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Nanaimo, Parksville and Area

serious allegations
Civil suit alleges 'culture of intimidation and hostility' at Gabriola fire department
GABRIOLA ISLAND - Allegations of bullying, a hostile work environment and improper payments have been levelled against three ranking members of a local fire department and its governing body. Filed Tuesday, March 18, in BC Supreme Court in Nanaimo, the department's former corporate officer Matthew Dow, is suing the Gab...
22h ago
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local drug trade
Three arrested in Nanaimo, part of gang enforcement blitz on Vancouver Island
NANAIMO - Three people were arrested locally, with more elsewhere on Vancouver Island, through a multi-day blitz from a specialized policing unit.Members with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia's Uniform Gang Enforcement Team (UGET) conducted a traffic stop on March 7 around the Strickland...
Mar 20, 2025
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election imminent
PM Mark Carney expected to call federal election on Sunday
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to call a federal election on Sunday for a vote as early as April 28. Sources would not confirm the specific date of the vote, but federal campaigns must run at least 37 days. This will be Canada's 45th f...
Mar 20, 2025
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park improvements
Nanaimo's Loudon Park improvement project being stripped back to basics
NANAIMO - A popular central Nanaimo park at Long Lake will see some improvements soon, but it likely won't be at the scale initially envisioned. During the Wednesday, March 19 finance and audit committee meeting, councillors voted to recommend an increase in the budget for improvements at Loudon Park to $6.5 million, a...
Mar 20, 2025
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slalom skills
'Holy smokes:' Nanaimo athlete given hero's welcome after World Games medal win
NANAIMO - Ron Greenhorn was carrying a little extra luggage when he got off his plane at Nanaimo Airport on Tuesday, a bronze medal around his neck. Greenhorn earned it at the 2025 Special Olympics World Games in Turin, Italy, held between March 8 to 15, where he competed in several adaptive skiing events. His medal ca...
Mar 20, 2025
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bargaining agreement
Gabriola volunteer firefighters unionize under CUPE banner
NANAIMO - Members of the Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department have agreed to join Canada's biggest union. The BC Labour Board approved certification for 29 members of the department on Friday, March 14, with the department's paid on-call members joining CUPE Local 606 based in Nanaimo. CUPE, Canadian Union of Public Empl...
Mar 19, 2025
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British Columbia

Police in Vancouver arrest man suspected of vandalizing Tesla dealership
VANCOUVER - Police in Vancouver say they have arrested a 27-year-old man for allegedly vandalizing a Tesla dealership. A statement from police says officers went to the dealership in the city's Kitsilano neighbourhood at about 1:30 a.m. on Friday following reports that a man had spray-painted obscenities on the front w...
1h ago
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Ottawa to provide $1.5 billion for Metro Vancouver's transit service over a decade
VANCOUVER - The federal government has committed more than $1.5 billion over 10 years for Metro Vancouver's beleaguered transit network. A statement from the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities says the funding deal for TransLink is the first metro-region agreement under the new Canada Public Transit ...
2h ago
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Special avalanche warning for central Rockies with 'highly volatile' conditions
Avalanche Canada has issued a public warning for the central Rockies saying there have been several large avalanches over the last two weeks. It says two slides have been fatal and the snowpack "remains primed for human-triggering." The warning covers Banff and Jasper national parks and the Kananaskis area in...
4h ago
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Premium Brands reports Q4 profit more than doubles, revenue up
VANCOUVER - Premium Brands Holdings Corp. reported its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled compared with a year earlier as it saw record revenue for the quarter. The specialty food company says it earned $37.3 million or 84 cents per share for the 13-week period ended Dec. 28. The result compared with a profit of $...
7h ago
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Nearly half of landslides during B.C. disaster linked to logging, wildfire: study
VANCOUVER - A study has found nearly half of the landslides, debris flows and washouts that occurred during British Columbia's atmospheric river disaster in November 2021 originated in areas that had been logged or burned by wildfire. Severe rains triggered a landslide that killed five people on a stretch of Highway 99...
12h ago
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Man convicted of manslaughter in 2023 stabbing of teen on Surrey, B.C., bus
Homicide investigators say a man has been found guilty of manslaughter in the 2023 stabbing death of a 17-year-old boy on a bus in Surrey, B.C. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says in a statement that Kaiden Mintenko from Burnaby, B.C., was found guilty Thursday after a trial in B.C. Supreme Court in New Wes...
19h ago
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Canada

TVA says federal parties have to pay total of $300K for head-to-head French debate
MONTREAL - If the four main federal political parties want to take part in the TVA network's head-to-head French-language debate in the upcoming election campaign, they will have to shell out $75,000 each. The Quebecor-owned television network says it ...
18m ago
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Wife of Ontario man arrested in Dominican Republic says he's '100 per cent innocent'
TORONTO - Jane Wilcox thought it was a simple mix-up when customs officers pulled her husband aside at the Punta Cana airport as they were heading back to Toronto. The couple had just spent a week at a resort in the Dominican Republic with two friends ...
1h ago
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Top political parties gear up for Sunday election call
OTTAWA - Canadians may be keeping their "elbows up" as the U.S. pursues its trade war, but the main federal party leaders are dropping the gloves as an election call inches closer. Prime Minister Mark Carney is widely expected to ask Gov. Gen. Mary Sim...
1h ago
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Mayors of border cities call on Ottawa for funding, support as tariff war continues
Mayors of several Canadian border cities and towns are calling for support from the federal government as the tariff war with the United States starts to hurt their communities. They say their communities are disproportionately impacted because local ...
2h ago
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Carney confirms Liberals won't proceed with planned capital gains tax change
OTTAWA - Days before he's expected to call a federal election, Prime Minister Mark Carney is confirming he won't move ahead with a key Liberal tax policy. The Prime Minister's Office says a plan to hike the inclusion rate on capital gains, first pitche...
2h ago
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Syrian-Canadians call on Ottawa to drop sanctions, reach out to war-ravaged country
OTTAWA - Canadians with ties to Syria say it's time for Ottawa to drop sanctions on the country and help nudge its new leaders toward a democratic, pluralistic future. "There's a lot to be lost if we do not support Syria at this vulnerable time," said ...
3h ago
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