COLUMN: From the Hill -- Greener Hydrogen?
My role as Natural Resources critic for the NDP covers forestry, mining and energy—and the big issue these days in that trio is energy. The pandemic has intensified calls for a national energy strategy that will direct federal investments to help us recover from the economic impacts of the crisis and put us on a good footing...
Column: From the Hill -- Wealth gap a drag on the economy
Imagine a country where the top one percent of the population owned one quarter of all the wealth and the bottom 40 per cent together owned only one per cent. Sounds outrageous? That country is Canada. The source of those figures is the latest report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The disparity between the super-wealthy...
Letter: Let's not lose more wilderness to development
To The Editor: The BC Government Mountain Resorts Branch has recently received an expression of interest (EOI) for a new ski resort development (Zincton Expression of Interest) from Brent Harley and Associates Inc. and are requesting feedback from the public. The British Columbia Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BCBHA) have...
Mercer announces 30 days downtime at its Celgar mill
In a press release Friday, Mercer indicated there will be a month of downtime this summer, over an above its annual shutdown. The press release reads as follows: "Mercer International Inc. (“Mercer”) (Nasdaq: MERC) reports that its Celgar mill, in addition to regularly planned maintenance downtime of five days, will be taking...
Teck creates fund to help with COVID-19
VANCOUVER, BC, April 16, 2020: Teck Resources Limited (“Teck”) today announced the creation of a $20-million fund to support COVID-19 response and future recovery efforts. This funding will go to support critical social initiatives and increased healthcare capacity, including procuring one million masks to be donated for ...
Local face shield production expanded
Austin Innovation is scaling the production of medical face shields from their lab in Trail, BC as a stopgap measure to meet the demand for COVID-19-specific personal protective equipment (PPE). The new entity, located in the lower level of Austin Engineering, is part of the collaborative team manufacturing PPE for the medical...
Early prohibition of fires, fireworks throughout BC: UPDATED
In addition to the earlier announcement of an early burning ban across the province to begin on April 16, the province has issued open burning restrictions for all High Smoke Sensitivity Zones across the province until Wednesday, April 15, 2020. These restrictions are directly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the...
Province offers guidance to mining and smelting operations during COVID‐19
As challenges caused by novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to shift, the B.C. government and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer (PHO), are taking unprecedented measures to slow transmission. On March 16, 2020, Henry issued an order under the Public Health Act prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people....
Community Futures: Helping Businesses through the COVID-19 Pandemic
With businesses closing their doors in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the need for business supports is urgent. As a non-profit community economic development organization, Community Futures Central Kootenay is committed to helping businesses and communities through this crisis. Staff have been monitoring government...
Kootenay Savings offers options/relief as COVID crisis evolves
As a member-owned credit union, local decision-making and thriving communities are the cornerstone of who we are. The health and safety of our members, employees and communities are of utmost importance to us. With the extraordinary events around us evolving at a rapid pace, we’re proactively taking precautions against the...
