Nanaimo news

• B.C.’s maximum allowable rent increase capped at 2.2% for 2027

  27-08-2026 20:23 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The province has announced the maximum allowable rent increase for next year, capping it at inflation.
  The 2027 maximum allowable rent increase is 2.2 per cent, the Housing Ministry announced Thursday (Aug. 27). It takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.
  Manufactured home park tenancies will also be capped at 2.2-per-cent rent increase, plus a proportional amount for the change in local government levies and regulated utility fees, the government said.
  The rent increase cap does now apply to commercial tenan
  
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• 32 Canadians, permanent residents unaccounted for in Nepal floods

  28-08-2026 21:34 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says 32 Canadians and permanent residents are among those still unaccounted for following the devastating flash floods and mudslides in Nepal.
  In total there are 1,924 people missing and 517 of those are foreign nationals, Anand said during a media briefing on Friday (Aug. 28). She said 579 bodies have been recovered.
  She said numbers will “likely change” given that more rain is expected and water levels and volumes are expected to rise.
  “Ca
  
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• Grand Forks manslaughter case declared a mistrial

  28-08-2026 20:52 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The jury in the Grand Forks area manslaughter trial for Sean Tiessen was unable to reach a verdict.
  The B.C. Prosecution Service told Black Press Media that Justice Lindsay Lyster declared a mistrial Thursday (Aug. 27) after the jury was deadlocked.
  Tiessen’s next court date is scheduled for Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. at the Rossland Law Courts for a scheduling appearance.
  The jury went into deliberations Tuesday afternoon following Lyster’s charge in the morning and nearly a full day of clos
  
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• PHOTOS: Lunar eclipse captured on camera across Greater Victoria

  28-08-2026 20:46 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A partial eclipse rising over Greater Victoria inspired residents to get out in the dark and capture the scene Thursday (Aug. 28) evening.
  Also called a blood moon, a lunar eclipse happens when Earth moves directly between the sun and the moon, blocking sunlight and casting a shadow on the lunar surface.For folks feeling fatigued in the wake of the lunar eclipse, astrological impact may hold the answer. Known as an energetic cleanser in astrology, the blood moon is said to bring hidden truths to
  
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• Overrun with rats, B.C. woman issued court order for pest control

  28-08-2026 20:42 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Rats have overrun a condo building and a Kelowna woman has been ordered to do something about it.Donna Thomson, the owner of a first floor unit in an apartment complex on Durnin Road, received the order after the strata owners filed a civil claim to force action on a rat infestation in the unit.According to court documents, the state of the unit had gotten so bad that a photo taken in August 2025 showed debris inside the unit piled to the height of a six-foot ladder. Reports from Abell Pest Cont
  
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• Pear Lake wildfire near Clinton showing minimal growth

  28-08-2026 20:33 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Pear Lake wildfire near Clinton is still classed as out of control, but has shown minimal growth over the past few days.
  As of Friday morning (Aug. 28) the fire was estimated at 165,847 hectares, an increase of 1,107 hectares since Sunday, Aug. 23.
  There have been no changes to the evacuation orders and alerts issued in response to the Pear Lake fire since Sunday. As of Friday, 61 properties in Thompson-Nicola Regional District Area “E” remain on evacuation order, while a further
  
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• The Price is Right doubles down on Victoria, Duncan live shows

  28-08-2026 20:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The interactive, non-televised live version of an iconic American game show brings its high-energy tour to Victoria, Duncan, Surrey, Kelowna and Abbotsford this fall.
  The Price is Right LIVE is a brand-new, live stage show hosted by a charismatic celebrity with a big personality and plenty of laughs. Audience members can be randomly selected to play games such as Plinko, Cliff Hangers, spinning the Big Wheel and more.
  The games, energy, and prizes are similar to what you see on TV, notes a post
  
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• Town of Ladysmith calls for provincial action after 2 human-caused fires

