Brittany Hopkins

Aug 29, 2024 | thenarwhal.ca | Eva Holland |Brittany Hopkins |Zoë Yunker |Fatima Syed |Sarah Cox

Last Thursday, reporter Matt Simmons spotted a series of social media posts that caught his attention. Indigenous leaders and community members were gathering on a remote road in northwest B.C., with some important legal paperwork — and pocket lighters. Matt, who lives in Smithers, B.C., grabbed his camera gear and drove for two hours.

Aug 28, 2024 | thenarwhal.ca | Eva Holland |Brittany Hopkins

“Mommy, I want to go outside!” my four-year-old whined as she cannonballed into my lap. “Outside now!” my two-year-old echoed from his perch on my shoulders. With two children under age five, our family wasn’t known for lounging around on a Sunday morning — let alone in the middle of summer. But the view outside our window didn’t look anything like summer. Smoke from West Kelowna’s McDougall Creek wildfire had settled over Vancouver, filling the August skies with a deep, ominous, brown haze.