Queen Elizabeth’s death: the end of an era
Emmaline Spencer
On September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II of England passed away. Her funeral was hosted more than a week later on September 19. In respect to her passing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared the day of the funeral to also be a federal holiday to give Canadians the time to mourn the loss of the Queen. Individual provinces may or may not choose to follow the announcement of a federal holiday. British Columbia has given the day off to public K-12 and post-secondary schools. As more time passes, discussions over whether Canada should break off from the monarchy have risen up.
BC wildfires season coming to a close
Emmaline Spencer
The wildfires in Hope and Manning Provincial park are no longer out of control as rainfall helped firefighters gain control over the fires, and the calls for evacuation of locals are being rescinded. The wildfires have been out of control during early September, resulting in air quality warnings for all of the lower mainland. Large amounts of smog were reported throughout the lower mainland due to not just the wildfires in B.C., but also from wildfires in Washington state, south of B.C., and a fire at a recycling plant in Vancouver. Locals can expect air to clean up and weather to cool as the rain season settles in and helps bring balance back to B.C. forests.
Emmaline is working on her BA and ambitions to become an English teacher. They always say, those who cannot do, teach. She spends her free time buying, reading, and hoarding books with the hope that one day she will have no furniture and instead only have piles of books.
