A good thing about a new year is that we can look back on the fond memories of the year that’s past, but if it was a year we’d sooner forget, then we can look ahead and hope for better in the year to come.
Most people in Nanaimo are probably feeling some mix of those sentiments. It was a tough year on some fronts, some cool things happened, and probably the Harbour City, all told, was a pretty good place to be in 2024.
We in the newspaper business got to document it all, week by week, and as we flipped through back issues, we found that the past 12 months were eventful ones. For this year’s stories of the year, we settled on the public works yard AAPs, the push for fair health care, the provincial election, Snuneymuxw’s land and property acquisitions, Ethan Katzberg’s Olympic gold medal, the filming of The Last of Us, crime severity and high-profile court cases, VIU’s music program cuts, downtown construction, and harm reduction in the face of the continuing toxic drug crisis. Then there were a handful of other news stories that we discussed as runners-up, such as the completion of the city’s huge midtown water project and the federal Liberal party caucus retreat, for example.
In addition to our stories of the year, this issue carries on some of our year-end traditions like our lists of most-clicked stories on our website and our top 10 most-memorable animal stories. Please consider visiting our website to see other content such as a slideshow of our photos of the year, as well as our Beefs of the Year.
This is the time in our new year’s merry-making when we get all emotional and thank readers and advertisers. We’re lucky to be able to tell the community’s stories every year, we take it seriously, and we look forward to finding out what’s next for Nanaimo in 2025.
Citizens voted down public works yard upgrades
The City of Nanaimo’s public works yard upgrades project didn’t advance at all in 2024 – quite the opposite, in fact – but the topic was a story of the year again.
This time last year, the city was getting ready to try its second alternative-approval process to secure the long-term borrowing of $48.5 million for a first phase of upgrades to the Labieux Road works yard, a collection of outdated, cramped and seismically unsafe buildings. The AAP failed due to an administrative error.
Over the following months, the city hired a consultant to find out what went wrong, and city council and staff also significantly changed the project plans, deciding on a single-phase $90-million works yard rebuild.
In the fall, the city managed the AAP according to legislation, but after a count that took nearly a month, it was revealed that the public works yard AAP had failed for a third time. The city counted 8,655 valid elector response forms registering opposition, exceeding the 7,974 forms needed to block the borrowing bylaw.
At a meeting Dec. 2, city council discussed next steps and chose not to proceed to what would have had to have been a hastily organized mid-January referendum.
“Obviously disappointing…” said Mayor Leonard Krog. “It’s a necessity, this project, and it’s in the public interest to have it proceed.”
The city can still try to gain elector approval for the project at a minimum of six months down the road, or could look at other options to pay for the work, such as raising taxes in the near term.
Patient tower was announced for Nanaimo
This past fall’s provincial election campaign finally brought the promise of a much-needed hospital tower at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
Premier David Eby made the election promise in September – a promise quickly matched by Conservative leader John Rustad – following months of advocacy from health-care workers, business leaders and elected officials.
Earlier in the year, a coalition called the Fair Care Alliance was created, demanding the build as well as a cardiac catheterization lab, estimated to cost $1.7 billion and $100 million respectively.
The group pointed out that the ER is one of the busiest on the Island and cited a master site development plan from 2010, which stated that “[the majority of the inpatient care units] are extremely outdated in supporting and addressing today’s care programs, patient safety, and infection control issues due to the high number of multi-bedded rooms.”
The campaign included billboards, advertisements, a petition, letters as well as a rally at the Beban Park Social Centre ahead of the election.
Following the announcement from Eby, Donna Hais, the alliance’s chairperson, told the News Bulletin that the promise “gets us very excited.”
“However, we’re looking for next steps,” she said. “We would like more details, we need scope, scale and dates. We want to know the how, when and where this will all be happening.”
In order to get a patient tower and cath lab, the region is responsible for funding 40 per cent of the build, while the province is responsible for the remainder. The region’s hospital levy was increased over recent years to prioritize the projects.
NDP swept Nanaimo ridings in tight provincial election
It was an election year for B.C. and the New Democrat Party came up with a slim majority after a significant political shakeup in the province.
The B.C. Conservative Party, which held zero seats in the legislature prior to the election, became the official opposition with 44 seats out of 93. NDP took 47 seats and the B.C. Green Party took two, after its leader Sonia Furstenau lost her seat.
The election led the NDP to look for support from the Greens to build a stable government after Premier David Eby confirmed Raj Chouhan will continue as speaker of the legislative assembly. The two parties signed an agreement outlining shared priorities.
The election drew together two other political parties also when B.C. United ended its campaign and backed the Conservatives.
In Nanaimo, NDP incumbent Sheila Malcolmson won the Nanaimo-Gabriola riding and will serve as minister of social development and poverty reduction, and George Anderson won the Nanaimo-Lantzville riding and will serve as parliamentary secretary for transit. As well, Stephanie Higginson won Ladysmith-Oceanside and will be NDP caucus chairperson.
Premier David Eby cancelled a planned fall sitting of the legislature; the legislature will return in February.
