With an increase in measles, whooping cough, and other preventable diseases around the world the province says they are promoting this year's National Immunization Awareness Week. 

According to the federal government’s website, so far Canada has 50 active cases of measles and estimates a total of 60 cases have been reported so far this year.  

The government also estimates there is one case of rubella syndrome has been diagnosed in across Canada. 

Health minister Adrian Dix says this annual event helps people get the proper immunizations they need to lower the risk to themselves and reduce the impact on hospitals across the province. 

“Immunization plays a vital role in maintaining public health by reducing the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases,” Dix says. “It lowers the number of cases, hospitalizations, and fatalities associated with these diseases, thereby improving the quality of life.” 

The province says measles is highly contagious and everyone who has not got their shots should consider consulting their medical practitioner, especially babies and children. 

Dix says this is why the government has implemented a program to offer, and extend, protection for those who need it, crediting medical professionals for their hard work. 

“I want to thank the healthcare professionals who provide information to their patients about the benefits of immunizations, administer vaccines, and help people keep safe from the spread of diseases,” Dix says.  

The province says measles is quickly spread in schools, and children who are not immunized or fully immunized are offered a vaccine or excluded from school. 

The World Health Organization reported a 79 per cent increase in measles cases last year, compared to 2022. 

The last case of measles in BC was reported in 2019. 

The post Province aims to provide effective immunization appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.

An orca calf trapped in a lagoon for a month after her mother died swam out on her own early this morning.

A statement from the Ehattesaht First Nation says kʷiisaḥiʔis the ‘Brave Little Hunter’ swam out of the Zeballos lagoon around 2:30 am, with the high tide. This morning, she was spotted moving into Esperanza Inlet, which connects with the open ocean.

The statement says the rescue team will now focus on encouraging her to keep going, so her calls will be hopefully heard by her family pod.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the local nations are asking people and boaters to keep clear of the area, to prevent anything from discouraging the orca from reuniting with her family.

The orca had been in the lagoon for a month after she and her mother entered chasing prey. When the tide went out, her mother was beached and died. The only entrance to the lagoon is a narrow passage under a bridge, only open at the highest tides.

Rescuers have been trying to encourage the calf to leave ever since, with almost 50 people involved in the attempts at one point, with everything under consideration from a helicopter lift, to banging metal pipes underwater.

In the end, the orca swam out on her own terms.

The orca is a Biggs killer whale, which eat mainly marine mammals. Rescuers have been feeding her seal meat during her time in the lagoon.

We will update this story as more information becomes available.

The post Stranded orca calf swims free, experts hope to reunite her with family pod appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.

The provincial government says they plan to make significant investments to support the growth of local communities and economies across Vancouver Island. 

Minister of jobs, economic development, and innovation Brenda Bailey attended a media event at Ron Anderson and Sons in Chemainus today where she announced the government’s intention to provide close to f$5 million in funding towards six capital projects and four planning projects. 

According to Bailey the projects will help local manufacturers contribute to local supply chains, grow, and diversify their operations through new product lines, new equipment, and new technology while creating new jobs. 

Ron Anderson and Sons president and CEO Jack Downing says they’re excited to be receiving up to $2 million in funding and plan to use the money towards a project that will use automation and advanced manufacturing to diversify products.  

“We are more than excited to be a recipient of the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund,” he says. “By expanding and modernizing our facility in Chemainus, we’re not only creating new local jobs, but increasing supply and accelerating installation, of much-needed wood frame housing across B.C., efficiently and in a sustainable manner.” 

Along with Ron Anderson and Sons, GRT Holdings in Nanaimo will receive up to $735,000 and Aquila Cedar Products in Parksville will get up to $879,000. 

The province says the fund will help create more than 1,100 jobs and protect close to 2,000 existing manufacturing jobs in the province. 

Currently, the fund has committed up to $91 million to BC’s manufacturing sector, which the province says supports 81 organizations to expand and grow. 

The post Province announces new manufacturing jobs on Vancouver Island  appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.

B.C.’s very own humpback whales were featured on an episode of Planet Earth III.

