Randall King – Winnipeg Free Press
Wolf-dog Hybrid On The Loose Near Parksville
The Conservation Officer Service says it has received reports of a wolf-dog hybrid being released in the area by its owner
A wolf-dog hybrid at large near Parksville. VIA VAUGHAN ROBERTS
A resident of French Creek north of Parksville is warning others of a wolf-dog hybrid on the loose in the area.
Vaughan Roberts said he first saw the animal in September in an industrial area at the end of Springhill Road in French Creek. At the time, he believed it was a wolf.
He saw it again last week while walking his two dogs. This time, the animal chased one of his dogs, backing off when Roberts threw rocks at it. It then followed him for about 500 metres, he said.
"It doesn't act like a dog. It's acting more like a wolf," Roberts said.
Roberts said he wants to see the animal trapped to ensure public safety.
The Conservation Officer Service said in an email that it has received reports to its anti-poaching hotline of a wolf-dog hybrid being released in the area by its owner.
The animal does not fall under the Conservation Officer Service's jurisdiction, because it is not considered wildlife or "a controlled alien species" according to regulations.
Conservation officers are not involved in trying to capture the animal, it said.
Any concerns should be reported to local domestic animal control, it said.
Dion Klassen, acting bylaw services manager for the Nanaimo Regional District, said there have been no recent reports about the animal.
The regional district's contracted animal control agency, Coastal Animal Control Service, is aware of its presence, Klassen said in a statement.
The animal was last seen on provincial Crown land near Coombs. If it returns to non-provincial property, the public can contact animal control at 1-888-754-1397 or cacs@telus.Net, he said.
If the animal becomes a threat to people or other animals, Klassen said, residents should call Oceanside RCMP.
regan-elliott@timescolonist.Com
Male Therapists In Parksville, BC
Ross Jenkins Counsellor, MA, CCC, RCC
Verified
2 Endorsed
Accepting new Clients. People seek counselling for reasons as varied as shifting tidal sands. Some want to ease stress and/or anxiety while others want help regarding past and present mistreatment of visible minorities. Others with visible and/or invisible disabilities may deal with issues regarding accessibility or navigating social interactions. Others yet are dealing with evolving sexual and/or gender identities, seeking help with their new understandings about themselves. Whether changing perspectives or navigating new territory, Inclusions Counselling can help.
David Hebb Counsellor, RSW, MSW, BSW
Verified
Verified
OFFERING PHONE AND WEBCAM SERVICES ONLY. David is an experienced marriage and family therapist, with training in Brief Solution Focused Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. I understand the challenges that individuals,couples and families may face, and believe that marriage and family therapy results in healthier, happier relationships. Our counselling sessions are goal-oriented and solution-focused. Fortitude Counselling believe that facing a challenge in life is an opportunity to challenge yourself and learn new strategies and skills to address the challenge head on.
Earl Blacklock Counsellor, MALM, MDiv, MC, CCC
Verified
1 Endorsed
My work is primarily with those who have experienced trauma including PTSD, complex trauma, child sexual abuse, and Dissociative disorders including Dissociative Identity Disorder. I view trauma as the experience of being emotionally and psychologically overwhelmed and overcome for a period measured in weeks, months, or years by adverse childhood experiences and adult traumatic events. My focus is always on the present and a hopeful future - how can those debilitated by anxiety, shame, and poor self-worth become healthy enough to meet their own needs for income, housing, affirming relationships, and physical and mental wellness.
Counsellor, MC, RCC
Verified
2 Endorsed
We're a group of experienced, trained, and professional counsellors who serve the mid-island area and beyond. We also provide online services for those who prefer it or for those who live outside of the geographic area. Are you dealing with depression, anxiety, stress, relationship turmoil? We can help!
Marriage & Family Therapist, MTh
Verified
1 Endorsed
When life is difficult the resulting symptoms usually include depression, anxiety, fear, anger and/or withdrawal. Rather than avoiding these states I have helped hundreds of clients turn them into resources, significantly improving their lives --usually after only a few sessions. I have 25+ years experience working with couples, individuals, families and groups, and have supervised 20+ new therapists. I specialize with couples, helping them to move beyond arguing, tension, anger, resentment and distancing into happy couples. My clients turn their problems into workable solutions. Free tips: www.Shorecounselling.Ca.
