1 4 3 Canada, Burnaby, BC (2025)

11/17/2025

NANAIMO — Local Mounties are casting a wide net in their search for a missing woman after her out-of-character disappearance.

Sherry Shelley, 65, was last seen at her downtown apartment on Thursday, Nov. 13 and was last in communication with others around 9:30 p.m. the same day, saying she was at Walmart at Woodgrove Centre.

Reserve Cst. Gary O’Brien said they believe Shelley is still in the city’s north end.

“Her disappearance is highly suspicious, and as a result, the investigation is being conducted by the Nanaimo RCMP Serious Crimes Unit. She is believed to be between Walmart and the logging road off Ware Rd.”

O’Brien said involvement by the Serious Crimes Unit is a result of evidence collected to date.

Family and friends of Shelley said items reportedly belonging to her were found on Friday, Nov. 14 in the Lantzville area, on a logging road.

Included was a jacket she was believed to be wearing at Walmart.

O’Brien could not comment on whether items were found, citing the integrity of the ongoing investigation.

Residents at a downtown Nanaimo apartment building told NanaimoNewsNOW police have had a presence both outside the building and near Shelley’s apartment since late Friday afternoon, continuing into Saturday.

“She may have also been associated with her vehicle, described as a white 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan,” O’Brien said.

Anyone with information as to Shelley’s whereabouts or movement is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.

Subscribe to our daily news wrap. Local news delivered to your email inbox every evening. Stay up to date on everything Nanaimo and Oceanside.

11/17/2025

The Town of Smithers, B.C., says it will hold a public information session about a temporary winter shelter set to open in the community as misinformation about the facility is circulating.

The shelter, located downtown at 3892 3rd Ave., aims to provide somewhere for the city’s homeless population to sleep as the temperature drops during winter, according to Smithers Mayor Gladys Atrill.

According to the 2025 Homeless Count, 77 people in the community of about 5,400 are homeless. Many live in a tent encampment.

“This isn't a new issue in Smithers, in terms of people requiring better circumstances than what they get living in the tent encampment,” Atrill said.

“Council has been asking for help from both the provincial government and B.C. Housing. I don't think we imagined this particular outcome."

The town won’t be involved in operating the shelter and, according to a public notice posted Nov. 7, wasn’t involved in the application process for the facility. She said the proposal for the shelter was “quick moving.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing said the Bulkley Valley Harm Reduction Society applied to B.C. Housing to run a temporary shelter earlier this year, and was selected as an approved operator.

The ministry said the site, a former church, is zoned for use as a “rescue mission” like a shelter, which meant the project would not require a temporary use permit — speeding up the timeline.

“Bringing people indoors — especially during the wet and cold B.C. winters — is the first step toward stability for people experiencing homelessness and is key to strengthening our communities,” the spokesperson said.

The low-barrier shelter aims to minimize obstacles for people who need to stay there. It will have eight beds, with two staff members on-site at all times, according to the Town of Smithers.

The shelter will run from November until the end of March 2026.

“[It] isn't a long-term plan, not from our perspective,” Atrill said.

She said the town is working with B.C. Housing to build a supportive housing complex that would provide 40 homes for people at risk of homelessness — but it’s not quite ready yet.

Bulkley Valley–Stikine MLA Sharon Hartwell has been critical of the temporary shelter.

“Nobody was consulted on what was happening,” Hartwell said.

A media release issued by her office on Nov. 10 said the site will "include a tent that will support the provision of so called 'safe supply' drugs for users of the shelter."

It also referenced a letter from a group of health-care professionals who work in a building near the shelter that raises safety concerns and alleges the shelter will facilitate “open drug use.”

Shelter manager Billie Kennedy, who works with the Bulkley Valley Harm Reduction Society, said "it is misinformation that we are a safe supply site."

"We're not a safe supply site and we will not prescribe or provide any controlled substances on site," Kennedy said.

"We’re a low-barrier shelter, which means we recognize that some of the people seeking shelter in this space likely are using substances. We're going through extensive safety planning in order to increase not only safety and stability for those individuals, but for the community at large.”

