Nanaimo news

• Sprinkle dip doughnuts, icy plunge support B.C.’s Special Olympians

  30-01-2026 16:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  In a rare case where officers are OK with being connected to doughnuts, VicPD heralds the return of the Tim Hortons Special Olympics Donut Jan. 30 to Feb. 1.
  The limited-edition treat raises funds to empower Special Olympics athletes across Canada, and is among the initiatives supported by officers across Greater Victoria.The special, sprinkled doughnut smiles see 100 per cent of proceeds support athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Canada, giving them opportunities t
  
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• Exercise Roguish Buoy: Explosive military training hits Vancouver Island

  30-01-2026 15:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  On a chill January day, off and on shore at Whirly Bay in Metchosin, Canadian Army divers work alongside German counterparts in a series of drills that date back to 1979.This marks the third consecutive year Exercise Roguish Buoy landed in Greater Victoria, with divers from across Canada, United Kingdom, Latvia, Germany and the Netherlands working together and learning from each other at the underwater demolition range off Metchosin.While the exercise is generations old, 2026 marks the first Rog
  
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• No time for ‘underwhelming celebration’: Victoria calls on B.C. for Canada Day cash

  30-01-2026 15:19 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Victoria is calling out the province, while putting in added cash, for Canada Day festivities at a time when our sovereignty is under threat.
  In the draft budget for 2026, the city has $110,800 allocated for July 1 festivities. With the number far lower than previous years – the 2025 budget was just over $400,000 – Coun. Jeremy Caradonna and Mayor Marianne Alto successfully pitched a plan to add another $100,000.“In this moment in time, this celebration of Canada and Canadians
  
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• Nanaimo Clippers teaming up with Pride Society for hockey game

  30-01-2026 14:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Nanaimo’s B.C. Hockey League team will celebrate inclusion and Pride on home ice this weekend.
  Nanaimo Pride Society will team with the Nanaimo Clippers to hold the first-ever Pride Night when the club hosts the Coquitlam Express at Frank Crane Arena on Saturday, Jan. 31, celebrating the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
  People are encouraged to “show up as [their] full self and cheer loudly,” wearing rainbow colours and bringing flags, a press release from the society stated. The Canadian
  
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• Regional District of Nanaimo thanks Mosaic for reducing Hamilton Marsh price to $28M

  30-01-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Regional District of Nanaimo and Mosaic Forest Management continue to work together to secure Hamilton Marsh lands as a regional park and conservation area.
  Mosaic has agreed to revise the purchase terms to $28 million, from $30 million, subject to RDN board approval, in their efforts to help the RDN preserve the site.
  With the lower purchase price and generous support from the community and other agencies, which will to announced if all the conditions of the purchase agreement are satisfied, th
  
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• Nanaimo society hopes films on homelessness, HIV in Africa educate viewers

  30-01-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  To start February, the Nanaimo International Film Screening Society will showcase two independent movies for cinema-lovers.
  Urchin (2025) and Liyana (2017) will play at Shaw Auditorium in Vancouver Island Conference Centre, 80 Commercial St., Sunday, Feb. 1.
  Arlene Blundell, volunteer with the society, said both films can be a learning experience for viewers.
  “So it’s a learning experience but it’s not like being in a classroom,” Blundell said. “It’s a story t
  
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• Victoria is home to 4 of Canada’s most romantic restaurants

  30-01-2026 14:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Those in Victoria looking for a romantic night out this Valentine’s Day don’t have far to travel.
  Greater Victoria boasts the best place for a romantic dinner out in B.C., according to OpenTable data sourced from diners themselves.The Dining Room at The Butchart Gardens leads the platform’s Top 100 Romantic Restaurants for 2026.Victoria eateries Glo Restaurant and Lounge, Tea at The Empress (Fairmont Empress) and Finn’s Seafood, Chops and Cocktails also make the list, com
  
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• Goalie Tolopilo makes 32 saves as Canucks blank Anaheim Ducks 2-0

  30-01-2026 06:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Nikiti Tolopilo made 32 saves, lifting the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-0 shutout win over the Anaheim Ducks in NHL action Thursday at Rogers Arena.
  Drew O’Connor and Teddy Blueger scored for the Canucks (18-31-5). Tolopilo shared the shutout win with Kevin Lankinen, who came in for approximately two minutes early in the second period, making a single save. Lukas Dostal took the loss in goal for the Ducks (28-23-3), stopping 24 shots.
  The teams battled through a scoreless first period, with ea
  
