Latest news with #Victoria
CBC
2 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Pride celebrations get underway on Vancouver Island this weekend
Social Sharing Rainbows will be on display in the Cowichan Valley, the Alberni Valley, and Ladysmith this weekend, as Pride events get underway in the three Vancouver Island communities. Festivities begin in even more locations in the coming week, including Victoria, Parksville and Nanaimo. Cristin Elle, president of Cowichan Pride Society, says Pride is about both celebrating the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and advocating for their rights. The Cowichan Valley, which includes the city of Duncan, is about 45 kilometres north of Victoria. Elle told the CBC podcast This is Vancouver Island that her partner is trans, and growing anti-trans sentiment around the world makes it even more important to celebrate Pride. "There's a real fear about their identities being erased," said Elle. "So going to Pride, being involved in Pride … paves the road for the younger generation." Cowichan Pride is holding five events over three weeks, starting with a concert and drag show on May 31, and ending with a parade on June 22. Week of events in Alberni Valley About 50 kilometers northwest of Cowichan Valley, organizers at Alberni Valley Pride are hosting a week full of events — starting with a car wash on Sunday, June 1 in the heart of Port Alberni. "[The car wash] is a really good way to kind of just get the word out," said Crysta Stubbs, vice chair of the Alberni Valley Pride Society. "People come out, hold up signs … Let people know Pride week is starting." It's the first year Stubbs has been involved with the organization, and she said for the most part people in the Alberni Valley are excited about Pride. She told This is Vancouver Island that she does hear some pushback from people who wonder why the 2SLGBTQ+ community needs a week of celebration. But she said she's ready to explain that Pride is not about "us" versus "them," and that it's important for the queer community to get to celebrate themselves, and how far they've come. ""I am really excited about the opportunity to just talk with people," said Stubbs. "I don't mind having hard conversations." Nearly 20 island communities plan to celebrate Ladysmith, about 90 km northwest of Victoria, is holding its Pride festival on June 1. On June 2, Nanaimo, about 110 km northwest of Victoria, kicks off its festivities, which will wrap up with a parade on June 8. Victoria has events June 1 and 12. It's main celebrations will be held at the beginning of July, wrapping up with a parade on July 6. There are also Pride events this summer in Parksville, Langford, Saanich, Gabriola Island, Sidney, Tofino, Campbell River, the North Island, Qathet, Denman Island, Pender Island, and the Discovery Islands. For deaf and hard-of-hearing members of the community, ASL interpretation will be available at events in Nanaimo, Victoria, and the Comox Valley.
ABC News
4 hours ago
- General
- ABC News
A-League Men grand final live: Melbourne City faces Victory — scores, stats and commentary
For the first time in A-League Men history, the grand final features a Melbourne derby between City and Victory. Follow live.
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- General
- News.com.au
A-League grand final, Melbourne Victory v City live: news, scores, updates
The Melbourne derby will headline the biggest day on the A-League calendar as rivals Melbourne Victory and City face off in the grand final. Follow the decider live here tonight.
Globe and Mail
6 hours ago
- Health
- Globe and Mail
Letters to the editor, May 31: ‘We are overdue for our … governments to collaborate and rapidly address this ever-growing fentanyl plague'
Re 'How fentanyl transformed Victoria's Pandora Avenue from downtown hub to open-air drug market' (May 24): As someone who observes the chaos on Victoria's Pandora block almost daily, I am grateful you have given national exposure to our civic crisis. Perhaps because we have so many governmental and charitable organizations trying to address the problem, we seem incapable of even describing it holistically in the way your reporter has, let alone pulling together to solve it. I find it ironic, because British Columbia is good at deploying the Incident Command System when it comes to co-ordinating a response to natural disasters. The time has come to take charge of our drug calamity in a similar, localized fashion. Rory McAlpine Victoria Tragically, the deterioration of downtown Victoria owing to fentanyl can aptly describe many cities in North America today. As a resident of Calgary's East Village who overlooks the Calgary Drop-In Centre, I witness firsthand the similar deterioration of a planned community of condominiums, parks and the stunning RiverWalk. The main grocery store is now supervised by staff wearing body cameras. I see sidewalks riddled with human urine, feces, used needles and users smoking drugs. The solution may be a return to provincially run institutions such as Riverview Hospital in British Columbia, deemed inhumane and deinstitutionalized in favour of community-based mental health services. The old may become new again. Current community services, touted as the solution, are often underfunded and understaffed and seem incapable of dealing with the fentanyl onslaught and its users. We are overdue for our municipal, provincial and federal governments to collaborate and rapidly address this ever-growing fentanyl plague. Martin Wilkins Calgary My memories of Victoria date back to the 1960s, when my family would visit from Nanaimo. As a current resident of Victoria, I can still say it is a city of wonder, with its ocean vistas off Beacon Hill Park, the B.C. Parliament Buildings and, of course, the Empress hotel. But one doesn't have to travel far to witness the fentanyl crisis: the contorted bodies trying to stay upright or the lost souls passed out on storefronts, for some of whom I've beckoned the help of our bicycle-riding medics. My hope is that all levels of government will come together and find a solution to get those who need our help off the streets and into treatment. Only then may they find the dignity we all deserve. Unless that happens, living in a city seemingly more focused on bike lanes makes me think of a slippery slope with no return. Andrew Waldichuk Victoria Re 'What is happening to higher education in the U.S. right now is not reform. It is destruction' (Opinion, May 24): I believe these institutions also undermined their own defences from within. Long before the current political assaults, many campuses began punishing unpopular speech and sanctioning faculty under vague codes of 'harm.' By stifling internal dissent, often