Nanaimo news

• Parksville swimmer Bennett wins 2 silver medals at Para Pan Pacific event

  01-09-2026 20:40 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Parksville swimmer Nicholas Bennett earned two silver medals and recorded a fourth-place finish at the 2026 Para Pan Pacific Championships held in Walnut, Calif.
  The former member of the Ravensong Aquatic Club in Qualicum Beach finished second in S14 men’s 200-metre individual medley, his signature event, on the final day of competition. He clocked a time of two minutes, 07.63 seconds to keep Canada’s podium momentum and helped Team Canada haul a total of nine medals during the three
  
  Read more

• Nanaimo RCMP looking for witnesses to crash that seriously injured motorcyclist

  02-09-2026 20:36 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo RCMP is looking for witnesses to an accident between a motorcycle and a SUV at the intersection of Departure Bay Road and Norwell Drive.
  The accident happened just after 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 31, according to Nanaimo RCMP.
  Reserve Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, said the SUV turned in front of the motorcycle, and the motorcyclist was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
  “The driver of the SUV said they had the advanced arrow to turn at the intersection, so i
  
  Read more

• What’s On, Sept 2

  02-09-2026 19:59 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  MUSIC
  Ryan McMahon will be performing at the Ladybug’s Mew in Yellow Point Farm & Garden Store Concert Stage on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. McMahon is a high-octane folk/rocker from Ladysmith. Tickets are available at www.ladybugsmewinyellowpoint.ca.Monthly open mic night at the Vault Cafe, free. Starts at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3.
  James Leclaire, a Canadian-based singer songwriter who mixes folk, rick, classic country, roots and blues, will be performing at the Queen’s on Sept. 4, with doors at
  
  Read more

• B.C. Tesla driver ticketed for allegedly sleeping behind the wheel on Highway 1

  02-09-2026 19:53 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A 45-year-old driver from Maple Ridge is facing a $368 ticket for allegedly sleeping behind the wheel while driving on Highway 1.
  Two witnesses called into police about a driver who appeared to be asleep behind the wheel of a Tesla on Highway 1 near Mountain Highway in North Vancouver on Aug. 11, just before 3:30 p.m., according to a news release from B.C. Highway Patrol Wednesday (Sept. 2).
  Police say both witnesses were in the same vehicle and the passenger recorded video from the passenger se
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Boundary-Similkameen MLA Donegal Wilson latest to quit B.C. Conservative Party

  02-09-2026 19:44 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Boundary-Similkameen MLA Donegal Wilson is leaving the B.C. Conservative Party, saying she has lost confidence in Kerry-Lynne Findlay as party leader.
  “When Ms. Findlay became Leader, I promised myself I would keep an open mind and give her three
  months to show us how she intended to lead,” Wilson said in a written statement. “Three months later, I have my answer. I never imagined things could go this wrong, this quickly.”
  Wilson is the eighth MLA to leave the Conservativ
  
  Read more

• City of Parksville numbers being ‘spoofed’ by fraudsters

  02-09-2026 19:40 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The City of Parksville says unauthorized callers are using phone numbers associated with the city to place scam or fraudulent calls.
  This practice, known as “spoofing,” allows scammers to make it appear as though a call is coming from a legitimate phone number, when it is not, according to a news release by the city.
  “The city wants to remind residents that we will never ask for sensitive personal information, banking information, passwords, or payment over the phone in an unso
  
  Read more

• Shuswap RCMP respond to ‘chaotic scene’ on Highway 1 after semi hits truck and camper trailer

  02-09-2026 19:29 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Responding to a vehicle collision east of town, the Sicamous RCMP found a “chaotic scene” upon arrival.
  On Tuesday, Sept. 1, officers responded a “major collision” at the west end of the four-lane section of Highway 1 in Malakwa just after 4 p.m.“The officers arrived to a chaotic scene with a large fifth wheel trailer completely destroyed and torn open lengthwise on the shoulder of the highway, with the heavy duty pickup towing the trailer also heavily damaged,&rdq
  
