk.

About a third of the massive pier that supported the buildings and made the resort such a popular place was destroyed by the blaze.

The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, but it was thought to be electrical wiring compromised by rodents.

Heather Jeal / Coast Life / Coast Reporter – May 19, 2025 / 7:21 am | Story: 551219

Photo: .

Always a packed house at Gibsons Legion for an evening of Name that Tune.

On the Sunshine Coast, a dynamic new generation of leadership has emerged to keep its four Legion branches open for the area’s 1,500-plus members as well as the general public and user groups. Their challenge: to make the Legion relevant for our current community demographic. For a new, younger crowd in Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Sechelt, or Pender Harbour, this is not your grandpa’s Legion. 

The youngest branches — Roberts Creek and Pender Harbour, established in the 1940s — also boast the youngest membership demographic. Closely in tune with their respective communities, each works to cement community support by responding their area’s culture.

Open late and with limited food service, Roberts Creek’s eclectic “Little Legion” has evolved into a virtual night club, reflecting the Creek’s music-loving culture. President John Davis notes their success in attracting top touring bands to “probably the Coast’s best venue under 200 seats” makes financial sense for all involved. 

“They have to drive right past us anyway on their way to Pender Harbour and Powell River, so we provide a kind of paid rest stop.” 

Drawing attendance from across the Lower Coast, he is pleased to see “people barely old enough to be in the bar rubbing shoulders with older generations.” 

In Madeira Park, the Pender Harbour Legion focuses on community-building with a roster of well-established and well-attended events, providing a venue for cross-Coastal favorites like the annual Rotary Scotch Tasting and the Pender Harbour Blues Fest. Thanks to its family-friendly restaurant, Pender Harbour’s Legion now boasts 300 members, all justly proud of its recent formal recognition as an emergency centre and community hub. 

President Bob Baker noted that during the recent February cold snap (AKA “Sunshine Coast winter”) Branch 112 opened its doors to provide shelter, meals, charging stations for phones and laptops, activities for adults and kids, and above all—warmth. A newly-acquired generator stood by if needed as volunteers worked the bar and served up hot meals from the kitchen. 

As branch Secretary Carolyn Farrand notes, “We know we need to broaden our horizons, and keep current. We are getting a lot of younger people now, especially since we’ve been making these changes.” 

Just a decade ago, the Coast’s two largest and oldest branches—Gibsons (1930) and Sechelt (1934)—faced potential closure by the BC and Yukon Command. Soaring operating costs for their two cavernous buildings coupled with a diminishing volunteer base and membership were driving the venerable clubs into debt. With land values soaring, the two clubs faced pressure either to close, or sell their property and relocate to a more sustainable location, or redevelop the property into a marketable entity capable of supporting the Legion’s operation. 

Sechelt Legion chose to sell, then purchased a former auto repair shop on Inlet Street for a new, smaller, but more sustainable location. The cement floors, cinder block walls, and garage doors opening onto a view of the Post Office across the street didn’t exactly scream “come on in.” But when the garage doors opened on the new venue last fall, the re-imagined and redesigned “140 Bar and Grill” is the envy of other Legions. 

Like Pender Harbour, the Sechelt Legion offers meal service for lunch, dinner, and Happy Hour daily except Sundays in a welcoming venue honoring the service of past and current generations through a stunning display of memorabilia paying respectful tribute to the various branches of the armed services, RCMP, and first responders.

Designed and largely built by volunteers under the direction of vice president Mike David, the warm and welcoming space reflects wartime British pubs. A retired fire captain and longtime Legion member, Mike David indulged his passion, vision, and artistry as a woodcarver in the Legion’s décor. The beautifully-finished live edge bar top, central table, and ledges by the pool table gleam invitingly. A “snug” draped in parachute silk provides more intimate seating, and a gas fireplace flanked by two easy chairs adds a special ambience of comfort. 