Snuneymuxw unlocked economic development potential
Snuneymuxw First Nation’s current and future economic development efforts were bolstered with land and business acquisitions.
The First Nation was transferred three huge parcels of land during the first two months of 2024, including 212 hectares on Mount Benson earmarked for habitat protection and forestry from the province, an additional 81 hectares in the same area from the city, and another 80 hectares at Camp Nanaimo near Vancouver Island University from the federal government. The Camp Nanaimo lands, which were the site of the former Nanaimo Indian Hospital, expand Snuneymuxw reserve land.
Casino Nanaimo was sold to Snuneymuxw’s Petroglyph Development Group in June, and then in September, Elements Casino Victoria was also sold to Petroglyph.
Chief Mike Wyse suggested that getting into the casino business will mean that the First Nation can become more economically self-sufficient.
“We’ve always relied on government funding to get us through,” he said. “Now we’re going to be able to look to opportunities here to support [our community] even better and sooner. A lot of the times over the years we’ve had to say, ‘No we don’t have the budget to support [that].’ Now we do. Now we will.”
In July, the province spent $26 million toward the $28.5-million purchase of the old Howard Johnson Harbourside Hotel property for transfer to Snuneymuxw.
“This past year has been filled with significant milestones, including the repatriation of our sacred belongings, the announcement of on-reserve affordable housing initiatives, the expansion of our land base, and the growth of our economic potential,” wrote Wyse in a letter to Snuneymuxw people in November.
Nanaimo hammer thrower won an Olympic gold medal
A Nanaimo athlete dropped the hammer on competitors on the world stage, capturing a gold at the Summer Olympics.
Ethan Katzberg, an alumnus of John Barsby Secondary School and the Nanaimo Track and Field Club, took top spot in hammer throw at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 4. His throw of 84.12 metres on his first attempt held up to earn him the gold medal, Canada’s first ever in the event.
Speaking at a homecoming celebration at his alma mater in late September, Katzberg said he wasn’t about to get cocky after the 84.12m.
“You never want to assume that you’ve done enough on the first throw,” Katzberg said. “There’s so much competition left to have, so I tried staying focused … I put into my head there was no point in throwing less than 84 metres now, I might as well just go for it, so I was going for it, and I was trying my best, but 84 was enough, and then I started celebrating.”
He gave a nod to his high school and old club, saying both laid a foundation to his athletic career.
“I did everything I could,” Katzberg said. “Basketball, cross-country, track and field at John Barsby – I did some football too. All the fun lunch-time volleyball tournaments, all that good stuff. I wanted to do it all and eventually, I siphoned everything out and decided to do the hammer throw, and kind of took it from there.”
The hammer throw area at Rotary Bowl was renamed the Katzberg Hammer Cage as part of the September festivities.
In late December, Katzberg was voted the Canadian Press Male Athlete of the Year.
Next up is a trip to Tokyo for the 2025 World Athletic Championships, where he will defend his world title.
Filming of HBO’s The Last of Us created excitement
Nanaimo caught a case of The Last of Us fever, but ultimately survived the zombie apocalypse.
HBO’s hit TV show, based on the PlayStation video game about a post-apocalyptic world brought on by a fungus-fuelled pandemic, stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
Parts of Season 2 were filmed in the Harbour City in May, with downtown Nanaimo converted to wasteland with rusted cars and overgrown foliage – sections of the downtown core were closed off till the end of the month.
Speaking to the Regional District of Nanaimo, in late November, months after filming had concluded, Brandon Lepine, Vancouver Island North Film Commission regional production services manager, told directors the HBO series was one of four major productions gracing the region the past year.
In all, production of The Last of Us in Nanaimo consisted of five weeks of preparation, three days of shooting and another week of wrap-up work.
Another series, Netflix’s Untamed, saw 15 days of prep work, four days of shooting and two days of wrap-up, filming at Nanaimo Lakes Road, as well as in Parksville, according to Lepine.
“The total spend in the Regional District of Nanaimo for accommodations and food and beverages is estimated at [$1.6 million],” he told directors. “There’s a $421,000 City of Nanaimo combined HBO and Netflix spend, an additional $1.2 million spend in Parksville, Qualicum Beach and Oceanside regions.”
A Downtown Nanaimo Business Association executive said that while traffic to Commercial Street was hindered during filming, he didn’t mind.
“It was a 50-50 of excitement and disruption, but the disruption was all part of the excitement,” said Steven Johns, association vice-chairperson and proprietor of Red Shelf Decor. “It’s a pretty big deal to have such a high-level production in Nanaimo … I think any disruption was worth the price.”
Nanaimo’s crime severity index was cause for concern
Nanaimo’s crime rate dropped, but the city’s crime severity index still ranked among Canada’s top 10 in 2024.
In July, Statistics Canada released good and bad news that Nanaimo’s crime severity index fell nearly two per cent in 2023 to 125.5 and the crime rate overall dropped nine per cent, but still ranked Nanaimo sixth in crime severity among Canada’s census metropolitan areas behind Kamloops, with an index of 165.3; Chilliwack at 156.2; Red Deer, Alta., 146.9; and Lethbridge, Alta. and Winnipeg, Man., tied at 129.1. The crime rate, which excludes traffic offences, is based on the number of crimes per 100,000 population. In 2023 Nanaimo tallied 10,200 crimes.
