Mayoral candidate’s response - Jamie Halan-Harris

 

Question 1.  Who are you?

With over 30 years of experience supporting individuals of all ages, my work has always been one of helping each client in reaching their goals. For a long time I worked in nursing, specializing in women’s health and newborn care. I ran a therapeutic children’s home until adopting my son who was in my home and closed to allow him my undivided attention so he could heal. I became a RPC supporting families and developed programs supporting children, teens and then adults who were dealing with mental health, addictions and trauma.

 

My passion is to support clients in achieving their goals and transforming into their best selves. I specialize in family centred TBRI and trauma informed care, supporting families with wellness coaching and navigating through behavioural difficulties and mental health challenges of children and youth. 

 

I’ve also had great success in supporting neurodivergent kids to become their best selves. It is my joy to be there for such families as well as families who have survived trauma and loss.

 

Recently, my son and I spent Thanksgiving at Esparenza along with many families who were welcomed by the family organizing the day on their property. The feeling I left with was one of deep admiration and a feeling of deep love and support to all, including my son and I who were new to the area but welcomed as family. During the ceremonies all who were struggling through changes were supported and encouraged, they were congratulated on their daily success and each one acknowledged for their efforts. Everyone prepared meals together and ate together as family . This left me with a huge respect for indigenous culture and tradition and reminded me of the programs I developed and ran in the past. The key to supporting people is to use TBRI and trauma informed care, include them in daily rituals, show support, and a hug goes a long way.

I developed and ran a vocational rehab program which supported people dealing with mental health and addictions. Several of the people who went through my program still contact me and are doing well, they say it was life changing for them. I simply built trust and treated them like I would a brother or sister who needed support.

I am very interested in offering supportive programs to our community, I feel it is much needed here.

Question 2. 60% of the Tahsis population is over age 55. How should this demographic affect how the village is run?

Having a population in our Village with 60% being over age 55 yrs. Provides our community with a wealth of knowledge that can and should be shared and valued. It is important to have input from all ages in our community, through open meetings where the public is invited, as well as seeking everyone's opinion and ideas, wants, needs, values regarding our community. This can be  through informal gatherings, community activities, as well as going to each resident and taking the time to listen to them. Valuing each person's input regardless of class, everyone valued on an equal plane.

This builds a strong community.

Question 3. What can be done to enforce the village bylaws?

Having a community watch group and even a community support group can alleviate many would be bylaw issues. A supportive approach to offer help to a community member, rather than immediately choosing bylaw enforcement or a punitive approach. This leaves less bylaw enforcement needed in the community. There are times when bylaw enforcement is the only way to solve a bylaw issue, and if we had a bylaw officer even part time in Tahsis as well as an RCMP at least part time on site many issues could be resolved quickly.

Question 4. How can you improve communication between the council and public? 

Community members are welcome to attend open meetings. For many, this is difficult to attend regularly for several reasons. By going out regularly to each resident and listening to their views, ideas, wants and needs- people will feel heard and this builds stronger community. Respecting everyone's voice will also build a stronger community.

As mayor and as a counselor, going out to hear each community member is important. This can be done by door to door visits in order to be inclusive of all, it can be done through community gatherings as well.

I look forward to meeting people and listening to the ideas and values of all ages of residents, very important input from all!

Jaime Halan-Harris​

Tahsis supply closed for power outage

 Due to the scheduled power outages, Tahsis Supply Co. will be closed Thursday, September 24 and Friday, September 25.

We’ll be back open Saturday at 9:00 a.m. Thanks for understanding!

Candidates’ forum

Tahsis Senior Society will be hosting 2 candidates’ information sessions.

Mayoral candidates are invited to participate on Wednesday September 30 at 6:00 PM.

Candidates for council are invited to participate on Thursday October 1 at 6:00 PM.

Written questions only please. Tony Ellis will moderate both sessions at the TAHSIS SENIORS SOCIETY 299 Alpine street.

All candidates, please take the time to introduce yourself on Stephanie’s Tahsis Living Blogspot

Boat launch float installation

 

Plan for two days of no power

 

Councillor candidate response: Ryan Moore

 I’ve asked each candidate for mayor and council a set of questions so voters can know them better. Their answers will be posted here as they come in.

1. Who are you?

Ryan Moore 

I moved to Tahsis 5 years ago. I joined the TVFD, and around the time I injured my back I ran for council during the by-election.

