Grizzly bear sighting on B.C. Gulf Island prompts warning
A grizzly bear has made its way from the British Columbia mainland to Texada Island in the Strait of Georgia, prompting a warning to residents and visitors.
Officials with the qathet Regional District, which includes the communities of Powell River and Lasqueti and Texada islands, say the adult male grizzly was first spotted in the island's Pocahontas Bay area, southeast of the community of Van Anda.
The bear, which has a yellow ear tag, spent about a week in the Powell River area before apparently swimming to the B.C. Gulf Island.
'Texada residents are urged to be bear aware and take steps to prevent the bear from accessing human food,' the regional district said in a public notice Monday.
'This is critical to avoid the bear becoming habituated to local communities.'
Residents are urged to report sightings of the bear to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
The bear did not demonstrate any aggression or cause conflict while in the Powell River area, the regional district said.
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CBC
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As well, a Public Health Agency of Canada report from 2020 found that discrimination against Black communities is deeply entrenched in the country's institutions, policies and practices — as a result of European colonization in Africa and the legacy of slavery, which was legal in Canada until 1834. Wilkinson hopes her research can be used to help inform public health-care policies, but she also wants the clients and communities that have participated to have access to her findings. "We know that often, long reports sit on shelves and they don't get read. They're also not accessible to community individuals for whom English might not be their first language or individuals with varying literacy levels." The way in which research on this topic has been done has itself also caused harm among these populations, she added, "so I really want to have this project done in a good way where people walk away feeling like, 'I am doing something' with that story that they've shared." Making research accessible In B.C., since a lot of research is based in Vancouver, Wilkinson wanted to also hear from people in smaller communities, she said. As Thunder Bay is a central hub in northwestern Ontario, many clients at Shelter House have participated in research, said Champagne Thomson, the organization's development manager. "We've seen a very large influx in interested individuals wanting to participate, which is incredible, as well as some individuals who have shared their experiences and said, 'This is the first time anyone's ever taken me seriously. "'This is the first time I've been able to sit across the table with another racialized individual who's listening to me and not speculating about, was it racism or was it not.'" Wilkinson has interviewed about two dozen people so far, with the goal of conducting between 45 and 60 interviews. To make her research accessible, Wilkinson said, she plans to create infographics and shorter, plain language-style reports for participants. "Thunder Bay is a hotspot for a lot of research, and I don't think a lot of it ends up coming back to the individuals that that information was extracted from," added Thomson. "When we're planning, when we're looking at things, when we're investing in different institutions and types of care, I think it's really important that individuals with these lived experiences are able to see their contributions reflected in how that goes forward." 'It's about giving something back' Building relationships is a big part of Wilkinson's project. In Prince George, after interviewing individuals, she participated in harm reduction outreach. Across Calgary and Thunder Bay, she's served meals to hundreds of clients "because I want that relationship in each community and with each organization to be reciprocal." "It's not just about me coming in and extracting that data. It's about giving something back, both now and later at the end of the project." Before each interview, she offers Indigenous participants tobacco and makes sure all the clients are fed and hydrated. She also gives them a cash honorarium and homemade jam "because their time is valuable and their time is worth something." After finishing her work in Thunder Bay, Wilkinson will conduct interviews at a Black homeless-serving organization in Toronto. "As a Black researcher, a Black scholar coming from the [Greater Toronto Area], I think that's going to be a really impactful experience," she said. "In order to create meaningful change, we need people to recognize that the racism we're seeing in our health-care system is pervasive, and by having all of these stories, there's no denying that racism exists anymore — and that's really my goal for this project."