Counsellor, M, Ed, RCC
Verified
Verified
My view on counselling is based upon the level of trust and the quality of the connection that we are able to create together. In essence, the relationship that we develop together is key. I would wish to provide you with a safe, caring environment where you could come to feel completely heard and understood. I see my role as being more of a Guide, offering support while at the same time gently encouraging your growth by pointing out certain areas, thoughts, beliefs or behaviours that may be keeping you stuck, or that you may be unaware of.
Counsellor, MA, RCC, CCC
Verified
Verified
Turn relationship issues, anxiety, depression, and stress downside-up and stop repeating the same troublesome patterns. I am an experienced counsellor who can help you turn problems into solutions, getting you the tools you need to make real changes, starting now. Doing more than just listen, I help you deal with problems and underlying causes so that you can gain relief now and for the future. Life is better with help: I can help with relationships, infidelity, trust, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, sex issues, panic, addictions, anger, trauma, grief, and more. Frowns really can turn into smiles.
Counsellor, MA, RCC
Verified
Verified
I have a specific area of practice - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. OCD is considered to be a debilitating, chronic, and sneaky condition. OCD often latches on to what is most sacred and cherished to us. It can cause us to question our morals, values, and beliefs. Much time and energy is then spent trying to gain relief from doubt, uncertainty, and distress. Breaking cycles of Obsessions and Compulsions is key to regaining intention, peace, and freedom.
Registered Social Worker, MSW, RSW
Verified
1 Endorsed
I am a registered Social Worker with the BCCSW and BCASW with a Master's of Social Work. I have completed a post-graduate Certificate in Complex Trauma. In my practice, I utilize CBT, Solution Focused, Person-Centered and Motivational Interviewing techniques to support and inform change. I have extensive experience working with children and youth and I incorporate play, activity, art, nature, movement and activities into my sessions. Other areas of focus are working with men around communication skills, relationships and regulation of emotions as well as couples and individual counselling.
Counsellor, MA, RCC
Verified
1 Endorsed
I bring decades of experience helping emergency services and health care professionals find solutions to the cumulative stress they experience every day in their jobs. Without a safe place to work through these normal reactions to abnormal events, careers can be cut short and the families of these professionals struggle as well. Together we can find solutions for work related stress and other issues such as: the impact on the families, grief and loss, addiction/recovery and enhance existing coping skills. I enjoy working with a wide range of age groups from young adult to adult.
Counsellor, RCC, CHyp
Verified
Verified
Breaking Chains Counselling provides counselling, hypnotherapy, recovery coaching, continuing care and trauma therapy in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island and online. All counselling services are offered face to face or online through e-counselling anywhere in the world you have internet access.
Registered Social Worker, MSW, RSW
Verified
Verified
Today as a society there are so many stressors that we have to deal with on an individual basis such as mental illness, trauma, struggles with addiction, work and relationship stress that can impact our overall ability to function and succeed. Going through any of these struggles alone is a near impossible task and I am happy that you are looking for someone to walk along with you through life's challenges.
Registered Social Worker, MSW, RSW
Verified
1 Endorsed
I am an Indigiqueer human, son, uncle, brother, social justice activist, and pom mom. I highly respect our queer community and will always be cheering for you virtually.
Counsellor, MC, RCC
Verified
Verified
Change is always hard. Whether something or someone in our life needs to change — or it already has — or we've decided that something inside ourselves needs to shift, it's never easy. But living with the feeling that something isn't right is hard too — it can leave us with frustration and resentment in our relationships, dip us down into depression and exhaustion, or put us in a pattern of all-too-familiar anxiousness, submissiveness, and anger. If any of this sounds familiar, counselling can help.
Counsellor, MA, RCC
Verified
Verified
I work from a client-centred framework, offering individuals the space to explore thoughts and feelings through creating a non-judgmental, open, and empathic environment. I aim to support each client on a collaborative journey towards insight, awareness, and acceptance, while developing tools and strategies to manage stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. I have over 10 years of experience working in private practive and as part of interdisciplinary health care teams providing counselling, education, and relaxation training to clients coping with uncertainty following injury or illness.
Counsellor, PhD, RCC
Verified
Verified
I offer online and in-person therapy to help you navigate the uncertainty of living with a health condition, adjust to life challenges related to illness, and better manage your health. Our work can include: comprehensive counselling & psychotherapy to help reduce your distress and cope with illness; health coaching to create sustainable health behaviour and lifestyle changes; and mind-body therapy to help you better manage symptoms and optimize your quality of life.