  28-08-2026 20:29 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A recent human-caused wildfire near the Banon Creek Forest Service Road (FSR) has prompted the Town of Ladysmith to once again call on the province to take immediate action to address the ongoing safety and watershed protection concerns in the area.
  On Aug. 18, a human-caused wildfire was reported in the area following another human-caused brush fire just weeks earlier.
  The fires come less than two months after the town wrote to the province requesting immediate action, including stronger access
  
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• Headline history: Harmac’s workers saved the mill from closure in 2008

  28-08-2026 19:44 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  It’s been 18 years since Nanaimo’s Harmac Pacific pulp mill shut down operations in May, 2008, after its parent company, Oregon-based Pope & Talbot, went bankrupt.
  In recognition that Harmac had proven to be a profitable enterprise, its workers began a successful search to find private investors to align with them and take over the mill.
  More than 200 Harmac employees contributed $25,000 each to help form a 25 per cent ownership stake through a new employee-ownership model along
  
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• Major work completed on dropping interprovincial trade barriers in Canada

  28-08-2026 19:04 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Canada’s provinces and territories have agreed to take some major steps to reduce barriers to internal trade as the standoff with the United States over tariffs continues.
  “At a time when unjustified U.S. tariffs and global trade uncertainty are creating challenges for businesses and workers across Canada, reducing trade barriers within our own country has never been more important,” said Adrian Dix, B.C.’s acting jobs minister, in a Friday statement.
  The biggest part of
  
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• Major progress made on dropping interprovincial trade barriers in Canada

  28-08-2026 19:04 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Canada’s provinces and territories have agreed to take some major steps to reduce barriers to internal trade as the standoff with the United States over tariffs continues.
  “At a time when unjustified U.S. tariffs and global trade uncertainty are creating challenges for businesses and workers across Canada, reducing trade barriers within our own country has never been more important,” said Adrian Dix, B.C.’s acting jobs minister, in a Friday statement.
  The biggest part of
  
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• Major progress made on dropping interprovincial trade barriers

  28-08-2026 19:04 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Canada’s provinces and territories have agreed to take some major steps to reduce barriers to internal trade as the standoff with the United States over tariffs continues.
  “At a time when unjustified U.S. tariffs and global trade uncertainty are creating challenges for businesses and workers across Canada, reducing trade barriers within our own country has never been more important,” said Adrian Dix, B.C.’s acting jobs minister, in a Friday statement.
  The biggest part of
  
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• Nanaimo’s Sounds of Summer concert music series holding tailgate party

  28-08-2026 19:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Sounds of Summer concert music series in Nanaimo is being described as an absolute success and the series is wrapping up with a tailgate party set for this weekend.
  Presented by the Old City Quarter Association, it delivered a free concert every Saturday throughout July and August this year, as well as a paid kickoff event. The concerts took place at St. Andrew’s United Church, as well as throughout the Old City Quarter.
  Angie Jones, event coordinator, producer and administrator with St. A
  
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• ‘Book Lady’ Dolly Parton’s literacy legacy chugs along in B.C. capital

  28-08-2026 18:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Outside their regular “9 to 5s,” two Greater Victoria moms are pouring cups full of ambition into ensuring the magic of music legend Dolly Parton lives on across the region.
  For around four years, Saanich resident Denise Baillet and Victoria’s Kirsten Amadu have been the driving force behind Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Greater Victoria, which sends eligible children one free book per month, up until they turn five.
  So far, the Greater Victoria branch has helped
  
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• Surrey Six convict sentenced to 2 years for contempt of court

  28-08-2026 18:11 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  One of the men convicted in the 2007 Surrey Six slayings has been sentenced to two years in jail for contempt of court, which will be served concurrently with his life sentences.On Aug. 27 in Vancouver, Justice Martha Devlin delivered her reasons for judgment against Cody Rae Haevischer.
  Six people were shot dead in Suite 1505 of the Balmoral Tower in Whalley on Oct. 19, 2007. The Crown’s theory was that the killings were payback for an unpaid debt between rival gangs. Christopher Mohan an
  