Look carefully to find many touches that reflect the Legion members’ past service. A central pillar includes a tribute to the RCMP and first responders: fire, search and rescue, Coast Guard. Above the bar, lights are shielded by genuine First World War army helmets. Mike developed a new respect for those helmets as he attempted to drill holes to accommodate the light fittings. “I can’t tell you how many drill bits we broke!”  

In Gibsons, the 470-plus members of Branch 109 are determined to keep their 1960s-era hall and lounge although, as president Steve Baker says ruefully, BC and Yukon Command have not taken the possibility of redevelopment off the table. That large angular lot between Gibsons Way and School Road is prime real estate adjacent to the town’s major business district and growing high-density residential area. The municipality has also eyed the property as an ideal site to develop low-income housing, perhaps building apartments above a redesigned Legion on the ground floor (as has been done in other communities.) 

Since at least the 1990s, revenue from memberships, bar sales in the 120-seat lounge and rental of the capacious hall with commercial kitchen has been in decline. But in 2019-2020, the pandemic closures also presented an opportunity: a chance to draw in residents eager to finally leave the lockdown behind. A new generation walked in the doors to join darts league and singers’ circles, and recognized possibilities for the largest licensed public hall on the Coast. 

Coastal Hosts & Entertainment (coastalhosts.ca), operated by Scotty Collison and Faye Kiewitz, stepped in to host events with game-show pizzazz and cross-generational appeal. Their Rock and Roll Bingo, Name That Tune, Family Feud, Trivia Nights, monthly Bob Ross Painting sessions and weekend music events regularly pack the house. Coastal Hosts brings in their own caterer to provide meal service for the family-friendly events (otherwise, the Gibsons Legion is limited to bar service only). With membership and attendance growing, the Gibsons Legion’s future is looking bright.

With their ongoing focus on community building, and their respect for the service past and present, of members of Canada’s military and first responders, the Legions define us as a community and a nation—while helping shape growth for a new generation.

Jeremy Hainsworth / Glacier Media – May 18, 2025 / 7:17 pm | Story: 551179

Photo: Pixabay

A Vancouver couch owner won’t be getting compensation for a sofa she said wasn’t up to standard. The couch in this photo is a stock image.

B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has dismissed a woman’s case about a couch about which she complained two years after buying it.

“This is a dispute about the quality of a couch,” tribunal member Deanna Rivers said in her May 13 decision.

Nadia Kozminchuk told the tribunal that the sofa from Vancouver’s Couch Haus was not the quality she expected.

She claimed a refund of $2,853 — or half the cost of the couch.

Couch Haus said the couch’s issues were from use. It also said the piece of furniture was past the warranty period.

The parties agreed that in October 2021, Kozminchuk ordered a modular couch from Couch Haus. It was delivered the week of March 21, 2022.

The company said the couch had a one-year warranty.

Couch Haus said Kozminchuk did not make a complaint until March 2024.

Rivers said it appeared Kozminchuk was claiming a breach of contract or breach of warranty.

“However, neither party provided a copy of the contract for the couch’s purchase,” Rivers said. “While Couch Haus says the couch had a one-year warranty, neither party provided a copy of the warranty.”

Rivers said Kozminchuk had not proven any warranty breach.

“I find that the couch was reasonably durable with normal use,” Rivers said. “There is no evidence that the applicant complained of any deficiency in the couch until March 2024, almost two years after delivery.”

Rivers stated that even proven cosmetic flaws appearing after two years do not indicate a lack of durability over a reasonable period. As such, Rivers dismissed Kozminchuk’s case.

The Canadian Press – May 18, 2025 / 6:45 am | Story: 551078

Photo: The Canadian Press

The RCMP logo is seen in Surrey, B.C., on Friday April 13, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A 22-year-old woman is dead after a fatal slack line incident at a recreation area north of Vancouver.

Squamish RCMP say they received a report on Saturday afternoon of a female falling from a slack line at Chek Canyon Recreation Area.

The area is a popular climbing spot 87 kilometres north of Vancouver.

Mounties say first responders confirmed the woman was dead at the scene.