I've acted as both VP and currently Pres of the CMESS PAC, And along with 2 other people created NNS NNS 3 years ago to fill the void left when knights of Columbus canceled service to town. This Christmas will be the 3rd year of our program 

Most recently I have purchased the garage at the edge of town, and while we are renovating our home we are also getting the garage ready to be an operational automotive shop. My background is self employed, as a mechanic and fabricator and I think this is a needed service in town.

I have put down roots here, and am wanted to continue my role as council because I am well invested in the Villages future.

2. 60% of the Tahsis population is over age 55. How should this demographic affect how the village is run?

Our aging population creates several issues.  

Fixed incomes make it difficult to handle the property tax increases that are required to even be able to attempt to keep up with failing infrastructure let alone start to get ahead of it. It's very unfortunate that we are in the position we are in, and it is likely going to hurt more before it gets better. An affordable village that doesn't have the supports to make it comfortable, isn't any more appropriate than an expensive village. And we are starting to cross over into an expensive village without supports. 

Local services, wether it is for basic necessities or physical and mental health support I truly believe are more important to an aging demographic, and our rec center for example becomes less of a want, and more of a need.  

And a sad reality of a high median age is that for the future of the village to look brighter, we have to attract Industry of some kind, jobs, and recreation for you get families. I know this may not sound like a direct answer, but we can't look at one seriously, without looking at the other.

3. What can be done to enforce the village bylaws?

Complaint based systems generally do more harm through neighbor rivalries than good. A local even part time bylaw officer would cost the village more, but be more effective, than a bylaw officer that in the past the position has been held by someone who had never even stepped foot in Tahsis, or sometimes only attends a couple times a year.

But even a part time position could mean a 2-3% increase in taxes quite easily, and the question then becomes, is it worth it.

4. How can you improve communication between the council and public? 

This is a 2 way street. I can not speak for council as a whole on this, but I have always been willing to speak or just listen to anyone who was actually interested in taking the time. I have made an effort in the past to post publicly online, and mention to people I see about important meetings, grant discussions, budget meetings, the bigger decisions I truly believe people would want to be, and should be involved in, but people seem uninterested, mostly speaking of the lack of attendance to be able to voice their opinions.  While I realize we are elected to represent everyone, my voice is still just one voice, and there is a power in numbers attending and showing support or disproval. My opinion has definitely been swayed in the past after speaking to residents.  And it will continue to be.

I hope the next 4 years are different and there is more interaction, and will continue to make an effort, but encourage anyone who wants to speak, to reach out. We are sitting in seats representing our community. And personally I appreciate the feedback, the discussion, and I look forward to continuing to speak to anyone who is willing.

It's ok to be upset about things that happen at council.  It's even expected.  Just try to be respectful is all I've asked.

Aboriginal title case on Vancouver Island

 

In March 1778, Capt. James Cook arrived at the vil­lage of Yuquot, at the south­ern tip of Nootka Island off the cent­ral west coast of Van­couver Island.

It's the first recor­ded European land­ing on the shores of what would become Brit­ish Columbia.

Jerry Jack, a hered­it­ary chief of the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht First Nation and whose tra­di­tional name is Klak­wa­giila, says he always tells people this is where his com­munity's prob­lems star­ted.

In late 2024, the Mowachaht/ Mucha­laht filed a law­suit in B.C. Supreme Court seek­ing a declar­a­tion of Abori­ginal title to a large area that tracks inland from Yuquot, also called Friendly Cove, along Nootka Sound, and where the tiny com­munit­ies of Gold River and Tah­sis are loc­ated.

The area the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht are claim­ing Abori­ginal title to is 4,300 square kilo­metres of sparsely settled, for­es­ted area, includ­ing nearly 14 per cent of Van­couver Island's area.

Recently, a trial date was set for 2029 and nine months of court time has been set aside, poten­tially pla­cing the pro­ceed­ings among a hand­ful of lengthy and often pre­ced­ent-set­ting Abori­ginal title cases in B.C.

In its fil­ing, the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht says the province has infringed its Abori­ginal title by author­iz­ing log­ging, forestry roads and log hand­ling without fair com­pens­a­tion.