She said a smoking tent will be set up for shelter users, but it is specifically for people smoking to***co.

In her statement, Hartwell described the shelter as “experimental.”

Kennedy said it’s anything but.

“The operations of this shelter are based on evidence-based best practices that have been developed throughout the province and are currently operational in many, many communities and shelters around the province,” she said. "What we're doing is not new or experimental."

A public meeting is scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m. PT at 4035 Walnut Drive for community members wishing to learn more about the shelter and express any concerns.

11/17/2025

The landscape surrounding the west-central Alberta mountain town of Hinton is going to change in the coming years as the Alberta government launches a major project that aims to reduce wildfire risk.

Through the Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction (CHFR) program, the provincial government has directed West Fraser Timber Co. to shift its planned harvest toward high-risk areas that pose a wildfire threat to Hinton.

Work begins this month. The first visible changes in the area will appear southwest of town from Highway 40 South from Hinton heading towards Cadomin.

The harvest is part of a larger provincial program that identified 32 communities that are at a high risk of wildfire.

Within the Edson Forest Area, Hinton, Cadomin, Cynthia, Edson, Grande Cache, Marlboro-Millers Lake, and Robb were selected.

Hinton is one of nine communities that the program has deemed as more complex, requiring additional planning.

High risk
During two open houses in October, provincial wildfire officials shared why Hinton was chosen for the project.

Scott Brewer, a wildfire management specialist, said in a presentation that “significant amount of wildfire hazard,” combined with “very little planned harvest within five kilometres,” qualified Hinton for the project.

Decades of fire suppression have allowed mature spruce and pine — considered hazardous fuels — to accumulate around the town, Brewer said. These trees burn intensely and can send embers long distances ahead of a fire.

Some residents say the risk has felt obvious for years.

“We're very high risk and it's been on our minds for a long time,” said long-time Hinton resident Louis Corbeil, who installed a wildfire sprinkler system on his roof.

Warren Kehr, a Hinton local with 50 years’ experience in forestry, told CBC that the deforestation is a necessary trade-off.

“We’re sitting on a powder keg,” said Kehr.

What’s the plan?
The project will rely primarily on clear-cut harvesting, targeted specifically at conifer stands within five kilometres of town over the next three to five years.

While the landscape will look a lot different in the coming years, Kehr said, “it's still better than black sticks and burned down foundations.”

During the presentation, Brewer emphasized that the CHFR program does not increase the total amount of trees that West Fraser is allowed to cut.

Instead, it shifts existing plans to focus on protecting communities and critical infrastructure.

For land assessed as high risk that West Fraser does not have the logging rights to, the Alberta government has issued a separate tender for fuel-reduction work.

The goal of the project is to reduce hazardous fuel around the community to have no more than 50 per cent hazardous fuel within five kilometres.

With the current proposed harvest, the 78 per cent fuel pre–harvest would see a decrease to 59 per cent, still not reaching the project’s longer-term target.

Brewer noted that although some exposure remains, it matches up with some of the existing mitigations, such as the town’s fireguard that was created 20 years ago.

Caroline Charbonneau, an area information co-ordinator for Alberta Forestry and Parks said in an email that while high-risk areas will be removed, most of the other trees critical for watersheds, wildlife, and slopes will be left standing.

Existing environmental safeguards still apply to the CHFR cut-blocks, including protections to nesting sites and bodies of water.

The first CHFR cut-blocks will be completed this fall southwest of town within two kilometres of Hinton.

Reforestation guidelines for the CHFR program are in their final stages of development, but Charbonneau said companies will have to meet existing requirements for regenerating the landscape.

What’s protected?
In addition to concerns about wildfire risk, many residents who attended the sessions were concerned about losing access to outdoor recreation, such as mountain biking, skiing and disc golf.

Corbeil said planners at the open house walked him through maps that outlined the harvest.

“They just showed me, here's the line, here is where you play and here's where we're going to cut and not in the same place, to put it simply,” said Corbeil.

Brewer told attendees of the open house that the project will not result in an empty ring around the community.

“This is a targeted harvest of coniferous trees and it will look different, but it will not be a barren landscape either.”

