On The Island
with Gregor Craigie

MLA Doug Routley discusses the B.C. Ombudperson's report on the closing of Cowichan Lodge, and the long-term effect of the closing on seniors and their families.

  Listen (runs 7:49)

---

They're the opera tunes you know, even if you know little about opera. Gregor speaks with Alysson McHardy who sings the title role in Pacific Opera Victoria's presentation of Carmen, which opens tonight (with further performances on Feb. 18, 22, 24 and 28, plus a matinee show on Feb. 26. 

 Listen (runs 7:26)

Richard LeBlanc, executive director of Woodwynn Farms and founder of the Creating Homefulness Society,  talks about why he is living in a van and giving up his home to a homeless man. 

Listen (runs 5:32)

---

Liam McLachlan with the MeshMesh project talks about how a group of volunteers with cooperation from local businesses is creating a free downtown wifi network in Victoria. 

Listen (runs 9:15)

Following concerns about the effect of navy sonar on orcas, Paul Spong at Orcalab discusses about how noise pollution affects marine mammals and what kinds of noises are most harmful.

---

Download Flash Player to view this content.

---

Will the B.C. government's new energy strategy mean the end of independent run-of-river power projects? The Wilderness Committee thinks so; NDP energy critic John Horgan responds.

Geologist Jeff McGuire explains a new underwater installation off the coast of Vancouver Island to provide real-time information on impending earthquakes and tsunamis.

Doing the math: The first results released from the 2011 census confirm Langford as the province's fastest-growing municipality, as well as documenting population declines in some other communities, such as Esquimalt.

Is the cure worse than the disease? Questions are being raised about one of the stop smoking drugs sanctioned by the B.C.government's official smoking cessation program. 

Gwen Barlee of the  Wilderness Committtee talks about why she thinks B.C.'s new energy strategy, including three proposed Liquified Natural Gas plants in Kitimat, could be good news for B.C. rivers.

---

Playing tag with fish: Oceanographer and marine biologist David Welch says it might be possible to understand the impact of aquaculture on wild fish by tagging and tracking the movements of wild salmon.

---

UVic researcher Andrew Ivsins discusses new research that shows the sharing of needles among Victoria's intravenous drug users has risen dramatically, along with the risk of disease, since the closing of the city's only fixed needle exchange in 2008.

---

Shaleema Gantt, President of the Nanaimo African Heritage Society, discusses some of the people whose stories are featured in a exhibition at the Nanaimo Museum, celebrating Black History Month.  

 Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth, discusses a report being presented to the United Nations today which is highly critical of how Canada deals with First Nations children.

---

Bankers have access to a lot of your personal information. What happens when they accidentally hand it over to the wrong person? Go Public reporter Kathy Tomlinson talks to two Bank of Montreal customers about their experience.

---

This is Eating Disorders Awareness Week and Sally Chaster, who is anorexic and a member of Advocacy for Adults with Eating Disorders in B.C., talks about the difficulty of getting treatment for people over age 24.

 

---

Susan Lambert, president of the BC Teachers' Federation, responds to concerns that students are suffering because of the continuing job action by teachers in which they are refusing to perform duties including field trips, recess and report cards.

---

The political panel looks at the continued decline in support for the B.C. Liberals, and whatever happened to the plan for private ferry operators on the coastal routes.