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Mick Sweetman

Mick's Latest Articles

Photo of Sarah Lovegrove standing outside the doors to the Vancouver Island Conference Centre where Nanaimo City Council meets wearing a Nanaimo Area Network of Drug users shirt,

Motion to close Nanaimo’s Overdose Prevention Site withdrawn

By Mick Sweetman ● Nanaimo ● November 18, 2025

New motion will ask province to reexamine its policy on responding to the overdose crisis.

In Photos: Nanaimo Remembrance Day 2025

By Mick Sweetman ● Nanaimo ● November 12, 2025

Thousands gather in Nanaimo to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Photo of the 2023 Remembrance Day service in Nanaimo by Mick Sweetman / The Discourse.

Remembrance Day 2025 events on Vancouver Island

By Mick Sweetman ● Vancouver Island ● November 10, 2025

Events, ceremonies and information on Remembrance Day 2025 in the Comox Valley, Nanaimo and Cowichan Valley

Events in Nanaimo for Nov. 6 to 13, 2025

By Mick Sweetman ● Nanaimo ● November 5, 2025

Music, arts and community events listings in Nanaimo.

Brian Snyder and Lynn Crowther live in a manufactured home in North Nanaimo where Snyder has been working to increase protections for residents in the city.

‘A step in the right direction’: Nanaimo adds protection for manufactured home owners

By Mick Sweetman ● Nanaimo ● November 4, 2025

New city policy outlines obligations for landowners who want to rezone manufactured home communities.

Haunted Nanaimo: Spooky spots in the city

By Mick Sweetman ● Nanaimo ● October 28, 2025

From haunted fire halls to Gallows Point, Nanaimo has a history of otherworldly presences.

Snuneymuxw First Nation Chief Mike Wyse (Xumtilum), right, stands with federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Rebecca Atly at the site of te’tuxwtun (Mount Benson) — where 80 hectares were added to the First Nation’s reserve lands on Oct. 16.

‘Nearly 200 years of big work and persistence’: te’tuxwtun lands returned to Snuneymuxw

By Mick Sweetman ● Nanaimo ● October 21, 2025

Roughly 80 hectares of federal land near Vancouver Island University added to Snuneymuxw’s reserve

Activists carry a mock coffin at the march for International Overdose Awareness Day in Nanaimo on Aug. 29, 2025. Photo by Mick Sweetman / The Discourse.

‘Like a bomb dropping’: Safer supply changes leave patients struggling for stability

By Mick Sweetman ● Nanaimo ● October 14, 2025

A local doctor says the province’s new safer supply rules are more about politics than public health.

Kate Rutherford, treasurer of the the Long Lake Flatwater Training Centre Society, said the new land purchased by the city for Loudon Park would be a suitable location for a new boathouse and activity centre. Photo by Mick Sweetman / The Discourse.

Loudon Park to expand with purchase of new properties

By Mick Sweetman ● Nanaimo ● October 7, 2025

City of Nanaimo spends $2.2 million to provide more options for future boathouse and activity centre, as well as increase park space.

A child wearing an orange shirt participates in the Every Child Matter march in Duncan on Sept. 30, 2025.

Every Child Matters march attracts thousands wearing orange on Quw’utsun lands

By Mick Sweetman ● Cowichan Valley ● October 2, 2025

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation remembers Indigenous children who were sent to Indian Residential “Schools” in Canada

Mick Sweetman

Motion to close Nanaimo’s Overdose Prevention Site withdrawn

In Photos: Nanaimo Remembrance Day 2025

Remembrance Day 2025 events on Vancouver Island

Events in Nanaimo for Nov. 6 to 13, 2025

‘A step in the right direction’: Nanaimo adds protection for manufactured home owners

Haunted Nanaimo: Spooky spots in the city

‘Nearly 200 years of big work and persistence’: te’tuxwtun lands returned to Snuneymuxw

‘Like a bomb dropping’: Safer supply changes leave patients struggling for stability

Loudon Park to expand with purchase of new properties

Every Child Matters march attracts thousands wearing orange on Quw’utsun lands

Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society name change to Ballenas ‘in discussion’ for years,’ says CEO

10 ways to better support tenants with vulnerabilities due to income, age or disabilities

‘I want it to stop’: Tenants and advocates allege bullying by non-profit housing provider

Q and A: What are vulnerable tenants rights in non-profit housing?

Who will protect low-income seniors from dying in extreme heat?

Seniors left in distress — or dead — for days in Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society units