Counsellor, MCP, RCC
Verified
5 Endorsed
Searching for the right counsellor isn't an easy process, but it is a necessary one. You might have already come across many questions online asking if you're feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or hopeless. These are definitely important questions you should ask yourself. But how often have you been asked what you can do to overcome these difficulties? My work is focused on helping you discover both the "why" and "how" about your struggles and your strengths. Through establishing a safe space, trust, and empathy, my philosophy is to form a therapeutic relationship between us to the benefit of your mental health.
Counsellor, BA, MCP, RCC
Verified
Verified
I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor. I provide counselling to people in Vancouver and throughout BC virtually. I have completed a Master's degree in Counselling Psychology and am registered with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC). In my practice, I specialize in helping my clients build resilience and motivation using a trauma-informed, person-centred approach. I believe that every individual has the ability to heal and grow and live at peace, and I work collaboratively with my clients to support them on their journeys towards greater well-being.
Counsellor, MA, RCC
Verified
Verified
Those I work with may be seeking help to address grief and loss, anxiety, depression, traumatic and overwhelming experiences, and/or relationship issues, as they aspire towards personal growth and fulfillment in life. They may have felt that life lacks the meaning it once had, or that their efforts haven't take them where they'd like to be. Often, beneath their concerns and uncertainties are deeper questions that I help people explore and respond to, such as, Who am I? Where do I belong? What is my purpose?
Counsellor, MEd, RCC
Verified
Verified
Clients who enter into therapy with me will find themselves entering into a warm and safe environment where they feel respected, valued and heard. Asking for help isn't easy. I always admire the courage it takes for a person or couple to decide to enter into the counselling process. People often feel vulnerable and anxious when they come to counselling for the first time and my goal is to help you feel safe and cared for, and to know that you're not alone. My belief about the therapy process is that in order to heal and grow, we need to "feel felt" - to feel genuine concern and understanding in a non-judgemental environment.
See more therapy options for Parksville
Online Therapy
Individuals looking for treatment should feel comfortable directly asking a therapist about their history treating men overall and the issues that arise in therapy with men. A good therapist will be happy to discuss such matters as well as their educational background, approach to treatment, and how they think they can aid a prospective client. Prospective clients should also ask what the expectation is for treatment, and what the fee structure is, and whether and which insurance plans are accepted.
Can clients benefit from having a therapist of the same gender? Therapy is not gender-specific, but some men as well as women feel more comfortable opening up about their experiences and history with a male therapist. An individual may feel that they have to explain less background information and be on the same page more quickly, particularly when discussing gender-specific challenges, in the case of male clients. Some women have prior negative experiences with women that predispose them to prefer working with a male in therapy. That said, a good clinician can transcend most if not all gender concerns. Ultimately, the most important factor in therapy is the connection and trust the client is able to build with the practitioner. Would a male therapist have specific training in treating men?Generally, no. There are no certifications for treating men specifically, but there are continuing education classes that therapists may take that focus on treating men as a group. There are many therapists who focus on men and male issues in their treatment and therefore have experience and expertise in this domain.
BC NDP's Short-term Rental Bill Stays Intact, Passes Without Amendments
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon pushed through the bill Thursday to crack down on short-term rentals despite warnings it was too broad in scope.
You can add tents, glamping yurts, RVs, treehouses, farm worker barracks and resort-style time-share communities to the list of properties that won't fall under B.C.'s new short-term rental ban, as the intricacies of B.C.'s already-complicated legislation got slowly flushed out during debate at the legislature.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon spent several days this week fielding questions on his legislation, which proposes to limit Airbnb-style rentals to people's principal residences in most urban centres. The ultimate effect of the law will be to ban investment properties in many parts of the province from being rented for periods under 90 days.
"Does this act contemplate things like trailers or glamping facilities? How are those captured?" BC United critic Karin Kirkpatrick asked at one point during the debate.
"I had the most wonderful vacation a couple of years ago, where I was able to actually have an Airbnb on a boat, which would not have necessarily been someone's long-term residence.
"Have some of these other, more unusual kinds of listings on Airbnb and other platforms been anticipated?"
Kahlon echoed Premier David Eby in his answer, saying the goal is to only crack down on extra properties that investors could sell or rent out long-term to local tenants.
"The general principle we follow in these regulations is that we're focused on returning units that can be long-term housing to the market," said Kahlon.
