Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The Comox Valley has recruited 44 physicians to the area in just three years, drastically reducing the number of residents without a family doctor, says the doctor and city councillor who headed up a recruitment committee. Dr. Jonathan Kerr, chair of the doctor recruitment task force for the Comox Valley, said the number of residents in the region without a family doctor has dropped dramatically, from 14,000 in 2021 to about 2,000 — or 19 per cent to three per cent. “That’s been a huge drop,” said Kerr. “And certainly, we’re not hearing the panic from the residents and the community that ‘Hey, I need a family doctor’ quite as much, which is great" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Island First Nations are looking forward to finalizing a deal with Western Forest Products that will give them more say over logging activities in their territories ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Youth around British Columbia and their families will have faster, easier access to mental health and substance use services and supports with eight new Foundry centres to be developed throughout the province. The new Foundry Centres will be in Burns Lake, Comox Valley, Cranbrook, Langley, Squamish, Surrey, Port Hardy and Williams Lake. The new locations, as with all Foundry centres, will offer increased access to integrated health and wellness services for young people aged 12 to 24 in both rural and urban communities. Each centre will offer primary care, youth and family peer supports, walk-in counselling, mental health and substance use services, and social services all under one roof, making it easier for youth to get help when they need it. “ I am so excited that young people in eight more communities in rural and urban B.C. will be able to get quick access to the mental health and substance use services they need and deserve ,” said Judy Darcy, Minister of Mental Health and...

Earlier this summer, I wrote about forestry and watershed protection. It was inspired by a visit to the Comox Valley and a number of meetings with concerned citizens and community organizers about the impact of resource harvesting on the drinking water for all the people living in the valley. I pointed to how costly it is likely going to be should the province continue to allow the unsustainable harvesting to damage drinking watersheds forcing communities and the province to replace natural drinking water sources with water treatment. Following my visit to the Comox Valley, I toured the Okanagan Valley and met with concerned citizens and community organizers who have been fighting to protect the Peachland and Trepanier Creek Watersheds that provide their drinking water. Integration and planning tools It was really quite sobering to hear so many stories about how threatened and vulnerable British Columbians feel due to a lack of protection of thei...

Ben Parfitt's Narwhal article " Muddied Waters: how clearcut logging is driving a water crisis in B.C.’s interior ", has been open in my web browser for a few weeks. I finally read it on my way home from my recent trip to the Comox Valley. The story is about unsustainable logging practices in watersheds — specifically, watersheds that are providing communities across British Columbia with their drinking water.  Parfitt's story revolves around the rapid decline of the water quality in Peachland. It opens with long-time resident Richard Smith's account of the pristine local water quality when he moved there in 1947. Over the past decade, the situation has changed - drastically. Now Peachland is on the hook for building a $24 million water treatment facility. So how does immaculate water become a murky, turbid mess causing boil water advisories so quickly? As many in the story highlight, the problem is the forestry practices. Despite suppose...