Nanaimo news

• Indigenous policing accountability program launched in B.C.

  10-06-2026 18:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  What started as a pilot project in 2024 to help Indigenous people affected by police violence and negligence in B.C. has now come to fruition.
  On Wednesday, June 10, BC First Nations Justice Council (BCFNJC) launched a Police Accountability Unit (PAU) in response to “the disproportionate level of harmful police interactions experienced by Indigenous communities, the unit supports individuals navigating the complex system of police oversight processes through free legal supports,” rea
  
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• ‘Yes and no’: Stefanski gives evasive answers in Lumby murder trial

  10-06-2026 22:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Crown prosecutors typically make sure to ask binary questions during cross examination.
  Accordingly, as Crown lawyer Laura Drake posed questions to accused North Okanagan murderer Vitali Stefanski Wednesday morning, she made an apparent effort to phrase the questions in a way that would elicit a yes or no answer.
  On multiple occasions during Vitali’s second-degree murder trial in B.C. Supreme Court trial in Kamloops June 10, Vitali attempted to sidestep these binary questions.
  “Yes a
  
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• PHOTOS: VIU graduates receive degrees, ready to make way in the world

  10-06-2026 22:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  One door closed and another opened as university students in Nanaimo turned the tassels on their grad caps and received their degrees.
  Convocation ceremonies took place at Vancouver Island University’s Nanaimo campus this week, with graduation for students in the faculty of health sciences and human services on Tuesday, June 9.
  In his speech, Dennis Johnson, VIU interim president and vice-chancellor, lauded the pupils for reaching a major milestone, through resilience and determination, ev
  
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• 50 B.C. groups awarded grants to fight misinformation

  10-06-2026 22:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  More than 50 community projects across B.C. have received $500 grants to combat harmful misinformation as part of the B.C. Human Rights Commissioner’s Community Amplifier initiative.
  ​One of the projects, Transform the Words in Kelowna, saw more than 1,000 colourful origami cranes hanging from the roof of the downtown library.
  ​The installation created by Advocacy Canada with 13 partner groups, libraries and mental health organizations, uses personal stories to counter misinfor
  
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• ‘I called my mom immediately’: Victoria man wins $2M on scratch ticket

  10-06-2026 22:25 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A Victoria resident will treat his mom to a nice dinner while basking in a “surreal” $2 million scratch ticket win.David S. spotted a diamond on a ticket at Devonshire Vape and Cigars on Esquimalt Road and bought it on a whim, according to the BC Lottery Corporation.“I took the ticket to the till and did a little dance,” recalled David of the moment he realized he won, after checking his ticket on the self-scanner. “I called my mom immediately.”
  He doesn&rsquo
  
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• Kamloops cops seek suspect in indecent act investigation

  10-06-2026 22:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Kamloops police are asking for help identifying a suspect in an indecent act investigation.
  According to a press release, on Friday, May 29, just before 11:30 a.m., a woman was shopping at a thrift store in the 900-block of Columbia Street.
  She felt someone staring at her and turned to see a man allegedly masturbating in the aisle near her. When the suspect realized the woman had seen him, he fled, Mounties say.
  “To date, police have been unable to identify the male and are now releasing a
  
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• VIDEO: Communities across B.C. in the spotlight in new adventure show

  10-06-2026 21:46 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  View this post on InstagramA post shared by Finding Nowhere Show (@findingnowhereshow)Multiple communities across the province are featured in a new documentary-style series available now on streaming platforms.
  Finding Nowhere is an eight-episode adventure series focuses on three cousins – Joel Primus, Ryan Primus and Seth Steward – who were all born in Prince George but grew up in different parts of B.C. – discovering small-town life, learning rewilding skills and experiencin
  
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• B.C. jobs minister says he’s still hopeful despite Trump’s latest CUSMA comments

  10-06-2026 21:39 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  B.C. Jobs and Economic Growth Minister Ravi Kahlon says he remains “hopeful” that the U.S. and Canada can still come to terms on a renewed trade deal despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest comments panning the current framework.
  But Kahlon also said it is “vitally important” for the province to continue diversifying trade away from the U.S., just in case.
  “I’m not suggesting that we’ll never do business with the U.S. They’re going to be
  