11/16/2025

NANAIMO — Vehicular access is once again unrestricted at north Nanaimo’s Neck Point Park following paving work to vastly upgrade the parking lot and improve pedestrian safety.

Charlotte Davis, the City’s deputy director of parks and natural areas, said the barricades officially came down on Friday, Nov. 14 following the six-week project.

“This parking lot used to take a lot of regular maintenance from the parks team…It’s a heavily used area and potholes were a problem,” Davis told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Davis said marked pedestrian crossings were included in the project, which is budgeted at nearly $290,000.

Thirty-seven standard parking stalls are now in place, as well as four marked spaces for those with mobility challenges.

“This was probably the number one project I heard about from the public. I’m glad to say we’ve completed that work now,” Davis said.

The initiative complements washroom facilities adjacent to the parking lot, which were added early in 2023.

Originally scheduled by the City’s contractor to be completed by the end of October, barricades had prevented vehicles from entering the parking lot between late September and mid November.

In cases where space is at a premium, parking is permitted at nearby Ecole Hammond Bay during non school hours.

Serauxmen Stadium parking improvement
A well-used parking lot prone to regular regrading due to constant potholes, a significant project to pave the expansive parking area behind Serauxmen Stadium’s centre and left field fences is also complete.

Davis said the 129-stall parking lot, including five accessible spaces, represents another significant step forward in improving the Stadium District.

“We’re capable of running several ticketed events all at once, which is really great. It’s a fantastic, vibrant space. We needed this caliber of parking lot to go with it,” Davis said.

The newly resurfaced parking lot formally opened on Friday, Nov. 7.

Davis said the new parking lot improves prior uncontrolled vehicular flow, while also significantly enhancing pedestrian safety.

“We’re always putting our pedestrians first when we’re designing our parking lots,” Davis said, who noted the revamped lot includes multiple raised crosswalks.

Perimeter fencing and storm water management basins are included, Davis said.

She noted the Serauxmen Stadium paving project was funded through a $1 million dollar provincial grant under the Destination Development Fund, which covered several improvements to the City’s Stadium District, including newly bleachers currently being installed at neighbouring Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium.

11/16/2025

A new, 605-seat elementary school is coming to New Westminster.

“A safer, modern school gives parents peace of mind and it gives children a place to learn and have fun,” said Premier David Eby. “This state-of-the-art school will provide generations of children and their families an open door to a lifetime of learning.”

The new downtown elementary school will include:

four storeys with underground parking;
four kindergarten classrooms;
21 elementary classrooms with capacity of 605 seats;
green building design that cuts greenhouse-gas emissions by 93%; and
electric-vehicle parking stalls.
“This is great news for families in our community,” said Jennifer Whiteside, MLA for New Westminster-Coquitlam. “This new state-of-the-art school means less pressure on students and staff, and more opportunities for kids to succeed.”

The Province is committing nearly $65 million to build the new downtown elementary school, with construction expected to start in fall 2026.

“Families in New Westminster have been asking for more school space and we’re delivering,” said Bowinn Ma, Minister of Infrastructure. “This new urban elementary school will give families modern, safer learning spaces for their children, while helping New Westminster grow in a thoughtful, sustainable way.”

With this project, the Province has provided more than $142 million in funding for 900 seismically safer seats and 1,395 new spaces for New Westminster students during the past eight years. Nearly 800 of these seats are complete.

Quotes:

Lisa Beare, Minister for Education and Child Care –

“This investment in a new elementary school is an investment in New Westminster’s future. This school will not only provide students with the space and tools they need to thrive, but it will also strengthen the community for generations to come.”

Raj Chouhan, MLA for Burnaby-New Westminster –

“As a local MLA, I’ve seen first-hand how much New Westminster has grown. This new school is wonderful news for local families. It means more children will have the space to learn and grow close to home in a modern school that will become a centrepiece for the community.”

Maya Russell, chair, New Westminster Schools board of education –

“A new downtown elementary school will provide much-needed relief from our district’s capacity pressures and give students and staff the learning spaces they deserve. The funding has been long-awaited and we are grateful to the ministry for recognizing this urgent need. Our board, partners and parents have strongly advocated for this project and we know families and staff across New Westminster Schools will welcome this news.”