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• Prince Rupert Port launches $750M export hub

  28-08-2026 18:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  CANXPORT officially opened in Prince Rupert on Friday, Aug. 28, marking the first major project to come online in a planned $3-billion expansion of the city’s port gateway.
  The $750-million logistics facility is intended to send more Canadian products to global markets, adding a major export component to the Port of Prince Rupert’s established role as an import gateway from Asia.
  “The opening represents more than the completion of another terminal project,” said Prince Ru
  
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• Bald Range wildfire near Summerland being held

  28-08-2026 14:31 via nanaimobulletin.com
  A sign of relief to much of the South Okanagan as the Bald Range wildfire near Summerland is now being held.
  According to BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), this means “that it is projected, based on fuel and weather conditions and resource availability, to remain within the current perimeter, control line or boundary.” The fire was changed to being held on Thursday, Aug. 27, just after 7 p.m.
  At this time, however, six evacuation orders and three evacuation alerts remain in place.
  Before b
  
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• Harmac not directly impacted by American tariffs

  28-08-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  It’s a dynamic moment in time for Nanaimo’s Harmac Pacific pulp mill and the whole coastal forest industry, according to CEO Paul Sandler.
  Sadler said that the new American 50 per cent tariffs that are penalizing value-added and processed wood products exported to the U.S. from Canada are not directly impacting Harmac’s operations at this time, but the tariffs’ likely repercussions on the coastal saw and lumber mills, which are already beleaguered, and the essential wood
  
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• Bans lifted on off-road vehicles in select B.C. fire centres

  28-08-2026 06:53 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Off-road vehicle prohibitions will be rescinded on Crown land in select B.C. fire centres Friday at 12 p.m. Pacific time, Aug. 28.
  The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) says restrictions on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), motorcycles, and off-road side-by-side vehicles will be lifted throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre, 100 Mile House Forest District, and Southeast Fire Centre.
  Partial prohibitions will also be rescinded in the Coastal Fire Centre.
  “Recent precipitation across much of the southern I
  
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• Summerland Mayor, MLA, Minister encourage tourists visit, support businesses after wildfire

  28-08-2026 03:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Mayor of Summerland, its MLA, and the B.C. Minister of Forests are encouraging people to visit the Okanagan to help give local businesses a boost in the wake of a devastating wildfire, and to avoid spending that money on trips across the border.Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar, Penticton-Summerland MLA Amelia Boultbee, and Mayor Doug Holmes spoke with reporters outside Summerland’s town hall on Aug. 27 following a tour of the community.“My ask of all of you is, this is a beautiful
  
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• ‘Our family will never be the same’: Man sentenced to life for B.C. murder

  28-08-2026 02:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A man convicted of second-degree murder in the hatchet attack that killed a 70-year-old man was sentenced Aug. 27 to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 11 years.
  Justice Veronica Jackson sentenced Michael King, 45, who walked into his roommate’s bedroom in Cook Street Village on March 6, 2023 and struck Michael Jones five or six times in the head, leaving him in a pool of his own blood in critical condition.
  Jackson told the court the attack was particularly disturbing becaus
  
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• Advocates, industry looking for answers on 2029 fish farm ban amid Ottawa’s silence

  28-08-2026 02:02 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The federal government’s extended silence over the incoming open-net pen fish farm ban, set to begin in B.C. in 2029, is triggering widespread questions about whether intentions have suddenly changed under a new prime minister.
  When Federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson was in Victoria last week, she said that while the plan to ban open-net pen fish farms in B.C. is “certainly still in place,” the government continues to engage with stakeholders to find a path forward.
  &ld
  
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• Nanaimo RCMP is asking for help locating two stolen kayaks