The show is a BBC series focused on showcasing landscapes, newly discovered behaviors, and the challenges animals face, all narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Episode 7 had a segment on humpback whales, with the Marine Education and Research Society assisting the team on that episode.

The society works on education, research, and response on Vancouver Island, with the goal of understanding and reducing the threats that marine wildlife face.

Humpback researcher Jackie Hildering says they were chosen because of their research on trap feeding, a strategy that at least 32 humpbacks learned to do.

“Once we had initial contact it was very clear we were unified with the filming team, with the producer Fredi Devas in terms of ethics,” said Hildering.

“Once we realized the magnitude of it, that we would be able to bring attention to the vital importance of whales globally and that the estimated audience of Planet Earth III is one billion people, I don’t know that it has sunken in.”

Trap-feeding is used by some whales in specific conditions where if juvenile herring are in small schools, they set up a trap by staying beside the fish with their mouths open.

Hildering says their first contact with Devas was back in 2018 and it had been back and forth about the ethics of the segment, adding that the society wouldn’t have been interested if it was only for pretty footage of humpbacks.

She says the last thing they wanted to do is increase pressure on the whales.

“It became very clear that it would be about really big-picture messaging around a second chance of humpbacks, and that by having them back what they are doing is fertilizing the ecosystem,” said Hildering.

“In realizing that, it became secure that it would be about conservation and that the gains would be greater than the potential disturbance of the whales.”

She says Devas came to the Island in 2019 and was surprised by how well the team knew the whales, which Hildering says would lead to better filming and less disturbance of the whales.

Because of the pandemic, filming began in 2021, continuing into 2022 to capture the feeding.

The episode aired on Sunday on BBC Earth.

“British Columbia used to kill humpbacks until 1967, now we care about them as individuals.”

The post B.C. Humpback whales featured on BBC series appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.

The annual National Day of Mourning for workers killed on the job is coming up this weekend.

The mother of a young man who died at sea in a tugboat incident will be one of this year’s speakers. In February 2021, on the Central Coast, the MV Ingenika lost power during a sub-zero storm. The barge it was pulling passed over the tug, capsizing and sinking it. Two crew died, including Charley Cragg.

This year his mother Genevieve will be speaking in Vancouver at the Day of Mourning ceremony.

Ceremonies are planned around the Island, the first will be on Friday in Courtenay and in Campbell River.

Here's the schedule for events in our communities, visit the official website for a full list and any last-minute changes.

Friday, April 26

• Campbell River: 10:30 am at Fire Hall 1, 675 13th Ave
• Courtenay: 10 am at Simms Park Pavilion, 5th St

Sunday, April 28

• Lake Cowichan: 10 am at Forest Workers Memorial Park, 46-58 South Shore Rd
• Nanaimo: 12:30 pm at Pioneer Waterfront Plaza, 90 Front St
• Powell River: 11 am at the Cranberry Cemetery Workers Memorial

The post Day of Mourning events planned around Vancouver Island to honour fallen workers appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.

Amateur and professional scientists on the Island are invited to share knowledge about salmon, and how to better protect them.

UBC and the Pacific Salmon Foundation are co-hosting three events on Vancouver Island starting in Campbell River next week. They are managed by Dr. Brian Riddell, a world-renowned expert on Pacific salmon and former foundation president.

The Salmon Dialogues aim to collect local knowledge from communities and salmon scientists with the goal of more effectively rebuilding Pacific salmon production on the coast.

There are 13 dialogues scheduled around BC.

Organizers hope they will help encourage more open communication and collaboration to rebuild Pacific salmon stocks, and identify what actions should be top priority.

For more information, and to sign up, visit the official website.

The post Public invited to help save Pacific salmon by sharing knowledge appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.

In the coming years Harbour Air will transform it's fleet of seaplanes to e-planes.

North America’s largest seaplane airline signed a Letter of Intent with magniX to purchase 50 of its electric engines.

Harbour Air calls it a “significant step” in electrifying its fleet for sustainable aviation.

CEO Bert van der Stege says the agreement underscores their “commitment to revolutionize commercial aviation with electric propulsion and to pave the way for cleaner, quieter, and more efficient air travel.”