"So something like a tent or treehouse is not intended to be captured." As debate went on, he added RVs, fishing lodges, strata tourism complexes and time-share resort developments to his running list of exemptions.
Those kind of nitty-gritty details dominated the debate — at least, where Kahlon could answer them. Many rules will be set later by cabinet regulations, including exact definitions of the structures captured, the fine amounts, the size of the province's enforcement team, how data is shared, how fine revenue will be spent, and so on.
Many people support the BC NDP legislation. But those who stand to lose the ability to list their investment properties on short-term rental sites have been giving MLAs an earful through a digital letter-writing and email campaign, calling the changes unfair.
BC United tried to amend the legislation, to take into account some of those concerns.
"What we cannot support is legislation that doesn't take into account literally the thousands of emails and feedback that we've been receiving, this official opposition, that we tried to present in the forms of very common sense amendments that could have improved this legislation and made it supportable," said leader Kevin Falcon.
The Opposition had four proposed changes, including allowing one property in addition to a person's principal residence to be listed for short-term rental, lowering the definition of a short-term rental from 90 to 30 days, exempting people travelling for cancer treatments, and exempting entire cities during major events, such as FIFA 2026 in Vancouver, where there won't be enough hotel rooms to meet demand.
Falcon cited feedback from nurses and doctors, who rely on Airbnb-style accommodations when travelling to a community for a short-term stay to backfill health care services. He also cited the film sector, which needs short-term accommodation for cast and crew who may only be in town for a few weeks to film.
"We genuinely were trying to say let's fix this and make sure we don't have unintended consequences," said Falcon.
"And the amendments we put forward honestly, were heartfelt based on genuine feedback we were hearing from the film industry, from doctors, from nurses, from folks that really wanted to try and get this right."
The NDP government saw no honesty in the proposals, though.
"Here they spend every day they have, every opportunity they have to drive a hole through to create loopholes for investors running private hotels in our province," said Eby.
"We say 90 days, they say 30. They say, 'Well, what about big events? We should do something about big events.' …I would love to hear them say something at some point to support real people looking for a place to live, which our short-term rental legislation is going to do."
The dismissal continued as the NDP introduced each of its amendments. Kahlon took particular umbrage at the proposal to allow one investment property per British Columbian to be listed for short-term rental.
"This suggestion that people can buy an investment property and use it for short-term rental is essentially the opposite of what we're trying to do here," said Kahlon.
"I did refer to it as a loophole. I'll still refer to it as a loophole, which will allow investors to buy a property and put it on short-term rental when we're trying desperately to get more housing back into the housing market for long-term rental."
Kirkpatrick tried to point out that some buildings in places like Victoria and Kelowna were purpose-built as short-term rentals, with micro units as small as 440-square feet that aren't suited for long-term tenants. The NDP legislation will end the legal non-conforming status of those buildings.
"It's not an ideal square footage for a lot of families, I get that," said Kahlon. "But there are still people who are desperate for housing that could use housing, even if it's 440 square feet."
Time and time again, the New Democrats dismissed any suggestion the bill could be too broad.
"The large corporate hotels are going to be the biggest beneficiaries here, because you're going to find yourself having to go to Vancouver now, for example, and be facing $800 to $1,000 (per night) hotel rooms as a result of the very limited supply of other options," said Falcon.
"And that's why we tried to bring in amendments to say let's just balance this out."
BC United said the legislation should penalize the one per cent of Airbnb-style operators who generate 20 per cent of the listings and revenue due to their numerous properties. "There's a small group that controls large blocks of housing," said Falcon. "Those are the people that you want to go after."
The NDP legislation is doing that, and then some. The wide sweep will capture everyone from a family with a downtown condo they sometimes use and sometimes rent to the most prolific Airbnb investors who run dozens of properties as if they own hotels.
In the end, the NDP majority shot down the BC United amendments.
The bill passed into law Thursday, by a vote of 51 to 23 — the NDP, two BC Green MLAs and the now-independent MLA for Parksville-Qualicum in support, while the BC United and the BC Conservatives lined up against.
"Homes are for people, not for investors who keep them out of reach for their own profit," Eby posted on social media, minutes after Lt-Gov. Janet Austin gave royal assent to turn the bill into law.
"Thousands of short-term rentals will be turned into long-term housing for people in B.C."
We'll see if that happens. If the sweeping legislation has unintended consequences, the NDP won't be able to say they weren't warned.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 15 years covering B.C. Politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio. Rob@robshawnews.Com
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