Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 456 km (283 mi) in length, 100 km (62 mi) in width at its widest point, and 32,100 km2 (12,400 sq mi) in total area, while 31,285 km2 (12,079 sq mi) are of land. The island is the largest by area and the most populous along the west coasts of the Americas.
Campbell River is a city in British Columbia, Canada, on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage, which lies along the 50th parallel north along the important Inside Passage shipping route. Campbell River has a population of 32,588 and has long been touted as the "salmon capital of the world." Campbell River and Region are near the communities of Quadra and the Discovery Islands, Sayward, Oyster River, Gold River, Tahsis and Zeballos.
Highway 19 is the main north–south thoroughfare on Vancouver Island from Nanaimo to Port Hardy. It forms part of the Island Highway along with Highway 1 and Highway 19A. A highway has existed on the Island since about 1912. Originally gravel and rough, the highway was an essential link together with the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway. The paved highway first opened in 1953, replacing a stretch of Highway 1 between Nanaimo and Campbell River, finally being extended to the northern tip of the island in the late 1970s. The total length of the highway is 403 kilometres (250 mi).
Highway 19A, known locally as the Oceanside Route or the Old Island Highway, is a provincial highway in British Columbia, Canada. It runs along two former sections of Highway 19 on Vancouver Island, within Nanaimo and between Craig's Crossing and Campbell River. The section of Highway 19A between Craig's Crossing and Campbell River is 136.89 km (85.06 mi) long, and the Nanaimo alignment covers 10.64 km (6.61 mi). The highway was established after Highway 19 was realigned to a new road between 1996 and 2001.
Comox is a town on the southern coast of the Comox Peninsula in the Strait of Georgia on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Thousands of years ago, the warm dry summers, mild winters, fertile soil, and abundant sea life attracted First Nations, who called the area kw'umuxws.
The Kʼómoks or Kʼomoks, usually known in English as the Comox, are an indigenous group of Coast Salishan-speaking people in Comox, British Columbia and in Toba Inlet and the Malaspina Peninsula areas of the British Columbia mainland across Georgia Strait. They historically spoke the Komox language (Comox-Sliammon), and were divided in two main dialect and tribal groupings, which are known by academics as Island Comox and Mainland Comox.
The Island Corridor, previously the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway, is a railway operation on Vancouver Island. It is owned by the Island Corridor Foundation, a registered charity. The railway line is 225 kilometres (140 mi) in length from Victoria to Courtenay, known as the Victoria Subdivision, with a branch line from Parksville to Port Alberni, known as the Port Alberni Subdivision, of 64 kilometres (40 mi), for a total 289 kilometres (180 mi) of mainline track. In 2006, the Island Corridor Foundation acquired the railway's ownership from RailAmerica and Canadian Pacific Railway.
Courtenay is a city of about 26,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the largest community and only city in the area commonly known as the Comox Valley, and the seat of the Comox Valley Regional District, which replaced the Comox-Strathcona Regional District. Courtenay is 4 km (2.5 mi) west of the town of Comox, 7 km (4.3 mi) northeast of the village of Cumberland, 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of the unincorporated settlement of Royston, and 108 km (67 mi) northwest of Nanaimo. Along with Nanaimo and Victoria, it is home to The Canadian Scottish Regiment, a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Pacific Coastal Airlines is a Canadian regional airline that operates scheduled, charter and cargo services to destinations in British Columbia. Its head office is located in the South Terminal of Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia. Its main base is Vancouver International Airport.
The Regional District of Comox-Strathcona was a regional district of British Columbia, Canada, from 1967 to 2008. On February 15, 2008, the regional district was abolished and replaced by two successor regional districts, Comox Valley and Strathcona.
The Comox Valley is a region on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, that includes the city of Courtenay, the town of Comox, the village of Cumberland, and the unincorporated settlements of Royston, Union Bay, Fanny Bay, Black Creek, and Merville. The communities of Denman Island and Hornby Island are also considered part of the Comox Valley. The Comox Valley contains the 47th largest metropolitan area in Canada with a population of about 76,000 as of 2022.
Denman Island,, is one of the Northern Gulf Islands and part of the Comox Valley Regional District of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member of the Islands Trust group of islands and is home to a small community of 1391 year-round residents.
The Forbidden Plateau is a small, hilly plateau in the east of the Vancouver Island Ranges in British Columbia, northwest of Comox Lake roughly between Mount Albert Edward to the southwest and Mount Washington to the northeast.
Strathcona Provincial Park is the oldest provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, and the largest on Vancouver Island. Founded in 1911, the park was named for Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, a wealthy philanthropist and railway pioneer. It lies within the Strathcona Regional District. The Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve, established in 2000, includes three watersheds in the western area of the park.
Mount Washington is a mountain on the eastern edge of the Vancouver Island Ranges of British Columbia and the site of Mount Washington Alpine Resort, popular for skiing and many other activities. It is located approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the Comox Valley.
Claire Felicity Trevena is a Canadian politician, who represented the North Island electoral district Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2005 to 2020. During the 41st Parliament (2017-2020) she was appointed to the Executive Council to be the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. She is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party and was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the 2005 election and re-elected in the 2009, 2013 and 2017 elections. In the 38th Parliament of British Columbia, she sat on the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture and the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts, as well as serving as the opposition critic on the Employment and Income Assistance ministry, followed by the critic on child care, early childhood development, and women's issues. In the 39th Parliament she acted as a deputy speaker before returning to her role as critic on the children and family development portfolio. In the 40th Parliament, she was the critic on transportation and BC Ferries and, in that role, produced a report comparing the BC Ferries system with the Washington State Ferries system and introduced the Provincial Shipbuilding Act in both 2014 and 2015 seeking to have future ferries constructed in Canada.
Baldy Mountain Resort is a family friendly ski resort overlooking the Okanagan Valley in southern British Columbia just north of the Washington state border. Its road access is via McKinney Road from Oliver and from BC Highway 33 north of Bridesville and BC Highway 3 west of Rock Creek, in the Boundary Country. Air access from Penticton Regional Airport. The summit is in the Okanagan Highland, an intermediary plateau-like area between the Monashee Mountains to the east and the Okanagan Valley immediately below to the west.
Don McRae is a Former Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada, and a member of the BC Liberal Party. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the riding of Comox Valley in the 2009 provincial election. After serving nearly 2 years on the backbenches he was appointed Minister of Agriculture on March 14, 2011, in Premier Christy Clark's first cabinet. On September 5, 2012, he was appointed as the Minister of Education. In addition to his ministerial roles, he sat on the Environment and Land Use Committee and the Cabinet Committee on Open Government and Engagement. He introduced one piece of legislation, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2011.
Rachel A. Blaney is a Canadian politician who represents the federal electoral district of North Island—Powell River in the House of Commons. She was elected during the 2015 Canadian federal election to the 42nd Parliament and re-elected in the 2019 election to the 43rd Parliament. A member of the New Democratic Party was a member of an opposition party during both parliaments. During the 42nd Parliament she served as the party's critic for multiculturalism and then for seniors issues and veteran affairs. She introduced two bills: An Act to amend the Canadian Bill of Rights which sought to add the right to proper housing free of unreasonable barriers into the Canadian Bill of Rights, though it was defeated at second reading, and An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act to provide guaranteed income supplement recipients assistance in filing yearly taxes. During the 43rd Parliament, she became the NDP whip, remained critic for veteran affairs, and introduced one bill, An Act to establish National Food Waste Awareness Day and to provide for the development of a national strategy to reduce food waste in Canada, which if passed would have required the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to create a national strategy to reduce food waste.
