2024 Comox Valley Collective Winter
In 1862, the paddle steamer Brother Jonathan drifted into Victoria’s harbour, trailed months later by the Tynemouth, a bride ship out of England. The Tynemouth carried the promise of life. […]
Words by Dave Flawse

HORNBY ISLAND FOSSILS
2024 Comox Valley Collective Fall
He finds seashells by the seashore Most tourists who visit Hornby Island make a beeline for the warm waters of Tribune Bay. They visit in the summer months to relax […]
Words by Dave FlawsePhotos by Mel McLachlan

CLEANING OUR COASTLINES
2024 Fall/Winter Strathcona Collective
During a beach cleanup on Vancouver Island’s West Coast, Jeff Ignace notices a familiar sight—a luxury cooler. This one is a bright orange colour, dubbed King Crab. Ignace, a member […]
Words by Dave FlawsePhotos by Kianna Zivny

THE FISH AND GAME CLUB
2024 Comox Valley Collective Winter
If you’ve spent any time around Comox Lake, you’ve likely heard the clap of gunfire booming out from the “Fish and Game,” or Courtenay & District Fish and Game Protective […]
Words by Dave FlawsePhotos by Luke Phillips

THE HERRING GOLD RUSH OF 1979
2024 Comox Valley Collective Spring
In 1979, a certain smell sustained the herring gillnetters of British Columbia. It hung from their bibs and clung to their fingernails as they laboured to prize heavy nets, hand […]
Words by Dave FlawsePhotos by Jarrett Lindal

THE ILLUMINATION OF FIRE
2023 Comox Valley Collective Winter
In October 2023, I had the chance to speak with Wedlidi Speck. Wedlidi is Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-cha-nulth, and E’iksan, and is the head chief of the Gixsam namima of the Kwaguł […]
Interview by Dave FlawsePhotos courtesy of Wedlidi Speck

THE DAY THE PRINCE CAME TO TOWN
Comox Valley Collective Fall
Over a century ago, on a Monday in late September, crowds of young and old thronged Vancouver’s sidewalks. Mothers fussed over their children’s hair. Dressed in their Sunday best, onlookers […]
Words by Dave Flawse

TUNED TO THE COMMUNITY’S FREQUENCY
Comox Valley Collective Spring
A lone modular office building with blue vinyl siding rests at the end of a gravel driveway on the edge of Homalco First Nation near Campbell River. From a wide, […]
Words by Dave FlawsePhoto by Jenn Dykstra

DROP INTO A DEEP READ
Comox Valley Collective Winter
In 2015, on his way to Whistler, Duncan Hague flew over the Rocky Mountains and peered out the plane’s little oval window. Almost one million square kilometres of British Columbia’s […]
Words by Dave FlawsePhoto by Duncan Hague

THE FUTURE LOOKS TASTY
Comox Valley Collective Summer
At the end of a meandering gravel driveway tucked among lush cedars stands the Deep Bay Marine Field Station, a building that resembles a giant oyster. “It was designed to […]
Words by Dave FlawsePhotos courtesy of The Centre for Seafood Innovation

THE ELK IN OUR BACKYARD
Comox Valley Collective Winter
“What was that?” says Scott. His head swivels in the direction of the sound. I raise my hand above my head and blast the Hoochie Mama. The imitation cow-elk call […]
Words by Dave FlawsePainting by Christine Boyer

CURRENT DEMAND
Comox Valley Collective Spring
The red embers of cigarettes glow through a thick fog. It’s 6am and workers outside the processing plant at Mac’s Oysters chat with one another. Beside them is a heaping […]
Words by Dave FlawsePhoto by Mike LeBlanc
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