- 2024
The community that Isabelle Southcott has served as a journalist for the past 31 years has transformed – and so has her contribution. Arriving from Nova Scotia in 1993, Isabelle started as a reporter with the independent Powell River News and Town Crier, became editor of the Powell River Peak, and left in 2006 to found Powell River Living magazine – now qathet Living (qL). A few months after starting the magazine, she became a newly single mom of two boys aged 6 and 8, with a restraining order against their father. The first home she bought was infested by rats. She had a staff of zero, but one contractor. Through grit and skill and vision, Isabelle built qL into the most-read publication in the 20,000-strong region, now with a staff of five.
qL has thrived because of the stories Isabelle and her team has mined from this region. Since 2006, the mill has closed; retail slumped; incomes fell; health services became sparse; tensions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous locals soared; crime surged and so did the price of real estate; weather patterns changed. Isabelle has been there through it all, trusting that if she kept reporting on stories that locals care about personally, they’ll continue to read. And they have. qL makes its way into the homes of about 90 percent of locals each month, through voluntary pick-up.
The stories qL covers represent and resonate with the community, because they are indeed important to them. In the May 2024 issue alone, Isabelle published stories on the diminishing snow pack in qathet (climate change); the recovery of Tla’amin Nation’s only surviving pre-contact poles (reconciliation); the impact of fireworks on pets and livestock (civic governance); new investment in the mall (local economy); ayajuthem language (Indigenous cultural recovery); the revitalization of Canada’s oldest continuously-running movie theatre (heritage); and much, much more – all stories that touch the lives of locals in very immediate ways.
Tla’amin Nation asked the city to change its name in 2021 – an “ask” that has turned into a horrific public debate. Isabelle led the business community in responding to the Nation, and changed the name of the magazine from Powell River Living to qathet Living – qathet is the name of the regional district and is an ayajuthem word meaning “working together.” Because the magazine is so well-respected and so wide-reaching, this simple name change made an unparalleled impact towards reconciliation in this region.
Isabelle was the founder of Powell River Women in Business, the local president of Toastmasters, a long-time member of the Rotary Club, has served on the executive of the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Powell River. A life-long advocate for animals, she has owned Nova Scotia Duck Toller Retrievers since childhood; now, she shows and breeds them – a pre-retirement project that has landed her a role as vice-president of the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club of Canada. In December, Isabelle will retire as owner of qathet Living.