2022 was an unforgettable year across British Columbia, with many memorable moments.
From B.C. dropping its COVID-19 mask mandate to a bear being trapped and pooping inside a Tofino vehicle, there was no shortage of news stories to cover.
Glacier Media is taking a stroll down memory lane and has put together a list of the most prominent news stories of 2022.
The year started off with thousands of people gathering in B.C.’s capital city for a trucker rally against the pandemic restrictions. Vehicles of all types — industrial trucks, minivans and the like — were draped in the Canadian flag. The convoy drove through Victoria towards the B.C. legislature, demanding an end to vaccine passport mandates.
Meanwhile, a story that broke in the first month 2022, would also be a story that would captivate headlines for much of the year. It was Jan. 18 when Trina Hunt, a Port Moody woman, was reported missing and the investigation started.
February brought answers to a Vancouver cold case after nearly 70 years. The identities of two young children, named ‘Babes in the Woods,’ were finally revealed. The two boys were murdered in Stanley Park in the late 1940s but their remains weren’t discovered until 1953. Police officially identified the victims as brothers Derek and David D’Alton.
In March, B.C. finally dropped its mask mandate and a vaccine card was no longer needed. During a press conference at the time, Dr. Bonnie Henry cited a significant reduction in COVID-19 hospitalizations and high rates of vaccination. Heartbreak came in the same month, when a North Vancouver couple’s baby boy died following his birth at Lions Gate Hospital.
A couple got their moment in the spotlight — whether they wanted it or not — in April, after a video of them having sex in a Richmond karaoke bar went viral.
Then in May, it was announced someone in B.C. was the heir to a $1.9-million estate — and they had no idea. That same month, a photographer found a massive dead octopus on Vancouver Island. May was also when a B.C. dad’s tweet sparked viral empathy after no one showed up to his son’s birthday party.
Vancouver Island made the news in June when a botched bank robbery left multiple police officers injured in Saanich. The date, June 30, is one that left many stunned as the tight-knit community of 124,000 people came to terms with the horrific event. The incident resulted in two suspects being killed and six officers being wounded by gunfire.
Bears captivated headlines in July with one pooping inside a Tofino woman’s car (the vehicle was completely destroyed). In another case, a bear in Port Coquitlam managed to break open a triple-locked garbage bin.
A North Vancouver woman got quite the shock in August when Avis Car Rental claimed she drove more than 36,000 kilometres in just three days. This means the woman would have been driving 536.5 km per hour non-stop to rack up that alleged distance.
An airborne sea lion jumped into a tiny aluminum boat while trying to evade a pod of transient killer whales on Vancouver Island. It was a day in September a Saanich couple will never forget, and likely the sea lion won’t either.
A prominent news story in B.C. Supreme Court resulted in an Abbotsford woman being awarded $5.37 million in damages after a farm vehicle accident resulted in her being left with multiple injuries and unable to use her legs. On Oct. 18, a 31-year-old Burnaby Mountie was stabbed to death in the line of duty during a call at a local homeless camp.
Tragedy struck in the small community of Prince Rupert in November. A Canada Border Services Agency employee is believed to have killed a Prince Rupert woman before fatally shooting himself. The murder-suicide impacted many people in the community. The woman worked for the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
News broke in December that six children in B.C. died from the flu in just two weeks, including a nine-year-old girl from West Kelowna and a six-year-old girl from Richmond.
Just in time for a really awkward holiday season, a Richmond couple took their son and daughter-in-law to court after their relationship took a turn for the worse and the parents were asked to leave.
And last but not least, the snowstorm of 2023 that is surely one we won't forget.