The indices are drawn from data reported by police departments across Canada. Such crimes as murder, child sex abuse and assault rank high on the scale.
Nanaimo RCMP Supt. Andrew Burton reported to the City of Nanaimo’s public safety committee in April that local crime in Nanaimo was dropping, but the index was creeping upward from its five-year low of 118.7 in 2020.
“This can be attributed to an increase in assaults, robberies, weapons offences and homicides,” Burton said.
Murders in recent years reached courtrooms in 2024. One that grabbed headlines was the case of Paris Laroche, who killed and dismembered her former boyfriend, Sidney Joseph Mantee, in 2020 and is expected to be sentenced Jan. 31.
James Carey Turok, charged with second-degree murder for fatally stabbing 79-year-old Eric Kutzner in 2022, was found not criminally responsible in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo by way of mental disorder in March.
In August, Mark Jayden Harrison and Aiden Matthew Bell were each found guilty of manslaughter for killing Fred Parsons in Maffeo Sutton Park in 2022.
Sean Carl John Patterson, charged with second-degree murder for stabbing Serguei Chiliakhov to death in 2023, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years in prison less time served.
VIU faced budget challenges, cut music programs
Vancouver Island University closed its bachelor of music and jazz diploma programs during 2024 as it continued grappling with a multimillion-dollar deficit. The university cited low enrolment and demand when it suspended intake for the programs. The bachelor of music program had 14 students enrolled.
Dirk Heydemann, Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association vice-president, was among those worried about the jazz program closure’s impact on the local music scene.
“I was at the Nanaimo Bar, listening to great jazz and I think it would be safe to guess that at least 50 per cent of the people that were jamming there … were either in the program or past graduates from the program,” he said. “The cultural spinoff that that program delivers is huge and priceless and the loss of that would have huge implications for our community.”
VIU faced further budget trouble with a drastic dip in international student enrolment. National changes to the international student study permit program led to a drop of 60 per cent for new international enrolled graduate students, a 48-per cent decrease in new international enrolled undergrad and developmental program students, as well as a seven-per cent decline in international continuing students.
“It could be several more years until the university returns to a balanced-budget position due to current geo-political issues and changes to the international student study and post-graduate work permit programs impacting our enrolment,” noted a university budget advisory council report in November.
Revitalization work curbed Commercial Street activity
Construction disruption vexed downtown businesses with streets torn up and traffic detours in 2024.
Terminal Avenue upgrades started in 2023, the final touches of which are still being carried out, at times limiting access to Commercial Street.
Filming for the TV series The Last of Us temporarily closed sections of Skinner, Wharf and Commercial streets, for which merchants in the affected areas received compensation, but when film crews and sets left the scene the city got down to digging to upgrade underground utilities on Commercial street between Chapel, Church and Wharf streets to prepare for downtown revitalization.
Loss of street access for vehicles – and to some extent pedestrian traffic because of closed sidewalks – also meant the loss of 30 spaces of on-street parking in front of businesses. To help drive customers downtown, city council ordered free parking spaces be opened in a nearby parkade.
Some merchants complained of revenue losses during the street closures while still trying to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The discovery of voids from old coal mine workings during under Commercial Street in October, raised fears of construction delays and further revenue losses. Bill Sims, Nanaimo’s general manager of engineering and public works, said works were relocated to other areas of the project to minimize delays while mine void is dealt with.
Harm reduction proved controversial amid drug crisis
The Island Health region experienced 389 deaths due to the toxic drug crisis from the beginning of the year to the end of October, according to the B.C. Coroner’s Service.
A leak in November showed that Island Health had planned for an overdose-prevention site outside Nanaimo Regional General Hospital as well as other Island Health medical facilities to respond to the crisis, but the province stopped it when it implemented a zero-tolerance policy for drug use in hospitals this past spring.
Though that harm-reduction service didn’t come about, a pop-up overdose-prevention site was set up across the road from NRGH this past fall. In a statement, Doctors for Safer Drug Policy said increased overdoses at the hospital and concerns from staff about unintentional exposure to substance use indoors caused them to act and invest their own money to cover supplies for the site.
Earlier in 2024, Island Health also removed a ‘care and connection kiosk’ outside NRGH which dispensed discreetly packaged harm-reduction items including condoms, wound care supplies, naloxone kits, take-home drug testing strips, bubble pipes, syringes and safe disposal containers.
The removal followed Premier David Eby promising a review of the service after Conservative party candidate Gwen O’Mahony created a social media video criticizing it and calling it a “free crack pipes and cocaine snorting kits vending machine.” The video racked up more than 600,000 views in two days.
In a November report by Dr. Réka Gustafson, Island Health’s chief medical health officer, she noted that in the region toxic drugs are currently the leading cause of death for the 19-39 and 40-49 age groups, second-leading cause of death for those under 19, and second-leading cause of overall potential years of life lost.
