Welcome to Nanaimo This Week, your source of community news and local solutions. Did a friend forward this email to you? Subscribe to this newsletter.
|
|
|
Today marks 10 years since B.C. became the first jurisdiction in Canada to declare a public health emergency for the toxic street drugs that continue to kill people in our community.
As a local news organization, we wanted to get beyond the staggering statistics of how many people have died in the past decade and talk with a few people in Nanaimo who have been deeply affected by the crisis.
There are many other stories that can be, and should be, told about the crisis and we will continue to report on it, but today we wanted to give space to a few people to tell their stories.
Thank you for reading, Mick Sweetman
|
 |
|
|
| Nanaimo’s toxic drug emergency at 10 years
| Three residents share their stories about how the toxic drug crisis has impacted them.
|
| Read the full story
| | I support The Discourse because... |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Community in depth.”
— Roger C., from our newsletter survey.
|
| I support The Discourse
| | On the Island |
| ‘Hanging on by a thread’: Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society’s return from the brink
| When Christine Hodgson became Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society’s lone member, she was left with a choice. One that would affect the health of Brooklyn Creek, its salmon and Comox residents for years to come.
|
| Read the full story
| | Council corner
|
On Monday, city council heard presentations from the Nanaimo Prosperity Corporation and Tourism Nanaimo.
Council also directed staff to seek federal funding to help update the city’s Urban Forest Management Strategy.
An application to rezone 2565 Departure Bay Rd. for a multi-family development was sent back to staff due to concerns about density.
Council also voted to direct staff to proceed with a 50 per cent reduction for development cost charges for not-for-profit rental and supportive housing.
Council endorsed the “Forestry is a Solution” campaign by the BC Council of Forest Industries and encouraged community members to sign a petition and send letters to members of the provincial legislature. The motion passed 5-4 with councillors Tyler Brown, Hilary Eastmure, Ben Geselbracht and Paul Manly opposed.
The city’s finance and audit committee will meet on Wednesday while a public hearing for a rezoning application from Rural Resource to Industrial use and Parks, Recreation and Culture for 950 Phoenix Way will be held on Thursday.
The next regular city council meeting will be held on Monday, April 20 at 7 p.m. in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre’s Shaw Auditorium.
| |
In other news |
👉 Grace Richard, now 91, shared her story about living at Wildwood Ecoforest for over 30 years with CHLY’s Midcoast Morning. You can listen to her interview on CHLY101.7FM
👉 The cost of providing after school care for children in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District is set to increase as unionized staff are working more hours to provide it. The Nanaimo News Bulletin has the story.
👉 The Regional District of Nanaimo maintains that non-compliance notices for its sewage treatment plant that found a fecal reading 16 times higher than the limit are not reflective of the operation of the plant as a whole. Nanaimo News Now has the story.
|
| Have your say |
📣 Transport Canada is conducting a survey about how headlight glare is affecting drivers at night. The survey is anonymous and takes 15 minutes to complete. You can fill out the survey until April 20.
| | Be part of it! |
🎉 Keep an eye out for more posts about our reporters' extraordinary work at @thediscourse.ca on Bluesky. You can tap the bell on our profile to get a notification when we post a new story. Follow our journalists and sister publications in the Discourse Community Publishing network by clicking “follow all” in our Bluesky starter pack.
You can also now follow us on TikTok and YouTube.
Drop us a comment, message or quote post on any of these platforms. We’d love to see you there.
| |
What did you think of this newsletter? |
⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
|
|
|
|
