This is Vancouver Island

It’s not just Greater Victoria’s big municipalities that are building new kinds of housing - some of the mid-sized ones, like Esquimalt, are too. On this week’s episode hear mayor Barb Desjardins talk about the range of housing styles; how the Department of National Defence is adding housing; and about a planned co-housing project where residents would share some common rooms with their neighbours.

Local officials are trying to get a safe, secondary road connecting the west coast to the rest of the island, after wildfires blocked the main routes in 2023 and 2025. But which route is best? And what will it take to make it happen? We hear from John Jack with Huu-ay-aht First Nations, Bob Beckett from the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, and Judi Thomas of the Ditidaht First Nation about the work they’re doing - and how it will support communities like Bamfield, Tofino/Ucluelet, and Port Alberni.

Check out this article to see a map of the possible routes, and listen to this previous episode to hear why wildfires can wreak such havoc on roads.

It's been a busy July so far in B.C. politics. This week, the attorney general said the province is preparing to sue OpenAI over the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge. And last week, B.C. and Ottawa signed a deal that will send billions of dollars of infrastructure funding westward, and also paved the way for a new pipeline to the south coast. Plus, Independent (and former B.C. Conservative) MLA Amelia Boutlbee joined the NDP caucus.

So we pulled our political panel back from summer hiatus to get their takes on it all. Elizabeth Cull is a former NDP cabinet minister, Andrew Reeve is a former BC Liberal Deputy Director of Communications and Senior Consultant at Earnscliffe, and Adam Olsen is a former Green Party MLA and member of the Tsartlip Nation.

Are you an ocean, lake, or river swimmer? This week we share one of our favourite summer episodes, where we took a break from the news to celebrate some of the many outdoor swimming spots on the Island - in all types of water. Alex McKeen, co-author of “Swimming Holes and Beaches of Southwestern British Columbia,” shares her love of swimming as a way to explore a new place and talks about some of the 50+ island spots listed in her book. They include the Koksilah River Holes, Cameron Lake, Inland Lake, and Banfield Park.

This episide originally aired July 10, 2025.

We're taking a short break as we shift into summer, but we'll be back soon. Make sure you're following us in the podcast app of your choice, so our next new episode automatically shows up in your feed.