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• B.C. teacher gets 15-year ban for sexual relationship with former student

  10-06-2026 21:34 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  An independent school teacher has received a 15-year ban after admitting to a sexual relationship with a former student, just months after they graduated.
  Jonas Alexander Douglas Huston entered into the consent resolution agreement with the teacher regulation commissioner on May 26. In it, he admitted that he had a sexual relationship with a former student and agreed that for 15 years, he wouldn’t apply for an independent school teaching certificate or any other authorization to teach in t
  
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• Nanaimo Pride opens biggest festival yet, despite worsening anti-2SLGBTQIA+ rhetoric

  10-06-2026 21:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Dual flags were raised at city hall, signifying Nanaimo’s 30th Pride celebration, the hard battles won, and the community’s refusal to be wiped out in the face of adversity.
  On Tuesday, June 9, both the progress pride flag and transgender pride flag were raised at Nanaimo city hall. While this year is the largest the festival has ever been, Lauren Semple, Nanaimo Pride Society’s president, said community members have been reporting an uptick in homophobic and transphobic attack
  
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• Boy, 8, and girl, 7, dead after UTV rollover in northern B.C., RCMP say

  10-06-2026 20:55 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Two children are dead after a utility terrain vehicle crash in the northern B.C. community of Pouce Coupe.
  Dawson Creek RCMP were called to a report of a UTV rollover on the 13700-block of 207 Road in the nearby community of Pouce Coupe on June 4, just after 1 p.m., RCMP said in a release Tuesday (June 9).
  Police say five young children were in the vehicle when the driver lost control, resulting in it rolling several times “over a considerable distance.”
  An eight-year-old boy died at
  
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• Longtime B.C. sailor in recovery after daring rescue

  10-06-2026 19:40 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  After 26 hours adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, braving a vicious storm that totalled his sailboat, the 610-foot Silver Whisper was expertly pulled alongside John Campbell’s vessel, and like the hand of god, crew members pulled him into the cruise ship – the end of a days-long ordeal leaving him with broken bones and his home at the bottom of the sea.
  Campbell has been a sailor for decades, picking up the hobby at five years old, and 17 years ago he bought April Alice, a 27
  
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• World Cup numbers: 39-day FIFA soccer tournament starts Thursday, June 11

  10-06-2026 19:39 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  With the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to start Thursday (June 11) in Mexico City, we compiled some tournament-related numbers — some firm, others estimated, all for fun:
  104: Number of matches during the quadrennial men’s soccer tournament from June 11 to July 19.
  Three: Number of countries hosting matches in 2026, namely Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
  16: Host cities in those three countries including Vancouver, Toronto and Seattle.
  12: Noon, Pacific time, when Thursday’s first game
  
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• World Cup watch parties expected to spike electricity use at home: BC Hydro

  10-06-2026 19:32 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  World Cup watch parties are expected to lead to a spike in home electricity use, a new BC Hydro survey found.
  The FIFA World Cup, which kicks off Thursday (June 11), is set to become one of B.C.’s biggest at-home viewing events, BC Hydro said in a news release Wednesday. It will be second only to NHL playoffs, with nearly two-thirds of residents planning to host or attend a watch party.
  BC Hydro says the surge in electricity is being fuelled by younger adults, with 73 per cent of Gen Z and
  
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• Cat given oxygen and one person taken to hospital after Nanaimo fire

  10-06-2026 19:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  One person was taken to the hospital and one cat to an animal hospital, after a small fire in a housing unit at the Canadian Mental Health Association’s supportive housing project in the 400 block of Wesley Street.
  On the afternoon of Tuesday, June 9, fire crews responded to calls of a fire at the housing project just after 5 p.m.
  Assistant fire chief John MacKenzie, from Nanaimo Fire Rescue, said it was small fire that was contained to one unit, and it was quickly extinguished.
  “But
  
