Whether it’s weather, wildlife, crime or politics, there’s no doubt British Columbia was a domestic and international newsmaker in 2023.
The province made headlines around the world throughout the year for a variety of reasons, including wacky wildlife, crime, disaster, and more.
Here are just a few of the B.C.-based stories that were shared by global media outlets.
1. Pigeon busted wearing ‘drug smuggling’ backpack at another prison
Canada’s westernmost province made headlines around the world when a pigeon wearing a meth-filled backpack was busted in Abbotsford in December 2022, and again in February 2023.
The innovative attempts at drug smuggling were covered by The New York Post on March 16. The publication wrote that recruiting homing pigeons to get contraband into prison is an “old-school technique that has been used for decades due to their ability to fly long distances and return to return to their sender.”
2. Canada’s British Columbia decriminalizes hard drugs in bold test to fight overdose crisis
The province’s exemption to the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act took effect on Jan. 31, allowing adults to possess small amounts of certain drugs — opioids, crack, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA — for personal use.
The initiative is unprecedented in Canada and grabbed the attention of the South China Morning Post, which published Reuters copy on the three-year decriminalization pilot program that aims to “tackle the drug issue as a health problem rather than through the criminal justice system.”
3. Who was the man whose killing Canada says India instigated?
The brazen shooting of prominent Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar continues to make international headlines, with an investigation underway into the alleged involvement of India.
The 45-year-old was gunned down in June outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. Multiple sources have said he was threatened before his killing.
On Sept. 18, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed Ottawa had “credible evidence” that agents of the Indian government may have been involved, spurring a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. The following day, The New York Times published a piece on Nijjar and his past, including this quote from a 2016 letter he wrote to Trudeau:
“I am a Sikh nationalist who believes in and supports Sikhs’ right to self-determination and independence of Indian-occupied Punjab through a future referendum.”
4. I saved a moose but lost my job, says sacked trucker
On June 6, Fort Nelson man Mark Skage rescued Misty, an unaccompanied moose calf he found on the side of a northern B.C. highway. He drove the calf back to the city in his work truck and was subsequently fired.
According to the B.C. Wildlife Act, it is illegal to be in possession of — or to transport — wildlife without a licence or permit, or outside of the circumstances allowed under the law.
Global News covered the story, but so did Britain’s oldest national daily newspaper, The Times. According to the publication, Skage saw a black bear “waiting to attack the moose” about 50 yards away.
5. British Columbia port workers ratify contract offer, ending Canada labor dispute
After weeks of turbulent job action that froze billions of dollars in goods at more than 30 port terminals and related sites, B.C. port workers ratified a contract deal on Aug. 5. The result came after two days of voting by full union membership, following the union and employers jointly announcing a tentative agreement the previous Sunday night.
The Seattle Times published copy on the agreement, which included wage increases, better benefits and additional training. Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan would be directing federal officials to review the entire debacle to avoid a port disruption of that magnitude from happening again, the article added.
6. Rare fire tornado seen in British Columbia
Firefighters in B.C. released jaw-dropping video of a “fire tornado” recorded at one of the out-of-control wildfires that burned through the Interior in August. The phenomenon was captured by overnight ground personnel working the Downton Lake fire, burning in the Gun Lake area north of Pemberton.
The BBC picked up the video, publishing it on Aug. 23.
“Fire whirls are created when there is a combination of high fire intensity, strong winds and air mass instability,” it wrote. Fire whirls are also known as fire tornados and are intensely rotating columns of gas and flame.
7. Totem pole begins ‘rematriation’ from Edinburgh to Nisga’a Nation in Canada
Media outlets flooded into the Nisga’a Nation north of Terrace, B.C. in September to witness the return of a red cedar memorial totem pole that was stolen more than 100 years ago and sold to the National Museum of Scotland.
Its journey of more than 6,700 kilometres from Edinburgh back to its true home in Laxgalts’ap was covered around the world. The Guardian, based in the U.K., wrote that the pole’s return was agreed to in less than a year with approval from the Scottish government.
“It puts pressure on other museums and other governments to also return objects of significant cultural importance,” the article states.
8. Hikers rescued after following non-existent trail on Google Maps
After much effort, a B.C. search and rescue group succeeded in getting Google Maps to remove a non-existent hiking trail on the north side of Mount Fromme that may have stranded numerous hikers and even led to one death.
North Shore Rescue wrote on Facebook that the phony trail, which supposedly led from Mount Fromme to nearby Kennedy Falls, was removed from Google Maps on Nov. 6, two days after a lost hiker had to be airlifted out of the area.
The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia latched onto the story, writing that North Shore Search has now placed signs there warning, “Wrong Way Dangerous Cliffs.” In September, the publication said the group rescued a hiker who called to say he was on a cliff and unsure how long he could hold on, and two years before that, a hiker fell to his death from the same spot.
9. Harry and Meghan make surprise appearance at Vancouver ice hockey game
Hockey fans and royalty watchers were delighted to spot the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at an NHL game in Vancouver on Nov. 21. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle watched the Vancouver Canucks take on the San Jose Sharks.
The pair attended the match ahead of the Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick armed forces personnel, which the duke founded in 2014. The next games will be held in Vancouver and Whistler in 2025.
According to the U.K. Independent, which covered the Canucks game, Harry and Meghan appeared in public together for the first time at the Toronto Invictus Games in 2017.
10. TIME’s Top 100 Photos of 2023
Finally, a photo of the devastating McDougall Creek wildfire in West Kelowna, shot by The Canadian Press’s Darryl Dyck, was the banner image of TIME’s list of Top 100 Photos of 2023.
The wildfire destroyed nearly 200 properties across the Central Okanagan and spanned nearly 14,000 hectares at its peak. Wildfires that raged through the Shuswap and Okanagan caused $720 million in insured losses in 2023, according to estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc., making the Southern Interior disaster the “most costly insured event” in the province’s history.
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