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Indigenous tourism hopes to rebound in a big way through new investment – vancouverislandfreedaily.com

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Indigenous tourism is about to get wild in Campbell River.

Homalco Wildlife & Cultural Tours, an a 20-year-old Indigenous community-owned business, will be opening a new Homalco Adventure Centre in Campbell River, launching two new, state-of-the-art adventure tour vessels, and introducing a new Whales, Wildlife and Culture tour this spring.

“After a long year of restricted business, we are really looking forward to an exciting spring of substantial expansions for our organization,’ said Homalco Tourism Development Officer JP Obbagy.

Despite pandemic-related supply chain delays, he confirms the buildout of the centre, manufacturing of the watercrafts and tour staffing are underway.

“As we move forward, we are integrating the highest possible standard of COVID-19 safety protocols into all aspects of these operations,” Obbagy said.

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The Homalco Adventure Centre will be located in the Discovery Harbour Mall at 1344 Island Highway in Campbell River, adjacent to the Coastal Community Credit Union. Designed to immerse visitors in First Nations culture at the outset, the centre’s contemporary Indigenous design will feature art from various local First Nation artists, guidebooks and more.

A defining component of the HWCT tours will be two, new landing craft boats that offer Zodiac-style, fresh-air seats and comfort seating providing protection inside the cozy cabin.

“Safety is our number one priority, and we are employing the expertise of the best mariners in the business to ensure we’ve identified and addressed all vessel safety concerns,” Obbagy said.

The new Whales, Wildlife and Culture tour expands the expertise of HWCT’s team with the addition of marine naturalists, skippers and Indigenous guides. Marketing and social media coordinator Chyanne Trenholm describes the tour as something totally unique on the Island.

“We now have the ability to bring whales and other marine life into our realm of exploration. Of course, the Homalco cultural experience is always a unique part of all our tours, and our new boats will allow us access to land-based activities.”

While COVID-19 international restrictions will likely still be in effect, Tour Coordinator for Homalco Wildlife & Cultural Tours Shirley Badger is confident that the tours will continue to fill.

“We have seen tremendous interest in Indigenous tourism from our domestic market and our own provincial residents who are passionate about wildlife, culture and the natural beauty to be found in the Territory of the Homalco,” she said.

“All of this great news spells progress for the Homalco First Nation,” says Chief Darren Blaney. “While COVID-19 is still a factor for the foreseeable future, our Homalco First Nation is ready to welcome visitors again, for now, and as long as we deem it safe to do so. With this expansion great things can happen: knowledge of our culture and appreciation for our environment can be shared with a larger audience and more of our people can be hired and their skills developed.

“I believe our tour company will continue to help in healing, creating resilience and building a bright future for our people.”

More information regarding the Grand Opening of the Adventure Centre and the Whales, Wildlife and Culture tour will be announced in the coming weeks. To find out more about HWCT, visit the website.

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Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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