without due process, these universities eroded their credibility and validated the critics now calling them ideological echo chambers. This hypocrisy makes academic freedom harder to defend. To credibly resist external attacks, these universities should first recommit to open inquiry and intellectual consistency. They should get their own houses in order or risk defending the idea of a university, rather than the institution itself. Kristen McLeod Regina Re 'The men who left their mark on every corner of the brain' (Opinion, May 24): My father was suffering from a crippling spinal condition in 1949 that had rendered him almost unable to walk. He was 34, with a wife and three children (including me) to support and another on the way. His doctor advised him to see William Cone at 'The Neuro' as his best bet in seeking a cure. Dr. Cone took him as a patient. When my father asked if he could have a private room, the doctor replied, 'After paying me $3,500, I don't think you will be able to afford a private room.' Despite this letdown, the operation was a success, and my father lived without back pain for the next 54 years. In our family, Dr. Cone was a god. Fraser Laschinger Prescott, Ont. I never met Dr. William Cone, but Dr. Wilder Penfield first came into my life when I was four years old, in 1929. He operated on my mother's brain cancer and gave her four more years of life. Our families began a lasting friendship. When I was about 10, I spent a happy two weeks with the Penfield family at their summer home on Sargent's Bay off Lake Memphremagog. Some time in the 1940s, Dr. Penfield was invited to open a facility in Cowansville, Que., designed to provide local artists with studios and exhibition space. He began his address by noting he was a good choice for the task. 'I'm good at opening things!' Cowansville now has a lively art scene. The project Ruée vert l'art has a dozen artists' work displayed as banners on lampposts on streets leading to what I take to be the successor of the facility that Dr. Penfield opened. Robert Stairs Peterborough, Ont. I met Wilder Penfield several times at Rideau Hall where, in 1965, he was head of the newly created Vanier Institute of the Family. During one of the doctor's visits, he fascinated a group of us with this anecdote: Before hiring a new doctor at the institute, he took them home for lunch with him and his wife, Helen. Her father and grandfather had both been doctors. He had become keenly interested in a particular candidate. But try as he might, the lunch with Helen kept running into scheduling problems, so much so that he decided, just this once, to forgo it. The new doctor was hired. Within months, the institute had been turned upside down by the newcomer, and, as Dr. Penfield lamented to us that day, he only had himself to blame. R. Bruce Stock Former aide de camp to governor-general Georges Vanier; London, Ont. Re 'To be tall is to be big – and to be big is a no-no for women of all sizes" (Opinion, May 24): My sister and I grew, much to our horror, to be 5 foot 10. Relegated always to the back row in class pictures, I too dreamt of having a section of my legs removed. When we were old enough to wear heels – our father insisted we always wear heels when dating – we learned to slouch and appear a couple of inches shorter. Then along came my husband, a handsome 6 foot 2. Together we raised three boys who topped out at 6 foot 5, 6 foot 4 and 6 foot 3. They make me feel small, and I love it. Judi Conacher Toronto Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Laura Henshaw shares exciting baby news - as co-host Steph Claire Smith welcomes her second child
Laura Henshaw shared some exciting baby news on Saturday, as she revealed she had met co-host Steph Claire Smith's newborn for the first time. The model, 31, and her husband Josh Miller announced on Friday they had welcomed their second child together, a baby girl named Billie. Now, her best friend and colleague, 32, has had the official introduction with the bundle of joy, posting a sweet photo of the moment to Instagram. 'There is no words that feel quite right to describe the feeling of meeting your best friend's baby and knowing she just birthed her like a queen and she GREW HER and she's perfect,' Laura wrote. 'So happy for you guys @stephclairesmith @itsjoshmiller. AN ANGEL.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The photo saw Laura, who married her partner Dalton Graham in 2021, sitting on the edge of of Steph's hospital bed as she cradled her friend's bub in her arms. In the black and white photo, Steph could be seen dutifully watching over Laura's shoulder as her bestie and new baby bonded. Steph commented beneath the post with a simple red love heart. It comes just a day after Steph announced she and her partner Josh had welcomed their second child together. The happy couple revealed the exciting news to Instagram on Friday evening and said they named their newborn girl Billie Claire Miller. 'She's here,' wrote Steph, who also shares four-year-old son Harvey with her partner. 'Billie Claire Miller joined us on Wednesday and we're so in love. So excited to take her home to her big brother.' Alongside the sweet caption, the KICPOD co-host posted a gallery of black and white photos to commemorate the important occasion. One image saw Steph cuddling the bub as she breastfed. In another, she and Josh doted on their bundle of joy, who they dressed in an adorable onesie and white beanie. The final picture in the reel saw Steph cradling her daughter to her chest as she smiled up at the camera. Steph announced in November she was expecting her second child. The Australian fitness influencer took to Instagram to share the joyous news at the time. Steph, who often features her son Harvey in her social media posts, announced the news with a series of black and white photos. In the images, which were also shared by her husband Josh, Steph showed off her baby bump while wearing a skimpy bikini. Son Harvey, husband Josh, and the family's dog were all gathered around Steph in the pictures. In one other image, all members of the family put their hands on her bump. Later, in a wider shot, the family was shown celebrating the new arrival in a park, with Steph shown wearing a straw cowboy hat. Josh was also seen in the foreground smiling at the news in sunglasses and a baseball cap, while their puppy licked Steph's bump. In the caption, the influencer wrote: 'Harvey's going to be a big brother.' Steph and Josh tied the knot in November 2019 in a festival-themed ceremony along the Murray River. They got married exactly one year after getting engaged at the same location. The happy couple went on to welcome their first child, Harvey, together in May 2021.
