Column: Our biodiversity crisis -- connecting the dots
The polar bear has become the poster child for climate change impacts in the Arctic. Sea ice, which the bears depend on for hunting, is melting at an ever-expanding rate. For other species, climate impacts are not as direct. The 2019 State of Canada’s Birds report found aerial insectivores like swifts, swallows and nightjars...
New limit on maximum rent increases for 2020 in BC
British Columbia’s annual allowable rent increase for 2020 has been set at 2.6%, the province’s annual rate of inflation — 2% lower than it would have been prior to the reduction government made in 2019. “Renters need secure housing they can afford,” said Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “That’s why...
Energy Specialist Targets Carbon Emissions in the RDKB
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary has hired a new Senior Energy Specialist. Freya Phillips hails from Rossland via the United Kingdom and Australia and arrived at the RDKB Trail office on August 12. In a scant few weeks, she has established relationships with other local government energy specialists in the Central...
BC Hydro submits request for one per cent rate cut with BC Utilities Commission
BC Hydro has submitted a request for a rate reduction of around one per cent starting April 2020 in an update to its Fiscal 2020 to Fiscal 2021 Revenue Requirements Application with the BC Utilities Commission. In its Revenue Requirements Application filed in February 2019, BC Hydro requested a net bill increase of 0.7 per ...
Happy home found for 5,000 Brilliant bees
Story by Jas Baweja Staff were buzzing with energy early July when they walked in to work to find bunches of bees gathered on the grounds at Brilliant Dam, a power generation facility owned by Columbia Power Corporation and Columbia Basin Trust, and operated by FortisBC. While the bees were minding their own business,...
Letter: UBCIC Calls on the Government of BC to uphold Tsilhqot’in Rights and protect Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny
Dated: July 29, 2019: For over two decades the Tsilhqot’in have battled to keep Taseko Mines Ltd. (TML) from destroying Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny with TML’s plan to create an open pit mine on a place of profound cultural and spiritual significance. Both TML and TNG have filed injunctions in B.C. Supreme Court and are in...
Column: From the Hill -- Oil, Pipelines, Jobs and the Climate Crisis
The conversation around pipelines and oil sands in Canada has been so heated and polarized it’s difficult to sort hype from fact. It’s often hard to have an informed conversation about the issue, let alone an informed debate. On the one side we have people who are deeply concerned about the climate emergency facing us. It...
One more step toward potential merger of six credit unions
Boards of Directors for Six Credit Unions in the Kootenay, Columbia Valley and Boundary Regions Agree to Proceed with Regulatory Application for Consent to Present Merger to Members. Approval of the business case for the merger is a significant milestone in the process. The Boards of Directors for the six credit unions...
BC's Indigenous Leaders remain opposed to TMX
In spite of today’s federal cabinet approval of the controversial project, Indigenous leaders from across BC remain staunchly opposed to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) and have vowed that it will never get built. The federal government was forced to redo consultation with First Nations after a unanimous Federal...
Kootenay labour market stalled in 2018
According to the CPABC Regional Check-Up, an annual economic report by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC), the Kootenay labour market contracted by 700 jobs or one percent to 71,200 jobs in 2018. The goods sector was entirely responsible for the jobs lost. A slow down in major project development...