  Read more

• Campfire ban to be lifted across Vancouver Island and South Coast

  02-09-2026 19:15 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Campfire prohibitions will be lifted across the Coastal Fire Centre starting Thursday (Sept. 3), as wildfire danger continues to decline following recent rainfall and cooler temperatures.
  Effective at noon, Category 1 open-fire prohibitions, which include campfires, will be rescinded throughout the Coastal Fire Centre – which encompasses the Island and B.C.’s South Coast. Fire no larger than 0.5 metres high by 0.5 metres wide, used for recreational or ceremonial purposes, will be all
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• MP calls for federal assessment of former Crofton mill property

  02-09-2026 19:04 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Cowichan-Malahat-Langford MP and Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement Jeff Kibble is calling on the federal government to immediately assess the former pulp mill property in Crofton for potential future industrial and naval use.
  Kibble said the property’s deep, sheltered water, existing berthing, industrial infrastructure and large upland area make it a rare asset on the B.C. coast.
  “A building can be put anywhere. A depth cannot be built to order and there are very few places on
  
  Read more

• Uber drivers across B.C. Interior unionize, including Okanagan, Cariboo and Kootenay regions

  02-09-2026 19:01 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Uber drivers across the B.C. Interior have joined UFCW 1518, a private union that serves over 28,000 workers across the province, including the Okanagan, Cariboo and Kootenay regions.
  ​According to UFCW Canada, drivers in these regions will now be covered by the landmark agreement first negotiated by Uber drivers in Victoria, which expands its protections and benefits to hundreds of drivers in B.C.
  ​“The agreement reached by Uber drivers in Victoria made history. Now we’r
  
  Read more

• Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League ready to drop the puck on 2026-27 season

  02-09-2026 18:59 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League is set to open its 2026-27 season this weekend, with all 11 teams completing training camps and making final preparations for the opening puck drop.
  The regular season gets underway Friday, Sept. 4, with three games on the schedule, followed by three more contests Saturday, including the Oceanside Generals’ home opener.
  “The off-season has been extremely busy for our teams and the league office, preparing for this year and the future,”
  
  Read more

• Man arrested for arson in suspicious grass fires near Vernon

  02-09-2026 18:52 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  An arrest has been made following two suspicious grass fires started in the Swan Lake Nature Reserve, which grew to wildfire status but were quickly brought under control Tuesday, Sept. 1.
  RCMP say a witness in the area and noticed smoke from the fires, and using binoculars, they observed a suspicious man running from the scene and quickly called police providing a description of the suspect.The witness continued to watch the suspect as he attempted to flee the scene toward Old Kamloops Road.&ld
  
  Read more

• NOTICE OF BOUNDARY EXTENSION: City of Nanaimo

  02-09-2026 18:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Notice is hereby given that effective July 17, 2026, the boundary of the City of Nanaimo was extended, by Order-in-Council No. 339/2026, to include the following Snuneymuxw First Nation reserve lands:IR#1 (Nanaimo Town No. 1)
  IR#2 (Nanaimo River No. 2)
  IR#3 (Nanaimo River No. 3)
  IR#4 (Nanaimo River No. 4)A copy of the Letters Patent and a map showing the new boundary of the municipality may be viewed at the Legislative Services Department at City Hall, 455 Wallace Street, Nanaimo, BC, during reg
  
  Read more

• Helicopter rescue off Vancouver Island a great example of ‘coordinated response and teamwork’

  02-09-2026 18:18 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Local search and rescue teams are hailing coordination as a key to successful aid with the latest rescue off Chin Beach on the Juan de Fuca Trail.Juan de Fuca Search and Rescue was called out Monday (Sept. 1) to help an 18-year-old hiker who had sustained a head injury.With support from Shirley Fire, North Shore Rescue, Talon Helicopters, and BC Emergency Health Services, the team safely extricated the injured hiker.“Juan de Fuca SAR responded alongside local fire rescue resources and a fl
  
  Read more

• B.C. education minister aware of need for new Nanaimo District Secondary School

  02-09-2026 18:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The B.C. government is not oblivious to Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools’ desire for a new Nanaimo District Secondary School, says the education minister.
  NDSS was built in 1952 with a 2025 capital plan report noting it “has multiple aged-out systems and requires a significant amount of maintenance” and the school district, and numerous iterations of the school board, have long advocated for an upgrade.
  At a Monday, Aug. 31 child care space announcement in Nanaimo, Lisa Beare,
  
