News

Rachelle Stein-Wotten Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder The approved provisional budget for the Nanaimo Regional Hospital District includes a projected increase of nearly $5 per $100,000. The $23.7 million proposed tax requisition for the NRHD...

Rachelle Stein-Wotten Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder This is the year Gabriola Island Recycling Organization hopes its textile recovery social enterprise will be in full swing. After permitting, supply chain and weather delays in 2022 set work...

Sounder News BC Hydro is asking customers on Gabriola Island to conserve electricity and limit use for essential needs only. During repairs to the TELUS line today, crews discovered significant damage to equipment that powers the Island. When the TELUS line snapped...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News Gabriola’s ferry route will see a schedule adjustment take place on Tuesday, Nov. 8. The two ship system started on Route 19 - Gabriola-Nanaimo Harbour - on April 12, 2022. Since then, BC Ferries has been hearing feedback from the public...

Sounder News Susan Yates and Tobi Elliott will be the Island Trustees for the Gabriola Local Trust Area for the next four years winning against four other opponents in the Islands Trust part of the 2022 Local Government Elections. Yates took in the most votes, with...

Sounder News A meet and greet hosted on October 13th for School Board candidates and parents ended up with candidate Tanner Scott being escorted off the Gabriola Elementary School property by RCMP. Candidates running for the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District #68 had...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News The proposed standing resolution to defer enforcement on non-conforming residences on Gabriola will be headed to the Local Trust Committee advisory planning commissions, prior to the outgoing LTC considering approving the resolution. The...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News Bylaw Enforcement staff for the Islands Trust estimate there are potentially hundreds of unlawful dwellings currently on Gabriola. Warren Dingman, Bylaw Compliance & Enforcement Manager gave a report for current statistics around...

Rachelle Stein-Wotten Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder In advance of voting for the 2022 local election, the Sounder reached out to the 12 candidates for trustee of Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools. Candidates were given a limit of 50 words to...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News The Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement District Board has received the Governance Review report generated by the Advisory  Select Committee (ASC). In that report, the Select Committee focused on nine key areas where there were specific...

Sounder News There are six candidates running to become the next two Island Trustees for Gabriola in the next Local Government Election, on October 15, 2022. The Sounder will be doing a weekly Q&A with the candidates. 1. How relevant is the current OCP to Gabriola...

Sounder News There are six candidates running to become the next Island Trustees for Gabriola in the next Local Government Election, on October 15, 2022.The Sounder will be doing a weekly Q&A with the candidates, and welcomes questions to be sent to...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News There are six candidates running to become the next Island Trustees for Gabriola in the next Local Government Election, on October 15, 2022. As of 4pm last Friday, the six candidates had been confirmed. They all have until 4pm on September...

Rachelle Stein-Wotten Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder When the damaged Descanso Bay emergency wharf on Gabriola will be replaced and up and running is unknown as of mid-September, according to the Regional District of Nanaimo. The regional...

Rachelle Stein-Wotten Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder A request for a reduced speed zone and crosswalk at Huxley Community Park is still under review by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. In the spring, the Regional District of...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News The Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department is hiring an external consultant to conduct an Operations Review. Fire Chief Will Sprogis and Training Officer Kitt Stringer presented a proposal to Trustees at the Aug. 3 meeting of the Gabriola Fire...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News The Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department will no longer be issuing exemptions for contractors and developers to continue doing work when the island is in shutdown conditions. Paul Giffin, Chair of the Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News The Emergency Wharf in Descanso Bay (adjacent to the ferry dock) will be out of service for an unknown length of time, after being damaged by a log on Wednesday last week. The emergency dock is owned and maintained by the Regional District...

On Friday, August 19 Island Health will be holding a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Gabriola Island for children age 6 months to 11 years.   Health Canada recently approved the Moderna Spikevax mRNA COVID-19 vaccine formulated for children between the ages of 6...

Ferry passengers need a bill of rights, similar to those given to air passengers in Canada in 2019. BC already has a Taxi Passengers Bill of Rights. (Effective in 2013) No one disputes that BC Ferries is in a staffing crisis. But the fact that they’ve had over 125...

Photo courtesy Libby Gunn, Gabriola Land and Trails Trust (GaLTT.ca) Islands Trust Conservancy Press Release Gabriola Land and Trails Trust (GaLTT) has received a $6,000 Opportunity Fund grant from Islands Trust Conservancy to help them meet an overwhelming demand...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) still considers the five anchorages proposed off Gabriola’s north-east corner to be potentially available. Captain Shri Madiwal with VFPA presented at the June Trust Council meeting on a public...

Derek Kilbourn Sounder News The Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department is planning an Evacuation Scenario this coming August, and is seeking community members in the Strand and Whalebone areas to take part. Kitt Stringer, Training Officer for the GVFD is planning the...

Sounder News Gabriola Trustee Scott Colbourne, along with Saturna Trustee Paul Brent have made a Request For Decision (RFD), asking the Islands Trust Council request the Lieutenant Governor in Council for the Province of British Columbia to conduct a review of the...

Rachelle Stein-Wotten Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder Incremental progress continues on Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools’ long-range facilities plan (LRFP). The board of trustees received a progress report on the 2021-31 LRFP at its May 25...