Rochelle Baker

Reporter Discovery Islands English

About Rochelle Baker

Rochelle Baker joins Canada's National Observer as the first Quadra and Cortes Islands reporter, thanks to a grant from the Local Journalism Initiative of the Government of Canada. Rochelle has worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer in BC's Lower Mainland for over 7 years.

Read Rochelle's stories

371 Articles

I swam with the salmon — they taught me about dignity and strength

Campbell River can host upwards of a million returning pink salmon in a banner year and is an ideal place to appreciate the fundamental role the iconic fish play in B.C.'s marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.

News, Climate Solutions Reporting, Island Insider | October 6th 2022

Small B.C. island floats new model of rural education

Cortes residents hope to improve access to high school for youth and revolutionize learning in their community.

News, Island Insider | October 4th 2022

Housing and health care top concerns for Quadra Island local election

The housing and health care crises, coupled with an aging population, were the issues dominating Quadra Island’s candidates' meeting Tuesday evening.

News, Island Insider | September 29th 2022

‘A huge achievement’: Vision for vast network of West Coast marine protected areas unveiled at last

A total of 17 coastal First Nations spearheaded a vision for a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in partnership with the B.C. and federal governments to protect marine ecosystems and biodiversity hot spots stretching from northern Vancouver Island to Alaska.

News, Island Insider | September 19th 2022

Critics fear Ottawa is scaling back its promise to phase out open net-pen salmon farms

The federal government is sending contradictory messages around its commitment to transitioning away from open net-pen salmon farms in B.C. by permitting production increases at three aquaculture sites in Clayoquot Sound, say salmon conservation groups.

News, Island Insider | September 16th 2022

B.C. isn’t meeting its promised benchmarks to transform old-growth logging

The provincial NDP government doesn't make the grade on its most urgent and important commitments to protect at-risk ancient forests, a report card issued by environmental groups says.

News, New News, Island Insider | September 9th 2022

Volunteer firefighters risk burnout propping up ailing ambulance service

Relying on the Quadra Island volunteer fire department to maintain ambulance service in the community threatens patient safety, risks burning out firefighters and limits the response to blazes during the height of wildfire season, the fire chief says.

News, Island Insider | September 8th 2022

B.C. needs to invest in primary care to stop the bleeding of family doctors

The family doctor crisis will plague rural B.C. and beyond until the province makes investments in bricks-and-mortar infrastructure and redesigns primary care’s archaic framework, says UBC researcher Dr. Rita McCracken.

News, Island Insider | September 2nd 2022

Mayors in rural B.C. band together to push province to fix health-care crisis

Small communities are at the epicentre of severe and protracted shortages of doctors and nurses, increasing emergency room closures, an ailing primary care system and an immobilized ambulance service, say mayors behind a new rural caucus that wants provincewide solutions.

News, Island Insider | September 1st 2022

Health care on North Vancouver Island is in an ‘evolving state of crisis,’ new leaked document shows

Alert Bay, a ferry-dependent community of 1,200, is expected to have no doctors staffing its emergency department and medical clinic by early December, a document obtained by Canada's National Observer shows.

News, Island Insider | August 30th 2022