Our remit, the standards we hold ourselves to and the steps a story takes from first idea to publication, written for readers who like to know who is behind what they read.
Harbour & Maple Journal is based in Victoria and began publishing a few weeks ago. We cover neighbourhood life, music, film, parks, museums and weekend plans across Canada. Our editors favour warm, useful stories that remain worth reading long after the day they appear.
The Journal is organized into five departments: Local Life, Canadian Personalities, Places to Explore, Arts & Events and Features. Each has a clear job. Local Life looks at the projects, small businesses and practical questions that make a town or city work. Places to Explore suggests where to spend a weekend. Arts & Events covers what is on and what lasts, while Features gives room for longer reading on culture, history and craft.
Our editorial team brings long experience to a young publication. Margaret Hollis worked as a newspaper editor for decades before turning to independent publishing, and she sets the calm, careful voice we aim for. Daniel Tremblay has spent years in community theatre and in print. Priya Nair writes about parks, museums and slow trips, and Samuel Okafor reports on neighbourhood projects and the people behind them.
We choose stories that are evergreen rather than urgent. That means guides to places, profiles built from public work, and features on craft and history. We do not chase breaking news, and we do not publish rumours or speculation about people. If a fact may have changed, such as opening hours or admission, we say so plainly and suggest the reader confirm it before travelling.
Profiles of Canadian personalities are built from their published and public work, with thoughtful context. We do not invent quotations, and we do not suggest that anyone endorses the Journal. Our pieces are independent editorial writing, and we are not a broadcaster, a government service or an official page for any public figure.
The Journal is free to read. To keep it independent, we offer a small number of paid services to readers, such as written guides and consultations on the topics we cover. They are listed with prices and ordering terms on the Prices page, and they never change what we choose to write about.
We start from questions a reader might ask about a place, a person or a craft. Time spent looking closely, and reading what is publicly available, usually turns up the detail that makes a story worth telling.
We write in plain sentences and explain unfamiliar terms. A reader of any age should be able to follow a piece without effort, and practical details such as places and timings are stated clearly.
We write about people who keep neighbourhoods running and about places shared by many. We aim to give every province a fair share of attention, not only the largest cities.
We treat the people we write about with respect, avoid sensational framing and correct mistakes openly when we find them. A warm tone never replaces accuracy.
Every article follows the same sequence, whichever department it belongs to. The steps are modest and consistent, and they exist so that readers can trust what they find here.
An editor proposes a subject, and the team asks whether it will still be useful in a year. The writer then gathers information from public sources, published work and visits where possible. Opening hours, locations and descriptions are noted with the date they were checked. Where we cannot confirm something, we leave it out or say that it is unconfirmed. We would rather publish a shorter piece we can stand behind than a longer one with gaps.
A second editor reads each draft for accuracy, tone and clarity. Names, places and claims are checked against the sources the writer used. We remove anything sensational, any unverifiable statement and any wording that sounds like advertising. Quotations appear only when they come from published material and are credited to it. Headlines must describe what the article actually delivers, and photographs must show the subject of the story.
Stories go live at about one a day, each with its department and date. If a reader tells us about an error, we check it promptly and correct the article, noting the change where it matters. You can write to us through the contact form. The paid reader services on the Prices page are kept separate from the newsroom, and no payment can buy coverage.
An independent magazine from Victoria with warm, useful, lasting stories about neighbourhoods, music, film, parks, museums and weekend plans across Canada.