11/16/2025

Wildrift Jungle Master Yi 🎮⚔️

11/16/2025

Cowichan Tribes and the province want a long-standing unauthorized dumpsite, located at 5544 Indian Rd. on reserve land, cleaned up.

The Ministry of Environment and Parks has issued a pollution-prevention order to a man and his family that have been controlling the property for many years, ordering it to be remediated.

The waste at the site includes a mix of construction and demolition debris, residential waste, derelict RV trailers, plastics, metals, and other unmanaged materials.

The waste mass is estimated to exceed 290,000 cubic metres and includes heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, and zinc.

An environmental report on the property by Sperling Hansen Associates confirmed that it is producing leachate, with the majority migrating via groundwater toward the Cowichan River.

The report said the leachate is expected to alter groundwater chemistry, mobilize metals, and potentially impact riparian habitat and a residential well.

Cowichan Tribes said in a statement that pollution and contamination of reserve land is a generational, systemic, and national problem, and that the tools to combat it are primarily under federal jurisdiction.

“However, the Government of Canada is reluctant to prosecute polluters,” Cowichan Tribes said.

“For many years, Cowichan Tribes has been deeply concerned regarding illegal dumping of garbage, construction and industrial waste, and potentially contaminated materials on our reserve lands and the environmental impacts of these activities.”

Since 2010, the First Nation has repeatedly issued cease-and-desist letters to both the person coordinating these activities and the companies participating in the dumping, as well as holding meetings and site visits with federal representatives from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Health Canada, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the RCMP to request assistance and collaboration.

However, there have been significant limitations to the actions Cowichan Tribes has been able to take without the support and enforcement of senior levels of government.

“Since 2021, Cowichan Tribes has cooperated with the province’s investigation of the site, and we look forward to meeting with Ministry officials to continue working together,” the First Nation said.

“Cowichan Tribes is pleased to see the site finally get the attention it deserves. It is our hope that the federal government will now fulfill its long overdue responsibility to take action to address the site.”

The Ministry of Environment and Parks acknowledged the property is subject to federal jurisdiction, but the unauthorized introduction of waste into the environment remains subject to prohibitions under the Ministry’s Environmental Management Act.

Braden Nelles, a director for the Environmental Management Act, said reports on the property provide a clear and credible basis for concluding that the site is being managed in a manner likely to release substances that may cause pollution.

“They also provide sufficient technical information to support the development of a site-specific remediation plan, which must now be prepared and implemented under the supervision of a qualified professional,” Nelles said to the man controlling the property in a letter.

11/16/2025

July 3, 2025, was a day Lori Stetina will never forget.

She woke up not feeling well and decided she needed to go to the emergency room. An ambulance picked her up and took her to Winnipeg’s Grace Hospital.

“When I arrived by ambulance, I wasn’t on a bed. I was brought in sitting up inside the back of an ambulance,” said Stetina, who spoke with CTV News outside of the hospital. “When I walked in, there were people all lined up, and elderly people lined up against the wall.”

She says she waited for over 20 hours in the emergency room and didn’t get admitted until 5 a.m. on July 4.

“I was fearing for my life,” she said.

Once she was admitted, she was informed that she had been suffering from a mild heart attack.

“I was kind of shocked,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I never had anything like that happen before. I was surprised.”

Stetina was given blood tests, a couple of EKGs and was sent for a CT scan, where she found out more bad news.

“I had two doctors standing over me in O.R. gear and they told me I had to have emergency surgery right now,” she said. “I didn’t even know what I was having surgery for.”

What Stetina didn’t know was her bowel was perforated and leaked into her stomach.

“I woke up to having 19 staples on my stomach,” she said.

Stetina says it was an experience she wishes she never went through and couldn’t believe how long she had to wait.

“I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t have a clue about anything. No doctors came to me before these tests were done.”

“I was terrified,” she said. “I phoned my husband, and they said the call had to end because they had to take me for emergency surgery,” she said.

