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Nanaimo, Parksville and Area

new policy
B.C. ends take-home safer supply of opioids to stop criminal diversion
British Columbia Health Minister Josie Osborne has announced a major revamp of its safer-supply anti-addiction program, converting it to a "witnessed-only" model in which users are watched as they consume opioids they have been prescribed. Osborne said it was a "significant" change to end the take-h...
Feb 19, 2025
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manslaughter
'There are no winners today:' pair jailed for stabbing death of Nanaimo man at Maffeo Sutton Park
NANAIMO - Two men convicted of manslaughter last year will spend the next four to eight years behind bars.Mark Jayden Harrison and Aiden Matthew William Bell, both 21 years old, were formally sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo on Tuesday, Feb. 19, nearly two-and-a-half years after they assaulted and fatally sta...
Feb 19, 2025
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rare sighting
In good news for J-pod, killer whale calf is a female
VANCOUVER - The Centre for Whale Research says it has confirmed a new killer whale calf in a pod of endangered orcas that live off southwest British Columbia is female. It's a piece of good news for J-pod, after the recent death of another calf whose mother pushed the carcass for days in what researchers said was a dis...
Feb 19, 2025
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first responders
Marine search and rescue training to takeover Nanaimo waterfront
NANAIMO - Around 40 Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM-SAR) personnel are preparing for semi-annual training in the city this weekend. Crews from Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Deep Bay and Port Alberni will be in attendance on Saturday, Feb. 22, alongside response teams from the Canadian Coast Guard, RCMP, Nanaimo Port...
Feb 19, 2025
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significant project
Construction well underway on new-look Nanaimo Salvation Army hub
NANAIMO - Vastly expanded housing and dining services are within reach at a key downtown Nanaimo social agency provider. Salvation Army's New Hope Centre is in the midst of a significant renewal with a modernized four-storey complex replacing the facility's demolished 135-year-old two-storey Community & Family Serv...
Feb 19, 2025
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not suspicious in nature
Nanaimo police trying to identify deceased woman found on Lantzville beach
NANAIMO - Local Mounties are trying to positively identify the remains of a woman found on Valentine's Day in Lantzville. Lantzville Fire Rescue requested help from Nanaimo RCMP officers around 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14 after the body of a woman was located on a beach in the District by someone out for a walk. Cst. She...
Feb 18, 2025
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British Columbia

Flood watch up due to possible ice jam on B.C. Interior waterways
VICTORIA - British Columbia's River Forecast Centre has posted a flood watch on three Interior waterways because of the chance of a midseason ice jam. The centre says temperatures in the first two weeks of February have been between 10 C and 17 C below normal in the Merritt area. Warming is expected, and the centre say...
33m ago
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B.C. Conservative MLA says drug crisis cost lives of her brothers, niece and nephew
VICTORIA - The House Leader of the Opposition B.C. Conservatives has described the "unsurmountable" personal impact of the toxic drug crisis, which she says claimed the lives of two of her brothers, a niece and a nephew. A'aliya Warbus says that just last week she attended a memorial for one brother who died ...
1h ago
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B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister denounces racist graffiti on Treaty 8 building
VICTORIA - British Columbia's Indigenous relations minister is condemning "racist vandalism" of a Treaty 8 Tribal Association office in Fort St. John last weekend. Christine Boyle says it is important to stand against acts of hate, adding that Treaty 8 is a "critical part of B.C.'s work to advance reconc...
2h ago
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No damages reported after earthquake shakes parts of Alberta, B.C.
GRANDE CACHE, Alta. - Earthquakes Canada says some Alberta and B.C. residents may have felt the ground shake Thursday morning. A 5.2 magnitude earthquake was detected roughly 63 kilometres northeast of Grande Cache, Alta., but it isn't believed to have caused any damage. The agency says the quake would have been lightl...
3h ago
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Teck Resources reports Q4 profit and record copper production
VANCOUVER - Teck Resources Ltd. reported a profit in its latest quarter compared with a loss a year earlier, helped by record copper production. The Vancouver-based mining company says it earned a profit from continuing operations attributable to shareholders of $385 million or 75 cents per share for the quarter ended ...
9h ago
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Second case of measles confirmed in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, linked to Thailand flight
VANCOUVER - Health authorities in British Columbia have confirmed a second case of measles in the Lower Mainland, this time in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. Vancouver Coastal Health says in a release that the infected person travelled to Southeast Asia in the same party as a Fraser Health region resident who tes...
23h ago
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Canada

PM speaks with Zelenskyy, repeats call for Ukraine's involvement in U.S.-Russia talks
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Washington and Moscow talk about a possible end to Russia's war. Trudeau says Canada "will always stand in defence of Ukraine" and adds that Europe cannot have sustainable peace without security for Ukraine. He ...
A few minutes ago
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A look at outgoing Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King
CHARLOTTETOWN - Dennis King, Prince Edward Island's Progressive Conservative premier, has announced he will step down Friday. Here is a look at the 33rd premier of the Island. Age: 53 Early years: King was born Nov. 1, 1971, in Georgetown, P.E.I., to Catherine (Cattie) Rachel Stevens and Lionel MacKenzie King. Educatio...
27m ago
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Liberals increase Sudan war refugee quota as Quebec bars relatives from resettlement
OTTAWA - The federal government is increasing the number of refugees it plans to resettle as a result of Sudan's civil war, with changes that could see 7,000 more people reach Canada through various programs. But Ottawa says it remains impossible for Quebecers to sponsor relatives from Sudan to resettle in that provinc...
1h ago
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Service slower, more costly after IT overhaul at Quebec auto insurance board: auditor
QUÉBEC - Service is slower and more costly after a $1.1-billion overhaul of the information technology system at Quebec's auto insurance board. That's the conclusion of the province's auditor general in a report released today. The provincial board, which enforces the Highway Safety Code, thought it would save h...
1h ago
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As Trump flags timber tariffs soon, B.C. minister says impact would be 'devastating'
VICTORIA - B.C.'s Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says the expectation of more duties and additional tariffs piled onto Canadian softwood lumber would "absolutely be devastating" for the country's industry. Parmar says they expect the U.S. Commerce Department will issue anti-dumping duties by Friday of as much a...
1h ago
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Poilievre's proposed incentives for First Nations water, resource projects draw fire
OTTAWA - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would incentivize First Nations to support natural-resource projects through industry taxes and revisiting how much sway Indigenous Peoples and environmental considerations have over approving projects. The proposals drew some swift criticism from experts and resear...
1h ago
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