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• Vancouver Island cetacean lovers make waves over whale-watching boat speeds

  10-06-2026 19:28 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  As attention turned to under the sea for annual Ocean Week celebrations, a Greater Victoria group of land-based whale lovers called for more eyes on the action at the surface.
  Gathered in Victoria’s Inner Harbour on June 6, a group of four held signs calling for whale watching vessels to slow down between sightings.
  “A lot of the whale watching companies in Victoria pride themselves for having a huge search area,” said protester Jessie Leo. “In order to achieve that range
  
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• RCMP warns of ‘violent’ online exploitation group targeting B.C. children

  10-06-2026 19:22 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  RCMP are investigating three reports involving a violent online group exploiting children and youth in the West Shore.
  According to a West Shore RCMP news release, the reports are similar in nature and involve a violent online group known as the “764,” which are a part of a larger online network known as “The COM.”
  “The COM deliberately targets, victimizes and recruits vulnerable children ages eight to 17,” said the RCMP. The COM is a virtual community of grou
  
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• Williams Lake rejects jail closure idea, seeks government support on repeat crime

  10-06-2026 19:19 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Williams Lake City Council intends to correspond with senior levels of government regarding repeat offenders and the operational feasibility of its municipal jail cells, following a detailed report confirming that the city cannot close the jail or restrict its use, and that the only viable action would be to withdraw guarding services.
  At a Tuesday, June 9, regular council meeting, three options were weighed following a previously adopted resolution by Coun. Scott Nelson, who requested staff exa
  
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• B.C. woman pleads guilty to attempting to euthanize cat with fentanyl

  10-06-2026 19:04 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A Lake Country woman recently pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges after she attempted to euthanize her cat using fentanyl.
  On May 29, Jayme-Jo Crystal Brooks pleaded guilty in Kelowna court for “administering a poisonous or injurious drug or substance to a domestic animal.”
  On Christmas Day 2024, Brooks was investigated by the BC SPCA after the attempt to euthanize one of her three cats by injecting it with fentanyl.
  A veterinarian called the BC SPCA helpline, reporting a cat in
  
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• What’s On, June 10

  10-06-2026 19:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  PRIDE
  Rainbow Rave: Silent Disco at Colliery Dam Park on June 10, 7-10 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.nanaimopride.ca. Adults cost $20, youth cost $5-$15.
  Pride on the Mic an evening dedicated to the stories, songs, and laughter of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community at MGM Restaurant on June 11, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.nanaimopride.ca.
  Club Soda Sober Pride on June 12 at Nanaimo Museum, 7-11 p.m. Dance is an 18+ event which costs $25. Tickets are available online at ww
  
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• Body recovered after watercraft incident northeast of Quesnel

  10-06-2026 17:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A body was recovered from Stony Lake, 90 km northeast of Quesnel, this week during an ongoing search for an individual involved in a personal watercraft capsizing.
  According to a press release, Quesnel Search and Rescue (QSAR) was requested to assist for a second operational period in the search effort on Tuesday, June 9.
  During the day’s operations, the RCMP Dive Team conducted tow-behind sonar searches of the lake, while QSAR operated a smaller vessel near the shoreline using side-scan s
  
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• ‘Festival was never profitable’: Rifflandia pulls the plug on Victoria event

  10-06-2026 16:50 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Citing rising costs and lack of amenable venue, Victoria’s popular long-running music festival Rifflandia is officially over.“After 18 years, countless memories, and a whole lot of heart, we’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to bring Rifflandia Festival to a close. We held onto hope that we might be able to celebrate one final September together, but ultimately the realities of producing the festival we love made that impossible,” reads the official announcement.&
  
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• DISTRICT OF LANTZVILLE: PUBLIC NOTICE – ANNUAL MUNICIPAL REPORT

  10-06-2026 15:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The District’s Annual Municipal Report for the year ended December 31, 2025, is available for review at www.lantzville.ca, and at the Municipal Hall, 7192 Lantzville Road, Lantzville, BC, during regular business hours (8:30 am to 4:00 pm), Monday to Friday, except statutory holidays.
  Local governments must prepare an annual report which states the goals and objectives for the coming year and demonstrates progress toward the preceding year’s goals and objectives. The report also inclu
  