  Read more

• Fluffle of baby bunnies rescued from euthanasia on Vancouver Island

  02-09-2026 14:35 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  What started as Rabbitats Rescue Society taking in one rabbit, turned into an entire fluffle of baby bunnies being given an airlift to the Lower Mainland and rescued from euthanasia.
  Six baby bunnies are nestled safely in Surrey, being bottle fed by a seasoned volunteer, alongside six other rabbits following a multi-organizational rescue that involved a veterinary service, volunteers and a sea plane.On July 15, Rabbitats, a volunteer-run charity that works to safely house unwanted, abandoned and
  
  Read more

• Summerland artist writes song about community experience post-wildfire

  02-09-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A Summerlander has turned the tragedy that faced this community during the wildfire into a piece of art.
  Mandy Cole, a singer-songwriter from Summerland, has come out with a song called Small Town.
  The song was written based on her own experiences and on the experiences of her neighbours and friends when the Bald Range wildfire forced the entire town to evacuate on Aug. 7.
  “The verses in the song are all lines that have been shared with me in conversations with residents from Summerland wh
  
  Read more

• B.C. MLA says RCMP to interview him over Conservative leader allegations

  02-09-2026 05:12 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Delta South MLA Ian Paton confirmed to Black Press Media that the RCMP is scheduled to interview him at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday to discuss allegations that B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay offered him a paid job in exchange for his resignation.
  “There are two of them (officers) coming down tomorrow morning to my office,” he told Black Press Media.
  Findlay was elected as party leader without a seat in the legislature, so she needed someone in the party to step aside so she
  
  Read more

• Kelowna council pushing to close downtown supervised consumption site

  02-09-2026 04:44 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The mayor of Kelowna has penned a letter on behalf of city council to the federal Ministry of Health requesting that the 2027 renewal of a downtown supervised consumption site be denied.Mayor Tom Dyas shared the letter on social media on Tuesday, Sept. 1, calling for the supervised consumption site at Outreach Urban Health to be shut down by Health Canada.
  Outreach Urban Health, located at 1649 Pandosy Street, provides safe monitoring and medical intervention by trained staff during substance us
  
  Read more

• B.C. says $1.5B gas royalty accounting error result of spreadsheet mistake

  02-09-2026 02:15 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The B.C. government is working to explain away a $1.5 billion accounting blunder related to natural gas royalties, blaming a spreadsheet error related to currency conversion.
  “I’m not pleased by this situation,” Premier David Eby said a few hours before ministry officials convened a media briefing to explain the mistake.Those officials detailed a spreadsheet error in which Canadian dollars were mistaken for American dollars, and converted when they shouldn’t have been.
  En
  
  Read more

• Closing arguments in Nanaimo shooting murder trial begin next week

  02-09-2026 02:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Crown counsel and defence are set to make closing arguments in the trial related to a 2021 shooting that killed a man at a Wendy’s restaurant in Nanaimo.
  Ronald Joseph Campbell, 42 when charged with first-degree murder in 2024, has been on trial since July 20, with the proceedings scheduled for 27 days in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo. Nick Barber and Gregory Furmaniuk, Crown counsel, concluded their case on Wednesday, Aug. 26 and Jordan Watt and Bryan McPhail, defence counsel, told Justic
  
  Read more

• Alleged Island assault leaves 74-year-old with ‘serious’ facial injuries

  02-09-2026 02:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Police are investigating an alleged aggravated assault that sent an older man to hospital this week.
  At approximately 1:15 p.m. on Aug. 31, officers responded to a report of an assault in progress at Gorge Park.
  There, a 74-year-old man had suffered “serious facial injuries during an alleged assault involving a male suspect,” according to the Victoria Police Department.
  After the incident, the suspect and a female youth fled the area on foot through the dog park, and the victim was t
  
  Read more

• Alleged Island assault leaves 74 year old with ‘serious’ facial injuries

  02-09-2026 02:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Police are investigating an alleged aggravated assault that sent an older man to hospital this week.
  At approximately 1:15 p.m. on Aug. 31, officers responded to a report of an assault in progress at Gorge Park.
  There, a 74-year-old man had suffered “serious facial injuries during an alleged assault involving a male suspect,” according to the Victoria Police Department.
  After the incident, the suspect and a female youth fled the area on foot through the dog park, and the victim was t
  
