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...
Prime Minister's Youth Advisory Group members ask Trudeau to cancel Kinder Morgan expansion buyout
Unprecedented move by young Canadians to challenge the Prime Minister with the support of members of his own Youth Council. July 16, Ottawa — 16 past and present Prime Minister’s Youth Council (PMYC) members are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cancel the Kinder Morgan buyout . Today, young Canadian individuals...
Initiative Petition: 90 Days to sign against Site C
A BC voter has begun the next stage of an initiative petition process seeking to have the BC government cancel the Site C dam project; see this May 3 article first announcing the petition. The petition sheets were issued on July 3, so the proponent has 90 days to collect signatures. To move to the next stage of the process,...
City of Victoria wins lawsuit over plastic bag bylaw
More action on single-use plastic bags? Rossland City Council has stated that it was waiting for the outcome of the court challenge against the City of Victoria’s bylaw to ban plastic “check-out” bags. The Canadian Plastic Bag Association challenged the City of Victoria’s right to regulate plastic bags. Now the Supreme Court...
COLUMN: From the Hill -- G20 Energy
Last week I travelled with Jim Carr, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, to the G20 energy meetings in Argentina. The meetings are a mix of reports from the G20 countries and of presentations by world experts about the state of energy markets and future energy demand. The main theme of the talks was the “grand […]
Knotweed costs us all -- please don't spread it by cutting or mowing it.
Knotweed is one of the scarier invasive plants. It doesn't cause burns or blindness, like Giant Hogweed, but it does spread very fast and it causes expensive damage to things like the foundations of buildings – and property values. It can burst right through pavement, take over lawns and gardens, and we have it right […]