A part of that vision is the development of a sustainable aviation hub on the west coast, providing electrification conversions and services to 3rd parties.

The single eBeaver that is being tested has completed 78 flights using an electric engine.

Harbour Air is hoping to have commercial certification of their first electric aircraft by 2026 and plans to convert additional aircraft and offer third-party conversions.

The post Harbour Air Moving Forward with Transition to Electric Engines appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.

Prosecutors will not lay charges against any of the RCMP officers involved in the shooting death of Jared Lowndes in Campbell River nearly three years ago.

He died as police attempted to remove him from a vehicle and place him under arrest in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant.

The BC Prosecution Service says no charges have been approved against three officers from Campbell River RCMP detachment involved in the fatal shooting.

The Chief Civilian Director of the Independent Investigations Office determined there were reasonable grounds to believe the officers may have committed offences when he submitted his report to prosecutors.

However, the BCPS found that “the available evidence does not meet the BCPS’s charge assessment standard,” and prosecutors would not be able to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the officers committed any offence.

As a result, no charges have been approved.

On July 8 of 2021, Lowndes was seen in a parked vehicle by an RCMP officer on routine patrol and was wanted on an arrest warrant for breaching a conditional sentence.

As the officer approached the driver’s window, the vehicle quickly backed up, struck the police vehicle, and sped away.

Lowndes was spotted later in a drive-thru at a local restaurant in Campbell River where three police officers attempted to box him in with police vehicles.

Lowndes was able to get out of the drive-thru, but was prevented from driving out of the parking lot and attempted to go backwards through the drive-thru and was blocked again by a police vehicle.

During the attempt to take Lowndes into custody, a police dog – Gator – was fatally stabbed, a police officer suffered stab wounds to his left hand, and a taser was used twice.

Lowndes then got out of the vehicle holding the knife and shots were fired by two of the RCMP officers.

He died at the scene.

The post No Charges in Death of Jared Lowndes in Campbell River appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.

The BC Government says social media giants Meta, Snap, TikTok and X have agreed to work collaboratively with the province of the development of Bill 12, its public harms legislation, and will be part of BC's Online Safety Action Table. 

The province says it will place Bill 12 on hold while discussions take place on how to create safe, empowering experiences online.
 

 In a news release, the province says it's an opportunity to bring experts, parents, technology companies and government together to find new ways of helping young people stay safe online and  be better protected from online harms. 

The province also says Meta has also committed to working with BC’s emergency management organization to help amplify official information for people in emergency situations like wildfires. 

The official opposition says the NDP's decision to retract Bill 12 only comes after significant public backlash. 

BC United says the business community and concerned citizens across the province forced the NDP to acknowledge the flaws in the legislation. 

The post BC Government Hits the Pause Button on Bill 12 for More Consultations appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.

A lodge on Vancouver Island is a part of this year’s Next Great Save competition.

The Next Great Save is a project focused on empowering communities to save heritage places at risk.

For this year, St. Andrew’s Lodge is currently one of the finalists. It’s a lodge in Qualicum Beach that welcomed travellers and vacationers for nearly 80 years.

The St. Andrew’s Lodge Historical & Cultural Society aims to restore it to its former glory, where according to President Jay Smith, many people have an emotional attachment to the lodge.

“The property was bought by town council in 2018 and they were going to tear the lodge town and the demolition crew had showed up,” said Smith.

“Dozens of seniors, younger people and school children began protesting the demolition. 300 emails were sent to the council, and that’s a tremendous number.”

Smith says through the building’s construction quality, years of service and history, people have fond memories of the lodge.

He also says the lodge being a part of Next Great Save is an endorsement.

“We entered the competition, made the final 12 and I think that speaks to the quality of our application,” said Smith.

“We have received a $211,000 grant last January from Heritages Canada for our seismic work, but there is so much other work to do.”

He adds if they win the $50,000 prize, it could help them install a heating and electricity system.

Currently the Lodge is in sixth place, and you can vote until May 6.

For where to vote, click here.

The post Vancouver Island Lodge part of Next Great Save competition appeared first on My Tri-Port Now.