Latest news with #Okanagan

Small earthquake shakes homes in B.C.'s Okanagan

CTV News

3 days ago

Climate
CTV News

Small earthquake shakes homes in B.C.'s Okanagan

The quake's epicentre was 33 kilometres west of Penticton, according to Earthquakes Canada. (Earthquakes Canada) Some residents of the Okanagan received a rude awakening early Saturday morning as a small earthquake struck west of Penticton. The quake's epicentre was 33 kilometres west of the city at the south end of Okanagan Lake, according to Earthquakes Canada. The 3.8-magnitude earthquake occurred at 4:38 a.m. and was 'lightly felt' in Hedley and as far away as Kelowna, the federal agency said. As of 9:30 a.m., Earthquakes Canada had received eight reports from the public that the shaking had been felt. No damage was reported, and none would be expected for a quake of this magnitude.

I love Canada. But I'm also Blackfoot and see the harm this country has done to my people

CBC

4 days ago

General
CBC

I love Canada. But I'm also Blackfoot and see the harm this country has done to my people

This First Person article is the experience of Shaylene Lakey, who lives in Kelowna, B.C. This column is part of a Canada Day series exploring what Canada means to people across this country. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ. I've been simultaneously grateful and confused to call Canada my home for most of my life. I can vividly recall road trips from B.C.'s Okanagan to the Fraser Valley as a little girl, eyes wide in awe and wonder at the Rocky Mountain faces and deep green evergreens. I had this recurring thought each trip, there and back: "How lucky am I that I was born here and now, in this place, beautiful British Columbia, in this country, Canada? Why me?" It made me feel small. Knowing there were worse places to live and worse things to experience, I was comforted and grateful to live here. Trying to understand the seeming arbitrariness of why I was born in Canada and not anywhere else seemed too large a concept to question. Gratitude has naturally been a default. While I tried not to spend much time focusing on the "why me" and learned more about the complexities of colonization as I got older, I realized how little I understood about my place as a Blackfoot woman in the world. That confusion began to overtake the feeling of "lucky me." Although I knew my mother was from the Siksika Nation in southern Alberta, I lived with my dad on Vancouver Island. I didn't grow up on my reserve or even really know other First Nations people. Occasionally, a First Nations advocate would come to my elementary school and pull me out of class to talk to me about Indigenous culture or take me to community events. Unfortunately, all this did was make me even more aware I was different, and I often just wished I could melt into the common collective camouflage where no one would see me. Even those advocates felt far removed from my reality and identity as a Blackfoot girl. The fact is that my identity is complex, wrapped up in colonial history that's still very relevant and is the reason I exist in the space I do. By the time I was a teenager, I was living with foster parents in a non-Indigenous family. It skewed my perception of what was "normal." I wasn't encouraged to explore my Indigenous heritage. Worse, it was downright discouraged and went unacknowledged. I was, unbeknownst to me at the time, one of countless Indigenous children taken from their families and placed in care between 1992 and 2019 — a part of the Millennium Scoop. In high school, Indigenous history was relegated to only a chapter or two in the curriculum. It left me feeling I was robbed of the chance to experience my culture more wholly. It was often easier to pretend that part of me didn't exist because being asked questions about being Blackfoot made me uncomfortable when I didn't have answers. And yet I loved being a proud Canadian. I can still feel the chills when my younger brother and I watched the men's hockey team win the gold medal in 2002 at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from our living room. Can two things be true? Can I be proud and confused at the same time? What if the worst thing you believe about yourself — that your Indigeneity is not something to be proud of — is reinforced by a country you love? It took me a long time to find peace and reconcile these complicated feelings of belonging and othering. It wasn't one specific moment that shifted my view. Technology is a blessing and a curse. It has shown me that while there is a dark side to the internet where people hate people like me, that also means there's light. I have access to a more complete history, which is a stark reality compared to the version I learned in school. If I have a question, I can Google it or talk to other Indigenous people. Becoming a mom made me more curious to know about my Blackfoot roots so that my daughter would also know where she came from. What may have developed out of survival has become a strong sense of self when I reflect and look forward. I also experienced genuine allyship when I participated in a missing and murdered Indigenous women march in 2016 and stood on the steps of the courthouse in Vernon, B.C., where I lived at the time. What I know, and what I choose to stand in daily, is the fierce belief that Indigenous people in Canada are incredibly resilient and that I am resilient. I feel the way I do, proud and strong, because my people and Indigenous people in Canada have set that path for me. The understanding and compassion from strangers who are seeing our history with new eyes mean more to me than the hundred who don't want to learn. That's why I am proud to be Canadian, to be Indigenous, in this plane of existence.

Shih Tzu credited with saving the lives of 2 tiny kittens

CTV News

4 days ago

General
CTV News

Shih Tzu credited with saving the lives of 2 tiny kittens

Two rescued kittens are seen in this image handed out by the B.C. SPCA. The B.C. SPCA is crediting a Shih Tzu named Laynee with saving the lives of two tiny kittens in the Okanagan last week. Laynee was out for a bathroom break in the early morning hours of July 11, when she refused to come back into the house, her owner Brady Verhaeghe told the charity. Instead, the dog was focused on something hidden underneath a bush. Verhaeghe walked over to investigate when he heard a meow. Under the bush was a little black kitten, nose-to-nose with his dog. 'I picked up the kitten and was walking away when I heard another faint 'meow.' Laynee went straight back to the bush, and we spent a half an hour trying to get the other kitten to come out,' he said in a Friday media release from the B.C. SPCA. The second kitten eventually emerged and Verhaeghe brought them inside, as it was dark out and they were shivering. 'Both kittens nestled into my arms right away,' he said. 'You could tell they were longing to be helped – they didn't hesitate at all.' Verhaeghe put the kittens in a box by his bed, and Laynee kept a close eye on the new arrivals. He told the B.C. SPCA his Shih Tzu is usually shy around other animals, so he was surprised by her reaction to the kittens. 'They didn't make much noise, but every time they did, Laynee would immediately check on them, she didn't mind them crawling all over her,' he said. Laynee Laynee the Shih Tzu is seen in this image handed out by the B.C. SPCA. The next day, Verhaeghe put the kittens back under the bush in case their mother returned, but when no cat appeared for a few hours, he brought them to the B.C. SPCA shelter in Kelowna. 'When we examined the kittens, they were really thin and their gums were pale, but they were bright-eyed and hungry which was a good sign,' said Shannon Paille, manager of the animal centre, in the release. 'They are so young they need to be bottle-fed. One of our amazing B.C. SPCA fosters is continuing the kittens' care in their home, which is the best place for them to be.' The B.C. SPCA says the finder did the right thing. The organization advises people who find young kittens to leave them be if they don't look sick or injured – their mother is likely out hunting and will return. But if the animals appear hurt or ill, are in an unsafe spot, or the cat doesn't return, they should be taken to a rescue. As for the kittens Laynee found, the B.C. SPCA says they will be up for adoption once they reach eight weeks old.