Joe Pugh

Nanaimo has met its provincial housing targets this year, but it didn’t add a single unit of affordable housing. There were 875 units issued occupancy permits issued in the last year in Nanaimo. Just over 100 supportive housing units also came online through the provincial HEART & HEARTH program. The vast majority of new housing in Nanaimo is rental housing, with a relatively balanced mix of one, two, and three or more bedroom units. The vacancy rate has risen in the past few years, currently estimated at 2.9 per cent, approaching the 3 per cent level city staff suggest is needed to help create a healthy rental market. Provincial legislation in 2023 created housing targets for municipalities. City staff presented a report sharing Nanaimo’s progress towards meeting those targets at a council meeting this past Monday. Lisa Brinkman, Manager of Community Planning with the City of Nanaimo, spoke with Midcoast Morning about the year in housing.Support Midcoast Morning and our Nonprofit Newsroom with a monthly sustaining donation of $5 to $10 a month.

The future of a drop-in centre and overnight shelter in the south end was the subject of extensive discussion at a pair of council and committee meetings this past week.The Hub is a facility on Nicol Street and Victoria Road that offers daytime services for people experiencing homelessness run by Island Crisis Care Society, and an evening shelter run by the Nanaimo Family Life Association. Between a Finance and Audit Committee Meeting and a Regular Council Meeting, council heard from more than ten community members about the impacts they feel the service has had on their neighbourhood. Council ultimately voted to extend funding for the site through the end of next winter. Nanaimo City Councillor and south end resident Erin Hemmens spoke with Midcoast Morning about the issue.Support Midcoast Morning and our Nonprofit Newsroom with a monthly sustaining donation of $5 to $10 a month.

Qualicum Beach has a plan to acquire tens of acres of green space without raising taxes. The town has reached an agreement to buy the Eaglecrest golf course for $8.5 million. The goal is to cover the purchase price by selling about ten per cent of the newly acquired lands, which would then be developed into housing. It’s anticipated there will be around 40 acres of new parkland, with a 9 hole golf course continuing to operate. The deal is subject to due diligence and public consultation. The town’s director of planning and community development speaks with Midcoast Morning about the plan.Support Midcoast Morning and our Nonprofit Newsroom with a monthly sustaining donation of $5 to $10 a month.

The BC Government wants to hear your input on how to improve our democracy. The province’s special committee on democratic and electoral reform is accepting written submissions from members of the public with something to say about democratic engagement, voter participation and models for electing MLAs. CHLY speaks with Nanaimo-Lantzville MLA and committee member George Anderson. Two West Vancouver twins plan on speaking with the committee and calling on the voting age to be lowered to 16. They speak with Midcoast Morning about the issue.

A visit from the city’s namesake ship helped people in Nanaimo mark Canada Day Tuesday. Large crowds gathered to take in the sunshine in Maffeo Sutton park, where local musicians performed,  community groups showed off their work,  and a bevy of food trucks saw their services in high demand. Midcoast Morning brings you sounds from the event, including an interview with the CO of HMCS Nanaimo.

Nanaimo is looking to ban the sale of invasive plant species at shops in town. This Monday at a governance and priorities committee meeting councillors voted in support of a plan to ask staff to draft a bylaw banning the sale of invasives. A number of species including English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry, Scotch Broom, and Daphne were listed in a staff report as impacting the city’s parks and natural areas. CHLY' reporter Lauryn MacKenzie speaks with ecological consultant Hunter Jarratt about invasive species in Nanaimo. Midcoast Morning also hears from Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, who responded to recent comments from Nanaimo City Council that followed a letter in which the minister declined a request to meet and discuss funding for daytime shelter spaces.

Nanaimo is debating how much new developments should have to pay to support community infrastructure. The city is looking at updating its Development Cost Charge (DCC) bylaw for the first time in seven years, and creating an Amenity Cost Charge (ACC) bylaw. Midcoast Morning breaks down what DCCs are, what the timelines are for changes to the bylaws, and what the province and members of the development community have to say about potential updates to DCCs.

A group promoting local food took to Nanaimo City Council Monday,  The folks behind the Nanaimo Food Hub are looking to boost awareness of the project, and lay the foundations for future growth. Founded two years ago, the hub has a vision of connecting people to locally grown food. They’re getting ready to start a second season of Friday markets at the Nanaimo Montessori School. Midcoast Morning spoke with co-founder Tina Fabbro

Nanaimo is asking for voters' permission to sell an acre of parkland to pave the way for a road to a planned subdivision. At a meeting Monday, Nanaimo city council approved a plan that would ultimately see the north edge of Elaine Hamilton Park in the city’s south end become a road that would serve as the main entryway to a residential development, one of six sections of the Sandstone Project. A washroom at the park would need to be demolished, with the developer building a new facility on a different part of the park. After initially voting against an running an AAP, council reconsidered and voted 6-3 in favour of the process, with councillors Paul Manly, Tyler Brown, and Ben Geselbracht opposed. Midcoast Morning brings you coverage of the meeting, and speaks with the developer behind the project.