Committed to improving access’
In a statement to CTV News, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA), says it recognizes the challenges patients and staff face in emergency rooms across the city.

“The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority continues to work with system partners to improve patient flow and reduce wait times,” a statement from a WRHA spokesperson reads.

“This includes increasing staffing where possible, improving coordination between care teams, and supporting timely admissions and discharges so patients receive care in the most appropriate setting. Hospitals have also begun implementing measures to discharge patients on weekends to help people return home sooner and reduce bed block.”

The long wait times continued this week. On Wednesday afternoon, the WRHA’s website, which shows current wait times at emergency departments across the city, put wait times at St. Boniface Hospital at around 10 hours, and waits at Health Sciences Centre (HSC) at over 12 hours.

State of health care is ‘challenging’
Dr. Noam Katz is a Winnipeg Emergency Physician, working for eight years at the city’s St. Boniface Hospital.

“There are a lot of very difficult things that are again becoming very challenging to overcome, and wait times are the outcome that we all see because of it,” he said.

Katz says wait times in hospitals, including the one he works at, have ‘ballooned significantly.’

He says there are many days where wait times are extremely long, and they are not able to provide the proper care patients deserve.

And when asked how frustrating that is, Katz simply said “very.”

“Long wait times definitely lead to poor patient outcomes in many cases, and we are seeing this locally, nationally and internationally,” he said. “There are many stories about this, which is really unfortunate, and I can assure you nobody in health care wants to see that happen.”

“We desperately want to get people into appropriate treatment spaces so that we can do the investigations to find the people that really do need that life-sustaining care.”

But Katz says there isn’t one magic answer to fix the state of health care in the province.

“If there was, we would’ve done it many times over at this point,” he said. “We just want to see at least incremental gains and improvements, which I think we are struggling to see in real time right now.”

“Ultimately, the most important thing is that we’re able to provide appropriate care to patients in their time of need, which is what an emergency department is supposed to do,” he said.

Preventative action needed
Health advocates say disturbing emergency room stories are happening all too often at hospitals across Canada.

“These terrible stories continue to persist,” said Steven Staples, National Director of Policy and Advocacy with the Canadian Health Coalition.

“We can only hope that when these things come to light, they are kind of treated like a plane crash, where someone goes in, finds out what the situation is, determines the cause and then takes steps to ensure these things don’t happen again,” he said.

Staples said he hopes in the long run, the health care system in Canada can move towards a more preventative model, where people get earlier care and avoid the emergency room altogether.

“We know that people have trouble accessing family doctors who know the person’s case history, who can monitor and make sure their situation is being improved, and ultimately keep them out of a situation where they have to go to emergency,” he said.

11/16/2025

By 1130 NewsRadio Staff

Posted November 15, 2025 3:20 pm.

Last Updated November 15, 2025 3:24 pm.

Motorists travelling into New Westminster Saturday afternoon are being faced with heavy traffic disruptions following the opening of a new wholesale store.

Drivers are experiencing delays near the Queensborough Bridge on both the New Westminster and Richmond sides and on nearby roads in all directions.

The new Costco Business Centre, which opened Friday, is located near Boyd and Howe Street.

The Patullo Bridge can be used as an alternate route into New West. Drivers are advised to avoid the area if possible.

1130 NewsRadio has reached out to the New Westminster Police Department and the Richmond RCMP for more information on traffic issues in the area.

Listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver every 10 minutes on the ones for traffic updates. You can also follow us on X and subscribe to Traffic Alerts as they happen, sent directly to your inbox.

11/15/2025

Washington and Oregon may have more common cause with Canada than they do Alaska.

A commentary by a fisheries adviser with the Watershed Watch Salmon Society.

As officials dig into the renegotiation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, there’s an elephant in the room.

Though commissioners representing Washington and Oregon are on the same side of the negotiating table as their counterparts from Alaska, their needs are more aligned with Canada’s.

Just like B.C., Oregon and Washington are impacted by the relentless over-harvest of their salmon stocks as they migrate through Southeast Alaska, and by Alaska’s excessive flooding of the North Pacific Ocean pasture with hatchery fish.