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• District of Lantzville Notice of No Public Hearing: Wednesday, June 24, 2026, 6:00pm

  10-06-2026 15:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  At the regular Council Meeting on June 24, 2026 at 6:00pm virtual (Zoom Webinar platform) and livestreamed at lantzville.ca. District of Lantzville Council will give first reading to the following proposed Bylaw: “District of Lantzville Zoning Bylaw No. 180, 2020, Amendment (7660 Clark Drive) Bylaw No. 433, 2026”.
  SUBJECT PROPERTIES
  The Bylaw amendment applies to the following parcel:• 7660 Clark Drive: LOT 2, DISTRICT LOT 37, WELLINGTON DISTRICT, PLAN 46790
  PURPOSE
  To amend &ld
  
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• New Nanaimo organization is focused on practice of natural, green burials

  10-06-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A new group is being formed in Nanaimo with a focus on green and natural burials.
  Island Green Burial Organization, which is currently applying for non-profit status, envisions a future where burial practices contribute to the healing and protection of the land, “gently returning us to the cycles of the natural world,” according to an informational pamphlet.
  Kimberly LeDuc, member of the newly formed organization, said that green burial is essentially, a direct Earth burial.
  “I
  
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• KF Aerospace restores Canadian history putting Odyssey 86 on display in B.C.

  10-06-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  On June 7, 1986, the Odyssey 86 took off out of Vancouver for a trip around the world. Forty years later, on June 9, four of the flight crew members gathered in Kelowna for the premier of Odyssey 86 – 90 Years of the DC-3 to see their adventure on film for the first time ever.
  Hosted at the KF Centre for Excellence, over 200 people came out to watch the new documentary with never-before-seen footage taken during the adventure.
  The then 50-year-old aircraft made history in 1986, as an all-C
  
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• Abandoned boats left high and dry on west coast as funding cuts deepen

  10-06-2026 14:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Tofino, B.C. – Down the dock of broken dreams lies a fleet of old fishing boats that are the end of their life—and there’s next to no money left in federal or provincial coffers to do anything with them.
  The federal Abandoned Boats Program (ABP), which was launched in 2017 with an initial investment of $6.4 million, was not renewed.
  “There is no more funding for ABP at this time,” said Transport Canada in a May 29 email.
  The program disposed of 223 abandoned and wre
  
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• Accused in Lumby murder case offers murky account of day ex-wife was killed

  10-06-2026 03:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  WARNING: this article contains content related to a domestic violence murder trial which may be distressing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know has been harmed by domestic violence (gender-based violence), contact Archway Society for Domestic Peace at 250-542-1122 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
  As the cross-examination of Vitali Stefanski continued Tuesday afternoon, the accused murderer’s description of the events surrounding the death of his ex-wif
  
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• ‘Worthy of rebuke:’ Damages awarded to investigator fired after B.C. Misfire report

  10-06-2026 01:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  In a scathing judgment handed out by the B.C. Supreme Court on Monday, a judge found that Christy Clark’s government deliberately made the investigator involved in the infamous 2012 Health ministry firings a “scapegoat,” firing her unfairly just hours before the former premier lost power in a vote of non-confidence.
  Justice Lindsay LeBlanc finds the decision to fire investigator Wendy Taylor at that moment was made by the Clark government simply “because it suited them po
  
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• PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE: RURAL HOUSING STRATEGY PROJECT

  10-06-2026 00:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) is developing a Rural Housing Strategy to respond to housing affordability challenges and changing housing needs in rural communities by helping to guide land use planning, zoning and policies in rural areas. The RDN invites residents to share their input to help shape realistic housing solutions by attending an open house to exchange ideas or by completing the online survey by July 8.
  Open Houses – Idea Exchanges:
  Tuesday, June 16, 2026
  5 – 8 p
  
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