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Nanaimo, Parksville and Area

Prepping for Playoffs
VIDEO: Clippers look to ramp up their team play in playoff stretch drive
NANAIMO - The Clippers sit in a crowded middle of the pack in the BCHL's Coastal Division.A strong March could put Nanaimo into the top four in the standings while a poor month could see the team fall out of the playoffs.The Clippers went on a run of getting points in 10 consecutive hockey games, but now they've lost t...
Mar 07, 2025
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fatalities
Deaths among central Island homeless spike: BC Coroners Service
NANAIMO - Unhoused people on the mid-Island died at double the rate in 2023 compared to the year prior, according to alarming new data. New data published by the BC Coroners Service on Friday, March 7 notes 55 deaths in 2023 involved people on central Vancouver Island experiencing homelessness, the second highest tally...
Mar 07, 2025
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HERE COMES THE RAIN
'A long episode of rain:' rainfall warning issued for Oceanside
PARKSVILLE - After a recent run of relatively pleasant weather, Mother Nature is preparing to point a fire hose right at Oceanside. Environment Canada issued a rainfall warning on Friday, March 7, for areas between Nanoose Bay and Union Bay on eastern Vancouver Island, including Parksville and Qualicum Beach. The advis...
Mar 07, 2025
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non consensual
Man jailed for violent sexual assaults against vulnerable Nanaimo woman
NANAIMO - An offender's developmental and behavioural disorders weren't enough to prevent him from going to jail. Elijah Grier-Gaiga, 29, was sentenced to federal penitentiary for four years after he was found guilty of a sexual assault charge in relation to six incidents between Oct. 1, 2019 and Feb 1, 2020. The Port ...
Mar 07, 2025
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top performances
Central Island lifters medal at Canadian powerlifting nationals
NANAIMO - They came, they lifted and they conquered.A small group of lifters from the Nanaimo and Oceanside region competed at the Canadian Powerlifting Union National Championships, held in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan between Feb. 23 and Mar. 1.Among the group was Margot Croft, who set a new provincial record for her Fema...
Mar 07, 2025
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dangerous driving
'Absolutely ridiculous:' Nanaimo police charge six for motorcycle 'stunting'
NANAIMO - RCMP officers are cracking down on "stunting". Local Mounties say they charged six different people in January alone under the Motor Vehicle Act for a range of dangerous driving-related incidents involving people riding motorcycles at high speeds and in an unsafe manner. Reserve Cst. Gary O'Brien to...
Mar 06, 2025
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British Columbia

Musqueam, Ottawa initial self-government agreement
VANCOUVER - The federal Crown-Indigenous relations minister and the chief of the Musqueam Indian Band have initialled an agreement they say brings the band one step closer to self-governance. Minister Gary Anandasangaree told a ceremony on Friday afternoon that initialling the Musqueam self-government agreement is a &q...
22h ago
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CP NewsAlert: Two new travel-related measles cases in B.C. as exposure areas increase
Health officials in British Columbia say two new travel-related cases of measles have been confirmed in the Lower Mainland, bringing the recent tally to four. Fraser Health says both infected people travelled in the same party from South Korea as another person whose measles infection was identified earlier this week. ...
Mar 08, 2025
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B.C. shipyard awarded $3.15 billion government contract to build icebreaker
VANCOUVER - A British Columbia company has been given a $3.15 billion contract to build one of two icebreaker ships for the Canadian Coast Guard. Public Services and Procurement Canada says in a statement that Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards, located in North Vancouver, B.C., will be building one of the future polar iceb...
Mar 07, 2025
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Eby says electricity export tariffs similar to Ontario's are not 'priority' for B.C.
VANCOUVER - British Columbia Premier David Eby says the province has no plan to follow Ontario and levy a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity exports to the United States. Eby says imposing such a fee "is not currently a priority," with efforts focused on new legislation in coming days that would give the pr...
Mar 07, 2025
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Feds refuse protection order for southern resident orcas, rejecting ministers' advice
OTTAWA - The federal government is rejecting the recommendations of two of its own ministers and refusing to issue an emergency order protecting southern resident killer whales from "imminent threats" to their survival. Instead, the Fisheries Department says "incremental measures will be pursued" to...
Mar 07, 2025
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'It's nice': Meet the Canadians tasked with changing country's famous clocks
For at least a couple of hours on Sunday morning, Halifax residents who get the time from the city's Old Town Clock may be thrown off. Craig Potter, an employee with Parks Canada, will be making the slow climb to change the clock, as he has done twice a year for the past four years. "I'm not going to be there (at)...
Mar 07, 2025
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Canada

Premier hopes identification of remains found at landfill helps family move forward
WINNIPEG - Manitoba's premier says he has spoken with the family of an Indigenous woman murdered by a serial killer, and he hopes the confirmation that her remains have been found during a search at a Winnipeg landfill helps them move forward. "For so long now, years now, her journey to the next phase with her fam...
2h ago
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Canadian canola farmers to feel impact from damaging Chinese tariffs
OTTAWA - Canadian farmers could take a big hit from China's sudden retaliatory tariffs that take aim at canola, pork and other food commodities. Chris Davison, president of the Canola Council of Canada, said the tariffs are prohibitively high and the fallout will be felt across his industry. He said China is a top mark...
3h ago
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Ottawa inks initial contract for new River-class destroyers with Irving
OTTAWA - The federal Liberal government signed an initial deal with Irving Shipbuilding for the Royal Canadian Navy's new River-class destroyers. The implementation contract is worth $8 billion for the first six years and only covers part of the tab for the first three ships -- which will eventually cost $22.2 billion....
7h ago
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Anti-Trump demonstrators rally cities across Quebec for women's rights
MONTREAL - Protesters gathered in front of the United States Consulate in Montreal today to mark International Women's Day and demonstrate against what they called the American government's attacks on women's rights and Canada's sovereignty. It was one of a dozen demonstrations planned across Quebec today, with protest...
7h ago
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Clocks across Canada to spring forward as country recognizes daylight time
Many Canadians will lose an hour of sleep this weekend when they wind their clocks forward. Daylight time comes into effect at 2 a.m. Sunday, which means setting clocks on bedside tables, stoves and microwaves ahead by one hour. Some areas of the country don't observe daylight time, including some parts of Saskatchewan...
13h ago
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The Liberals are about to choose the next prime minister. What happens next?
OTTAWA - The Liberals will choose a new leader Sunday, marking the end of Justin Trudeau's decade as prime minister. He will step down officially in the days to come. On Tuesday, Trudeau said he will have a conversation with the incoming leader to determine exactly when that will happen. "It should happen reasonab...
15h ago
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