Midcoast Morning speaks with Gordon Robinson of the Coastal Fire Centre in Parksville to assess wildfire risks on Vancouver Island. The program also speaks with Steve Mjaaland of Mosaic, who manage nearly 1.5 million acres of private land on southeastern Vancouver Island.

Dinosaurs of BC, a traveling exhibition from the Royal British Columbia Museum, is making its way to Nanaimo for the summer. Midcoast Morning speaks with paleontologist Victoria Arbour about the kinds of fossils around what’s now B.C, and what the mass extinction event at the end of the cretaceous period 66 million years ago was like.

A Documentary filmed on the front lines of what’s been called Canada’s largest act of civil disobedience is coming to Nanaimo. Fairy Creek from director Jen Muranetz tells stories from the anti old growth logging protest and blockade that began in 2020.  Midcoast Morning spoke with the filmmaker ahead of the documentary’s theatrical run in the city.

Two stories about making a change in the environment, one on a systems level, and one about a community member trying to make a difference The British Columbia Community Forest Association gathered in Nanaimo for a three day conference this week, Midcoast Morning explores the state of community forests in the province with the group’s executive director. Plus Jim Senka says an experience in Northern Manitoba changed the way he looked at development and the environment. He shares the role that story played in leading the 81 year old to seek out a habitat restoration grant for his home in Harewood.

The O in Nanaimo’s downtown sign is getting a new design after several incidents of vandalism over the last few years.  The sign was installed in Maffeo Sutton Park in 2021. Each of the five foot letters in Nanaimo are painted white, except for the O, which features a rainbow design made up of 15 coloured segments. A release from the city at the time the sign went up said that:  “The colourful "O" can mean different things to different people. For example, the different colours in the “O” represents(sic) the diversity of the 100,000 plus voices who have shaped and continue to shape our spectacular City. It also represents an inclusive Nanaimo, full of opportunity for generations to come.” The O has since been vandalized on multiple occasions, most recently it was painted entirely white. At one point last year, the O was spray painted with the words “no WEF”, a reference to the world economic forum. At a meeting Monday Nanaimo city council voted 6-3 in support of a staff recommendation to commission a new design for the sign. Midcoast Morning brings you the debate on the issue and speaks with Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog.

A new project puts the Coast Salish Wooly Dog in the spotlight. Several sources suggest the dogs, which are now extinct, experienced a severe population decline in the 1850s. The pelt of one Coast Salish Wooly dog that was lying in the Smithsonian for more than a hundred and fifty years inspired a research project that brought together knowledge holders from a variety of Coast Salish communities. That project has resulted in a new book called The Teachings of Mutton. Liz Hammond-Kaareema, Violet Elliot and Elliot White Hill all contributed to that book, and they joined Midcoast Morning to talk about Coast Salish Wooly Dogs. The trio will also be part of a launch event on Saturday May 31st at the Nanaimo Museum, more information about that event can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-the-teachings-of-mutton-tickets-1347238820579?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Midcoast Morning visits a temporary housing site in Cedar that is set to welcome 50 people over the coming months. Located at 1300 Island Highway South, the site is described as temporary housing, funded for three years through the provincial HEART/HEARTH program, which is intended to respond to homelessness. Made up of small modular units, day to day operations will be managed by Connective Support Society.

This week members of Nanaimo City Council got an update on the state of services for people experiencing homelessness at a Governance and Priorities Committee Meeting. A report from city staff indicated access to basic services for people experiencing homelessness has decreased compared to a decade ago. Midcoast Morning spoke with the city’s manager of social planning to explore why. South End Community Association chair Sydney Robertson attended Monday’s meeting, she shared some of her takeaways with CHLY.

“Despite increased demand, access to basic needs services in Nanaimo has declined over the past decade,” says a report from staff at the City of Nanaimo. Leaders in health, housing, and a number of other sectors came together Monday to provide an update on the state of services for people experiencing homelessness in Nanaimo at a Governance and Priorities Committee meeting Monday. Midcoast Morning brings you highlights from that meeting, including details on new transitional housing units set to open in the coming weeks, and estimates of the number of people experiencing homelessness in Nanaimo.

A VIU and CHLY alumni was back in Nanaimo Thursday for the launch of a graphic novel telling stories from his home nation of Xwemalhkwu(Homalco) Tchadas Leo is a journalist with CHEK News, and for the last number of years he’s been leading the work on Xwemalhkwu Hero Stories, which tells a trio of stories inspired by elders from the nation. With a launch event for the graphic novel Thursday at VIU, Leo paid a visit to the CHLY studio to speak about the project.

At a meeting Monday, Nanaimo city council voted 6-3 to reconsider a plan to build a boathouse with rentable community space at Loudon Park by Long Lake. The decision to reconsider was prompted by a motion from councillor Tyler Brown. The gallery at the Vancouver Island Conference centre was near capacity at times during the meeting, with a number of people bringing signs expressing opposition to the boathouse project as it had been planned. A trio of delegations presented to council in opposition to the project during the meeting. Midcoast Morning brings you some of the council members perspectives on the issue, and speaks with one of the presenters who spoke to council about their opposition for the project.