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• ‘Millions wasted killing healthy B.C. ostriches:’ Animal Justice

  30-01-2026 03:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Animal Justice is deeply troubled after learning that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s killing of more than 300 healthy ostriches in Edgewood last year, months after avian influenza was first detected on the farm, cost Canadian taxpayers at least $6.8 million.
  The massive sum was revealed this week in a response to a parliamentary inquiry from Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee MP Scott Anderson in December. The total includes $2.3 million spent on staff time, and $1.3 million o
  
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• Wellington principal taking on Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district assistant super role

  30-01-2026 02:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools will have a new executive responsible for high schools effective this summer.
  At the school district’s Wednesday, Jan. 28, board meeting, Robyn Gray, superintendent, announced Darcy Hoff will be assistant superintendent for secondary school programs, taking over for Margaret Olsen, come Aug. 1. His experience spans Nanaimo-Ladysmith and other parts of the province, the school district said in an e-mail.
  Hoff is currently principal of Wellington Secondary Sc
  
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• Vancouver Island Deaf cafe owner brews coffee and community connections

  30-01-2026 02:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Growing up in the Philippines, Maria Tanjaoui was taught not to use sign language.
  As the only deaf person in her family, she was discouraged from using sign language and forbidden from signing at school. Instead, she was expected to navigate an oral-based education system – one she says she struggled to follow.
  “I actually signed (the number) three and they hit me in the face – so it was very not allowed,” says Tanjaoui, speaking through an American Sign Language (ASL) i
  
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• Mowi loses appeal over Discovery Islands aquaculture ban

  30-01-2026 01:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Former Fisheries and Oceans Canada minister Joyce Murray’s decision to keep open-net pen salmon farms closed in the Discovery Islands has once again been upheld in federal court, according to a decision from the Federal Court of Appeal on Thursday (Jan.29).
  Last summer, salmon farming company Mowi Canada West launched an appeal of a June 2024 federal court ruling that confirmed the fisheries minister has authority to make precautionary decisions under the Fisheries Act and refuse to re-iss
  
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• B.C. seniors population growing nearly four times as fast as new care beds are being added

  30-01-2026 01:28 via nanaimobulletin.com
  New data released by B.C. Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt shows the province’s population of people over the age of 65 is growing nearly four times as fast as the number of new care home beds.
  “We are at the beginning of a rapid increase in the number of people 65 and over, and we know the gap between the seniors’ population and older adults requiring public services will only widen if we don’t act now,” Levitt said in a Tuesday (Jan. 29) news release.
  Levitt released t
  
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• DRIPA decision to guide review of Vancouver police’s failure to apologize to Heiltsuk

  30-01-2026 01:11 via nanaimobulletin.com
  B.C.’s police complaint commissioner is set to review why the police have not yet apologized for the 2019 incident in Vancouver in which a Heiltsuk man and his 12-year-old granddaughter were handcuffed outside a downtown Bank of Montreal branch where they had tried to open an account using status cards.
  A disciplinary process concluded in 2022 that the officers involved committed misconduct by recklessly handcuffing and arresting the Indigenous child and her grandfather without “good
  
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• How will federal helicopters aid in Surrey’s extortion fight? What we know so far

  30-01-2026 00:04 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Canada’s public safety minister told the House of Commons on Wednesday (Jan. 28) that two helicopters have been deployed in Surrey to help tackle the ongoing rise in extortion – but there’s confusion surrounding the specifics about those helicopters.
  “The rise in extortion in Surrey and the Lower Mainland is unacceptable, and I extend my support to the victims of extortion everywhere,” Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in the House of Commons on Wednesday, noting th
  
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• BC Parks announces new, additional $20 fee out-of-province visitors

  30-01-2026 00:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  Visitors to B.C. can expect to pay an additional fee when camping at provincial parks this summer.
  Beginning in May 2026, the $20 non-resident fee will be charged in addition to the base camping fee, for frontcountry and backcountry camping, cabin rentals and the use of mooring buoys and docks, says BC Parks.
  “With growing visitor numbers and expectations, the pressures are pushing trails and facilities beyond what they were designed to handle,” announced BC Parks via social media on
  
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