Sev­eral area-based tree-farm­ing and volume-based licences — which give com­pan­ies the right to har­vest tim­ber and also the respons­ib­il­ity to replant forests — cover much of the First Nation's claimed tra­di­tional ter­rit­ory.

A pulp and paper mill in Gold River closed in 1999 and the last cedar saw­mill in Tah­sis closed in 2001.

But log­ging con­tin­ues, with tim­ber sor­ted, graded and pre­pared at the Nesook Bay dry­land sort owned by West­ern Forest Products before being trans­por­ted to mills in B.C. or expor­ted.

The Mowachaht/Mucha­laht are seek­ing a declar­a­tion of title and infringe­ment, an account­ing and repay­ment of pro­vin­cial rev­en­ues from the claimed ter­rit­ory, and unspe­cified com­pens­a­tion and dam­ages.

The legal team rep­res­ent­ing the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht has not com­pleted cal­cu­la­tions on how much rev­enue went to the province, but estim­ates it is in the hun­dreds of mil­lions of dol­lars since log­ging star­ted in the 1950s, with bil­lions of dol­lars in tim­ber har­ves­ted.

In response to Post­me­dia ques­tions, the B.C. Min­istry of Forests declined to say how much tim­ber had been har­ves­ted and how much gov­ern­ment rev­en­ues were col­lec­ted.

“We never gave the land up. We never sur­rendered it,” said Jack, who is a mem­ber of the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht's coun­cil of chiefs.

He notes that when Cook landed there was an estim­ated 8,000 Mowachaht people (other estim­ates peg the pop­u­la­tion as lower), but now the com­bined pop­u­la­tions of the Mowachaht/ Mucha­laht peoples is about 600. About half live in the Gold River and Tah­sis areas, and one fam­ily lives in Yuquot.

Jack says they were dev­ast­ated by small­pox and other dis­eases and are still feel­ing the effects of gen­er­a­tions of chil­dren being sent to res­id­en­tial schools. “We're a poor nation. We shouldn't be a poor nation with all the resources that have been taken out of our ter­rit­ory. ... Get­ting recog­ni­tion and rights to our ter­rit­ory, we can be a wealthy nation,” he said. “It tears me up inside when I have to go to court and fight for something that was ours from the begin­ning of time.”

Jack said they don't want to stop forestry, but they want con­trol over resource extrac­tion. The Mowachaht/ Mucha­laht have also said they want to imple­ment a more sus­tain­able forestry model that bet­ter pro­tects the envir­on­ment.

Eamon Murphy, a law­yer with Wood­ward & Com­pany LLP, which is rep­res­ent­ing the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht, says a key issue the case seeks to prove is how much old growth has been removed, how areas such as fish-bear­ing streams have been degraded, and how the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht cul­ture has been affected though the loss of cedar stands that are sac­red to them.

“It's not just about the dol­lar fig­ures, it's dev­ast­ated the cul­ture and the live­li­hood of these people,” Murphy said.

None of the claims have been tested in court.

In its response in B.C. Supreme Court, the province has acknow­ledged that Abori­ginal title may exist within por­tions of the 4,300 square kilo­metres of claimed ter­rit­ory, but dis­putes the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht can estab­lish title over the entire area.

The province argues that First Nations must prove suf­fi­cient, exclus­ive occu­pa­tion dat­ing back to the mid1800s and a con­tinu­ing con­nec­tion, not­ing there are over­lap­ping claims with the Ehattesaht, K'ómoks, We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum First Nations.

B.C. also says it acted law­fully by author­iz­ing forestry and trans­fer­ring pro­vin­cial-land interests, and ful­filled con­sulta­tion and accom­mod­a­tion duties, and entered agree­ments with the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht that provided bene­fits.

Those included forestry rev­enue shar­ing agree­ments, which the Mowachaht/Mucha­laht say are tiny in com­par­ison to the amount of resources taken from their ter­rit­ory.

B.C. seeks to have the Abori­ginal title claim dis­missed and opposes provid­ing ret­ro­act­ive com­pens­a­tion.

Jack said he wanted to stress their title case is not seek­ing private land.

Jack said they are pur­su­ing court action because they don't want to end up with small pieces of dis­con­nec­ted land in their tra­di­tional ter­rit­ory. “Those are little blips. ... What we're claim­ing is what is right­fully ours.”

