Between 2021 and 2023, three B.C. school boards ended programs with local police that saw officers working directly with students in school settings, over concerns about racist biases in policing.

But following the 2023 reintroduction of the school liaison officer program in Vancouver, and the 2025 dismissal of the Greater Victoria school board over their alleged failure to create a district safety plan with police, on May 27 the New Westminster school board voted in favour of exploring a return of their police liaison officer program to schools.

Read Katie Hyslop’s deep dive into police in B.C. public schools. All of this is possible because of our Builder members. You can join them here.

When Indigenous people go missing in Canada, their families often have to step in to investigate what happened. Family members canvass local businesses for security footage, fight for access to autopsy and police reports and speak to media to keep their loved one in the public eye. Over the years, Tyee reporters have focused on some of these cases and highlighted institutional failures in policing and death investigations.

Amanda Follett-Hosgood has covered cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women along the “Highway of Tears” and in 2021 revealed that the RCMP has no co-ordinated response to managing cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. And Jen St. Denis’ in-depth look at the cases of Chelsea Poorman, Noelle O’Soup and Tatyanna Harrison in Vancouver was nominated for the Landsberg award in 2024.

Shortly after 8 p.m. on April 26, 2025, a black SUV sped into a crowd of people at Vancouver’s Lapu-Lapu festival, killing 11 people and injuring numerous others, in what acting VPD chief Steve Rai called “the darkest day in our city’s history.”

As we continue to wrap our heads around this horrific event, The Tyee has been publishing reporting and perspectives that we hope help make sense of the moment. Soon after the incident, Jen St. Denis reported from the scene as Vancouver and its Filipino community grappled with the deadly tragedy in its aftermath. Natasha Jung wrote about what Lapu-Lapu Day was meant to really be about. Michelle Gamage spoke to Kieran Fanning of the BC Bereavement Helpline about letting ourselves grieve, and reported on experts and advocates warning against stigmatization of people with mental illnesses.

From Alaska to California, people are pouring their smarts and hearts into successful enterprises that are low carbon and locally rooted. They’re employing and training, producing and sustaining.

So The Tyee created a whole new section to tell their stories and share best practices for a healthy bioregion. We call it What Works. It’s where you’ll find regular reports on the business of creating what works for a better future.

Interested in this project? Read more about What Works or contact us to be involved.