  Read more

• B.C. touts 250 school capital projects since 2017, with 23 ready for coming year

  02-09-2026 01:21 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Ahead of the new school year, the B.C. government is highlighting how many school capital projects have been completed since the NDP took office in 2017.Premier David Eby touted the achievement at the new seismically upgraded Stride Avenue Community Elementary in Burnaby Tuesday (Sept. 1). He was joined by Education Minister Lisa Beare, Burnaby East MLA Rohini Arora and Burnaby school board chair Kristin Schnider and other staff from the Burnaby school district.The government says the Burnaby el
  
  Read more

• Victoria hosts top military leaders from across the Pacific

  02-09-2026 01:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A heap of gold-hued epaulettes, glistening military medals and Cadillac Escalades donning diplomatic plates could be seen at the Empress Hotel for a gathering of defence leaders representing countries from across the Indo-Pacific and NATO partners.
  Starting Monday, Aug. 31, to Wednesday, a who’s who of world military leaders from 29 countries congregated in Victoria for the 28th annual Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense (CHODs) conference, co-hosted by Canada and the U.S.
  “Our geography
  
  Read more

• Victoria hosts top military leaders across the Pacific

  02-09-2026 01:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A heap of gold-hued epaulettes, glistening military medals and Cadillac Escalades donning diplomatic plates could be seen at the Empress Hotel for a gathering of defence leaders representing countries from across the Indo-Pacific and NATO partners.
  Starting Monday, Aug. 31, to Wednesday, a who’s who of world military leaders from 29 countries congregated in Victoria for the 28th annual Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense (CHODs) conference, co-hosted by Canada and the U.S.
  “Our geography
  
  Read more

• Transit police check nets B.C. man wanted on 8 Canada-wide warrants in Sask.

  02-09-2026 00:40 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Metro Vancouver Transit Police say they’ve arrested a Surrey man wanted on eight Canada-wide arrest warrants out of Estevan, Saskatchewan.
  Emmanuel Enocent Dario, 36, was taken into custody while a mobile enforcement team conducted impaired-driving enforcement in the area around Surrey Central Station on Thursday, Aug. 27, shortly before 8 p.m.He’s held in-custody pending his next court appearance, transit police say.
  “We are proud to have removed a wanted criminal from our com
  
  Read more

• B.C. NDP preparing for fall session, doesn’t rule out snap election: Eby

  02-09-2026 00:23 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Premier David Eby is refusing to rule out calling a snap election amid the exodus of MLAs from the B.C. Conservative caucus.“We’re preparing for the fall session … I understand that the Conservatives are in significant chaos,” he said when asked to give a “flat out yes or no” at a Burnaby news conference Tuesday (Sept. 1).
  “Our focus remains on delivering for British Columbians, and that’s what we’re going to continue our focus on.”
  Eb
  
  Read more

• Students in Nanaimo-Ladysmith go back to school on Sept. 8

  02-09-2026 00:12 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Students in Nanaimo and Ladysmith will be hitting the books again as a new school year begins next week.
  The first day of the 2026/27 school year is Tuesday, Sept. 8 across School District 68, with students only in attendance for a few hours.
  According to information on SD68 website, students at Mountain View Elementary School will be in class from 10:45-11:45 a.m. and students with SD68 Learning Alternatives will be in school from 12-2 p.m.
  The first day of school for all Ladysmith Secondary Sc
  
  Read more

• ‘Embarrassment’: U.S. war secretary trolls B.C. cadets

  01-09-2026 21:47 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  B.C.’s Premier is astonished by the United States’ military leadership’s “attack” on Vernon’s cadets.
  United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made a post on X (formerly Twitter) Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. sharing a picture that Vernon Cadets had posted on Facebook Aug. 24, accompanied with a Canadian flag and the comment “this is real.”(this is real) pic.twitter.com/Ucx2FNdi1q
  — Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) September 1, 2026With nearly 10 million v
  
  Read more

Follow @news_nanaimo on Twitter!