Search and Rescue was called in to help with the recovery effort due to difficulty accessing the area, which was at the bottom of a canyon.

RCMP says the B.C. Coroners Service is investigating.

Sandra Thomas / Powel River Peak – May 17, 2025 / 8:44 pm | Story: 551051

Photo: Nick Laba.

Gibsons Mayor Silas White, Bowen Island Mayor Andrew Leonard and Randene Neill, MLA for Powell River–Sunshine Coast, met with Premier David Eby this week.

Gibsons Mayor Silas White describes a meeting with BC Premier David Eby regarding the state of BC Ferries as “encouraging.”

White, Bowen Island Mayor Andrew Leonard and Randene Neill, MLA for Powell River–Sunshine Coast, met with Eby online Thursday, to discuss the ongoing deterioration of ferry service on BC Ferries Routes 3 (Langdale–Horseshoe Bay) and 8 (Snug Cove–Horseshoe Bay).

White and Leonard sent a joint letter to Eby April 25, requesting a meeting to address what the mayors describe as a “system in crisis, with frequent service breakdowns, prolonged delays, and an absence of accountability across the organizations responsible for coastal ferry operations.”

“Even though Randene Neill doesn’t represent Bowen Island, we were encouraged to engage with Randene about further ideas and steps,” said White. “I know a step that’s actually happening right now is that the Minister of Transportation has been tasked with looking at our letter and concerns about accountability at BC Ferries.”

White added during the meeting, Eby said further updates will be coming soon from the provincial government.

“Which is really encouraging, because quite often the provincial government just says, ‘Look, this is a private corporation where we have a distance from them,’ and they’ll just kind of wash their hands of it,” said White. “But it’s really encouraging that the premier’s accepting some public responsibility for the essential service for our ferry-dependent communities.”

White noted Neill had already been working on the issue behind the scenes, speaking to Coast residents and making their concerns known during recent meetings with Eby and the Ministry of Transportation and Transit.    

“So, I do have the impression that they’re looking hard at the structure, because we’ve raised those issues of accountability to ferry-dependent communities and how that seems to be getting missed,” said White.

The recent Easter long weekend highlighted just how broken the system appears to be for Route 3, when ferry traffic clogged the Sea to Sky Highway at Horseshoe Bay, even blocking the route to Whistler. The highway leading to the Langdale ferry terminal was also blocked to the point vehicles heading to pick up walk-on passengers weren’t able to get there.

Just days before the Easter long weekend, BC Ferries announced there would be no extra sailings out of Horseshoe Bay. In 2024, there were 12 extra sailings between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay in Nanaimo and eight more sailings between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale on that same weekend.

As well, on the Monday of that long weekend, the Queen of Coquitlam from Langdale was stranded just outside Horseshoe Bay for four hours due to an issue with its “pitch control,” creating delays and ferry cancellations. The issues experienced by passengers that weekend were part of the catalyst behind the letter to Eby from White and Leonard.

White noted Eby appeared to hear their frustrations, acknowledged what’s been happening and committed to making the resolution of some of the issues a  priority.

“I’m not going to say it’s top priority, there are lots of things going on right now, but definitely making it a priority and following up with us and looking at some solutions,” said White.

White noted Eby also recognized there are short-term concerns that need to be addressed as well, such as ensuring reliable ferry service this summer.  

He added the recent announcement that the Office of the BC Ferries Commissioner approved only four of the five new major vessels BC Ferries requested, is problematic. While none of the four ferries are destined to serve the Sunshine Coast, the fifth relief vessel would have come into play when needed. White said there seems to be a lack of accountability when it comes to BC Ferries.

“There’s the B.C. Ferry Authority and the BC Ferries board, but the whole public engagement piece aside, there’s no place for all the agencies that are concerned about this and governments concerned about this, to get together and say, ‘Okay, well, if the BC Ferries commissioner said no to this fifth vessel, then what is the plan and who’s responsible for ensuring there’s a plan. There’s just no place for that. That’s really a severe shortcoming of the system right now.”