Column: From the Hill -- Court Ruling on KM Pipeline; an Emergency Meeting
Last Tuesday I was in Ottawa for an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources in the wake of the Federal Court of Appeal decision that quashed the federal government’s approval of the Trans Mountain Expansion project. The court quashed the approval based on two errors—the lack of consideration of marine...
No Sulphuric Acid Spill -- This Time
This morning a Harms Pacific transport truck and trailer contracted by International Raw Materials Ltd. (IRM), carrying sulphuric acid, went off Highway 22 just west of Rossland. According to a news release by IRM, no sulphuric acid has spilled at this time; emergency services vehicles are on-site and there is no threat to...
Wage subsidies to hire students and apprentices: CBT
A program to support Columbia Basin employers is evolving to better meet their long-term workforce needs and to support Basin high school and post-secondary students and trades apprentices to gain local career-related work experience. Columbia Basin Trust’s School Works program now provides wage subsidies for level 1 and 2 ...
Op/Ed: Buy BC First, says BC Premier
By John Horgan, Premier of British Columbia This B.C. Day long weekend, let's take time to enjoy food, friends and family. Let's also celebrate the farmers, producers, and local businesses who provide quality food and drink grown right here in B.C. B.C. farmers grow fresh, local food delivered to us at farmers’ markets, grocery...
Seniors Advocate Report: Better Patient Outcomes, Savings Possible
The Seniors Advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, has issued a report on some of the different patient outcomes between private-contractor care facilities for seniors, and facilities operated by a Health Authority. The findings are compelling. The report explains that there are 293 publicly subsidized care facilities in BC, and that...
Opinion: Reconciling Energy and Indigenous Rights
In 2007, Canada was one of four countries to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (with New Zealand, the United States and Australia). With its single-minded focus on making Canada an “energy superpower,” albeit only with fossil fuels, the Harper government feared the declaration’s concept of ...
Column: From the Hill -- Columbia River Treaty issues
Last week I spent three days in Spokane at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region meetings. Over 600 legislators, business people, and other interested folks from BC, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Yukon and Northwest Territories gathered to talk about issues important to this region....
Teck Announces Closing of Waneta Dam Sale
Teck Resources Limited (“Teck”), (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) today announced the closing of the sale of its two-thirds interest in the Waneta Dam in British Columbia, Canada, to BC Hydro for $1.2 billion cash. ...
Commercial Huckleberry Harvesting Restrictions
The provincial government is restricting commercial-scale huckleberry harvesting to protect grizzly bear habitat, including several locales in the East Kootenay. From July 15 to Oct. 15, commercial-scale picking of huckleberries is prohibited in some areas of the Kootenay Boundary region, including Little Moyie and Kid Creek...
Red, CBT and 'Nowhere Special' -- the hostel.
After a season of serious excitement, RED Mountain Resort, in partnership with Columbia Basin Trust, has yet another exciting announcement: It’s called Nowhere Special. And it’s a hostel. Wait. A what? “The modern hostel movement has established itself as the “go to” place for the younger generations and is dramatically...
