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...
Stung by derailed negotiations with B.C., Blueberry River First Nations return to court
Three-quarters of the nation's territory lies within 250 metres of an industrial disturbance. A potentially precedent-setting court case on this 'death by a thousand cuts' could disrupt B.C.'s multi-billion dollar natural gas industry. By Christopher Pollon, for The Narwhal After almost a year of negotiations...
BC Finance Committee visits Castlegar for Budget 2020 consultation
The Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, a parliamentary committee of the legislative assembly, will hold a public hearing in Castlegar on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, as part of its Budget 2020 consultation. The committee invites British Columbians to meet with the committee to share their priorities and...
KCTU: An Open Letter to Minister Conroy: Taking Away Services From Kids Is Not Equity
For audio, click here Dear Minister Conroy, After 16 years of a government that constantly picked fights with teachers and underfunded public schools, many in BC’s education sector felt relief when your government was elected. Teachers heard MLAs like you congratulate us on our Supreme Court win and back us up on our fight ...
From The Leg — Be Alert Around Playgrounds
This has been a spring that has been painfully slow but the blossoms are starting to pop which is always a good sign. And, of course, it will be summer and extremely hot before we can blink. For all of us in the South Okanagan we can celebrate the opening of the David Kempe Tower at the Penticton Regional Hospital that everyone...
LETTER: We need to take action on Castlegar homelessness
Dear Editor, I would like to open the conversation up on homelessness in our area. We have people who are needing help and understanding. In fact, many of them are people who have grown up here who have just hit a rough patch. Some have never had a run-in with the law and others who are simply poor, which is not a crime. Yes,...
BC Increases Firefighting Budget by 58%
The B.C. government has released its updated action plan in response to the government-commissioned, independent Abbott/Chapman report on the unprecedented 2017 wildfire and flood seasons in British Columbia. The initial action plan was released October 2018, with a commitment to provide updates over six-month intervals until...
Column: From the Hill -- Invasive Species Action Inadequate
Lost in the recent media frenzy over the SNC Lavalin scandal were the 2019 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. These last reports from Julie Gelfand before her retirement focused on protection of fish and their habitat from mining effluent, subsidies to the fossil fuels industry...
From The Leg — Crossing fingers no spring floods
A happy spring that is free from floods is what I’m sure we are all hoping for. Conditions are different this year as the snowpack is a bit below normal and a lot of rain is not in the forecast. The melt will be quite rapid with our rising temperatures and the ground is still quite frozen in places so there will be surface ...
Investigation: Petrowest numbered company awarded $10 million Site C dam contract on eve of bankruptcy
Petrowest’s financial woes were widely known when BC Hydro quietly awarded a major contract to a B.C. numbered company — 1054143 — that an investigation by The Narwhal reveals was incorporated by key Petrowest executives. The numbered company received millions in public funds while Petrowest fell into...
