If you were to have asked settler British Columbians what their favourite symbol of this area was 100 years ago, few would have said orcas. But that changed dramatically in the 1960s and the whales are now a top contender for B.C.'s Best Symbol.

The Search for B.C.’s Best Symbol completes its second round today with a series of matchups about man-made provincial icons that can be found in different areas across British Columbia.

Mayor Ken Sim announced Tuesday that Paul Mochrie would be leaving his role as city manager after more than four years in the job and, a decade before that, in other senior roles with the city.

In a lot of ways, the Nanaimo bar and the B.C. Roll are similar creations: common ingredients, arranged in a novel way for an established type of food, slowly growing in popularity over the second half of the 20th century.

For a province so synonymous with trees, and with so many people who love all they provide, it's ironic that the two species British Columbians might love the most carry with them a hint of false advertising. 

Interconnected though they may be, we’re asking you to vote in four matchups to determine which animals advance to the next round of our friendly competition.

British Columbia’s flag was created in 1960, but its history goes much further than that. It derives from its coat of arms, which were designed in 1895, and features a Union Jack on one half and a setting sun against the ocean waves on the other.