  28-08-2026 02:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo RCMP is asking for the public’s assistance in locating two stolen kayaks.
  The kayaks were stolen from a vehicle parked in the underground parkade at 30 Cavan St. in downtown Nanaimo sometime between 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 19, and the morning of Aug. 20.
  As soon as the kayaks were discovered missing, the theft was reported to the police.
  One of the stolen kayaks is described as being short, and coloured short orange and brown, while the other one is blue and white.
  Both kayaks are value
  
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• B.C.’s state of emergency ends, but wildfire risk remains

  28-08-2026 01:36 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The province has ended its state of provincial emergency.
  The state of emergency was first declared Aug. 8 following a night of fast-moving fires, including the Bald Range wildfire that led to the evacuation of the District of Summerland. At the time, more than 20,000 people were evacuated from their homes.
  It was then extended Aug. 21 through to Aug. 29, but the province says the decision to end it early follows advice from emergency management officials.
  However, the province says the wildfire
  
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• Murder conviction, sentencing stands in Surrey 6 slayings

  28-08-2026 00:57 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  One of the men convicted in the 2007 Surrey Six slayings will remain behind bars and continue his life sentences.On Aug. 27 in Vancouver, Justice Martha Devlin delivered her reasons for judgment against Cody Rae Haevischer’s application to have the judge declare a judicial stay of proceedings on the grounds of abuse of process.Six people were shot dead in Suite 1505 of the Balmoral Tower in Whalley on Oct. 19, 2007. The Crown’s theory was that the killings were payback for an unpaid
  
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• Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman quits B.C. Conservatives, the 6th in 2 weeks

  28-08-2026 00:53 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman is the latest to leave the B.C. Conservative caucus, and he plans to sit as an Independent.
  He said in a statement Thursday (Aug. 27) that “person after person has informed me they have decided that our new leader is unelectable.”
  Kerry-Lynne Findlay was elected leader at the end of May, but does not have a seat in the legislature. Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper has announced she would step down from her seat to allow Findlay to run in that ridi
  
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• B.C. piloting landscape-level forestry zone-based management

  28-08-2026 00:34 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  B.C. is planning to pilot a new system of forestry zones that Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says will simplify forest management.
  “This is going to help shape the future of forestry,” he said.
  The plan would create three types of zones: a conservation or protection zone that emphasizes habitat protection, a multiple-use zone focused on long-term ecosystem function but allowing different types of uses, and a working forest zone prioritizing harvesting.
  The province is working with Firs
  
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• UPDATE: 12-week strike ends for 300 Canadian railroaders as union settles with arbitration

  28-08-2026 00:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  After three months, labour disruptions have ended for CPKC’s signal and communications department across Canada as the union reluctantly agrees to mediation and arbitration.
  Twelve weeks have passed since the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Canadian Signals and Communications Systems Council No. 11 began striking between Vancouver and Montreal over concerns about CPKC’s wages, employee expenses, on-call obligations and demanding schedules.
  This action started M
  
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• Gord Johns attends Comox Valley’s International Overdose Awareness Day event

  28-08-2026 00:18 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  On Aug. 27, a large crowd gathered at the Comox Valley Art Gallery Plaza to recognize International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD).
  The event was held to honour the lives of people who have died from overdose and those in our community who are still fighting addiction and stigma. The event also served to raise awareness about the toll the overdose crisis is taking on the Comox Valley, B.C. and Canada, largely due to the stigma surrounding mental health and substance use disorders.
  People with liv
  
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• UPDATE: Summerland wildfire no longer ‘of note,’ 24-hour operations not required

  28-08-2026 00:05 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  UPDATE (3 P.M.)
  The Bald Range blaze west of Summerland has been downgraded and is no longer a “wildfire of note,” according to BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).
  BCWS crews welcomed back 100 Mexican wildland firefighters to the scene on Thursday.
  24-hour operations are no longer required with nighttime fire behaviour decreasing and “operations objectives being met,” BCWS said.
  “Ground crews and heavy equipment working at night will be folded into our daytime operations,&r
  
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