To defend our shared salmon heritage, Canadians should find common purpose with their natural allies in the Pacific Northwest. Though we harvest each other’s salmon, the impacts are roughly proportional.

If Washington, Oregon and Canada ensure a new treaty addresses their shared issues, it’s more likely that Alaska’s aggressive fishing behaviour can be curtailed, leaving more opportunity for B.C., Washington and Oregon to recover threatened populations of salmon and steelhead, while protecting their remaining fisheries.

Finding that spirit of co-operation should not be difficult. The corridor between Portland and Vancouver links one of the most prosperous and integrated regions in the world, bound by a shared history, culture and economy.

From the Skeena to the Skagit to the Columbia, salmon are woven into the very fabric of our identity — powering Indigenous cultures, driving local economies and defining our ecological wealth.

The Pacific Salmon Treaty is vital. The management of the migratory nature of salmon, their complex life-cycle, which plays out over vast geographies, and their evolving relationship with the changing climate requires international cooperation.

However, the last version of the treaty proved unable to protect salmon and steelhead from B.C., Washington and Oregon from decisions made in Alaska. Here’s why.

The winter troll fishery occurs in Alaskan waters, but is designed to target chinook from B.C., Washington and Oregon, whose stocks comprise the vast majority of the catch.

First, Alaska’s notorious interception fisheries target salmon migrating to Canada, Washington and Oregon.

Three of these fisheries — the Southeast Alaska Chinook Troll, District 104 Seine and District 101 Drift Gillnet — are unsustainable. Combined, they harvest more Canadian salmon than all Canadian fisheries, with substantial impacts on Washington and Oregon stocks, as well. They also deprive endangered southern resident killer whales of chinook and fail to adequately monitor or report their substantial bycatch.

Second, Alaska’s out-of-control hatchery programs are using the vital North Pacific as an open-ocean feedlot for the billions of juvenile pink and chum their hatcheries pump out every year. By overpopulating the ocean with lower-value fish, they are tipping the ecological scales for their own benefit. Consequently, our wild chinook, coho, chum, sockeye and steelhead are returning smaller and in fewer numbers.

To date, polite requests and scientific presentations have failed. When issues about Alaskan over-fishing were raised in formal processes, at times the Alaskan delegation refused to answer questions from members from British Columbia, and even walked out of the room to avoid difficult conversations.

However, if British Columbia, Washington and Oregon all demand conservation-oriented changes to fishery management and harvest limits and modern catch monitoring in Alaska’s interception fisheries, the three jurisdictions will get better outcomes from the treaty.

Alaska is a fishing behemoth, used to getting its way. However, the Pacific Northwest has options.

First, we have substantial economic leverage. Most high-value Southeast Alaskan seafood products like sockeye and chinook must transit through our jurisdictions. If Alaska insists on intercepting our fish, we should refuse to facilitate their profits.

Second, if negotiations fail, we should consider suing the State of Alaska for ecological harm and economic damage.

The science is becoming clear: Alaska’s hatchery over-production is directly impacting the productivity of our salmon economy.

The path through the difficult negotiations ahead will be easier if B.C., Washington and Oregon co-operate. By standing together to defend our resources and making it clear that the plunder of our salmon will no longer be tolerated, a better Pacific Salmon Treaty that works for us all is possible.

11/15/2025

Delta police are reviewing CCTV images in the hopes of identifying two young men believed responsible for an incident of mischief and vandalism this week at the North delta Walmart.

Police say that on Monday, Nov. 10, a Walmart employee at the store at the Scotsdale Centre Mall reported that someone had set off a firework in a plastic bin.

Damage was contained to the plastic bin and a customer reported difficulty hearing afterward but was not in the immediate vicinity of the explosion at the time it occurred.

No persons were observed by any employees before or immediately after the incident. CCTV reviewed showing the offence and with clear images of two young males.

Photos submitted for ID. Still under investigation pending ID of males.

1 4 3 Canada

11/17/2025

11/17/2025

11/17/2025

11/16/2025

11/16/2025

11/16/2025

11/16/2025

11/16/2025

11/16/2025

11/15/2025

11/15/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category