Rec centre closure

 

Writing contest

Tax sale update

 

Salmon Derby wrap up

 

Bingo

 

Message from Coal Creek Roasters

 

We are going to take a short break and close for a week - next week - from September 20th-28th. We will be open again Tuesday September 29th at 8am.

The mountains are calling and we must go…:)

Free dental clinic

 

No crib but bingo’s on

 Crib tournament at the Seniors Centre tonight is cancelled.

But…….

BINGO IS BACK ON THIS SUNDAY

2:00 PM AT THW SENIORS CENTRE

Voting day details

 Tap image to enlarge.

Westview extends season

 

By popular demand, we’re extending the season! 

Thanks to continued late-season demand and occupancy, Westview Marina & Lodge will remain open daily until at least Sunday, September 27, with the season continuing beyond that as demand allows.

Village of Tahsis - Notice of Tax Sale

Tap to enlarge.

Official candidates for 2026 municipal election

 DECLARATION OF CANDIDATES

I, Amanda Knibbs, Chief Election Officer for The Village of Tahsis, do hereby declare, pursuant to section 97 of the Local Government Act, the following persons as candidates in the 2026 General Local Election:

Candidates for the office of Mayor:

Davis, Martin               1157 Discovery Cresent Tahsis BC
Fowler, Sarah              1162 Discovery Cresent Tahsis BC
Halan-Harris, Jaime     16 Freda Rd. Tahsis BC
Stiglitz, Allison              82 Brabant Cresent Tahsis BC

Candidates for the offices of Councillor:

Adams, Samuel              164 Alpine View Tahsis BC
Halan-Harris, Jackson    16 Freda Rd. Tahsis BC
Moore, Ryan                    268 Alpine View Tahsis BC
Northcott, Cheryl             1062 Resolution Rd. Tahsis BC

Given under my hand at 977 South Maquinna Rd, Tahsis, British Columbia, this 11 day of September, 2026.

Last election results

 When I went to look for who are the candidates for council in the upcoming municipal election (deadline to register as a candidate is tomorrow, September 11) I found these data sheets about the last election. Interesting to see all that’s happened since then. I think we can aim for a higher turnout rate than 57%. Tap image to enlarge.

Gold River road repair

 

Westview’s last weekend

 

Wide Area Fill Study - Drilling Program

From September 14 - 18, 2026, the Village will be carrying out environmental investigation work within municipal road allowances. Property owners adjacent to the respective work areas will be notified by a hand delivered letter. No work will be done on private property unless agreed to the property owner. 

There will be temporary road closures during September 16 and 17 on Alpine View, N. Maquinna, Head Bay Road and Strange Road. The work is part of a wide area environmental and hydrogeological investigation to assess the extent, quality, and composition of historical deposits of hog fuel (wood waste). The work will include drilling boreholes and/or monitoring wells, collecting groundwater or soil samples, soil vapours, and installing, maintaining and operating monitoring equipment and related infrastructure. The investigation will support an application by the Village for a wide area Approval in Principle by the Ministry of Environment which, if granted, will reduce red tape for future residential development and construction.

No nurse

 There will not be a nurse in Tahsis from 5pm today (Sept 7) until 9am tomorrow (Sept 8). If you have an emergency, call 911. For non emergencies, please call 811 for advice.

Coal Creek’s fall hours

Coal Creek cafe is open today, Labour Day.

September 8 we are moving into fall hours which are 8am-3pm Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sundays and Mondays).

Pool reopens next Friday

 

Holiday Monday closings

 

Mayor’s report Sept 1

Happy to be part of the inception and build of the Just Like Home project, opening Tuesday in Campbell River. This building, adjacent to the North Island Hospital, was built by Strathcona Regional District, Island Health and the financial assistance of generous donors. It meets the demand for accommodation by health care professionals and citizens of our regional district that need a low cost place to stay while a family member is in hospital. Given that short term accommodation in Campbell River can run as high as $500 per night currently and this will offer rooms for as low $87 per night, this provides much needed financial relief for family of patients. There are a total of 30 units.

Season’s ending

 Tahsis Artisans’ Coop (TACo) closes for the season at 4:00 on Monday, September 7.  We still have a wide variety of merchandise from our 22 members. Open every day from 11-4 in the hall of St. Joseph’s church on the hill above Westview Marina.

Senior Centre September activities

 

Free Labour Day Community BBQ