Op/Ed: How B.C. quietly found a way to permit natural gas plants without environmental reviews
Internal documents released via Freedom of Information laws show that, while the B.C. government was publicly apologizing to the Fort Nelson First Nation for exempting natural gas plants from environmental assessments without consultation, the province quietly used a loophole to allow the exemptions to continue — a...
Op/Ed: Private auto insurance? Be careful what you wish for
Imagine a land where drivers pay 55 per cent more for auto insurance than other drivers in Canada, a land where an insurance company may not cover you because of the city you live in, a land where your automobile insurance premiums isn't based on your driving record but your postal code. That land is Ontario. It's a land that...
BC Hydro in court to keep Site C expenditure details from public
By Sarah Cox for The Narwhal BC Hydro has gone to court to avoid revealing the names of public employees who decide which companies are awarded lucrative Site C project contracts during construction of the $10.7 billion hydro dam. B.C.’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) ordered BC Hydro to release the...
Editorial: Could Thoughtexchange help save the world (as we know it)?
We received a press release from Rossland-based company Thoughtexchange announcing the successful closing of about $4 million in convertible note financing from Yaletown Partners and existing angel investors, to fund further expansion. The press release material is included below. Thoughtexchange has been going from strength...
CBT, CPC purchase control of Waneta expansion for $991 million
Columbia Basin Trust and Columbia Power Corporation announced today they have entered into an agreement with Fortis Inc. to purchase its 51-per-cent interest in the Waneta Expansion hydroelectric generating facility located near Trail, for $991 million. “We are extremely pleased to be restoring ownership to the originally...
Columbia Basin Trust intern program helps businesses create and retain jobs
Is your business growing or succession planning? Columbia Basin Trust's Career Internship Program may be able to help meet your resourcing needs. Applications are currently being accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. "This program helps create jobs and increases employment opportunities for recent college and university...
Council Matters: Small but mighty! Rossland is Canada's 10th City committed to 100% renewable energy
Rossland City Council Meeting, January 21, 2019 Councillors Present: Mayor Kathy Moore, and Councillors Dirk Lewis, Janice Nightingale, Chris Bowman, Stewart Spooner, and Andy Morel. Absent: Scott Forsythe Staff Attending: Chief Administrative Officer Bryan Teasdale, Chief Financial Officer Elma Hamming, Deputy Corporate...
BC Ombudsperson Report found illegal reductions of income assistance
B.C. Ombudsperson Jay Chalke released an update of a May 2018 report today that found the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction failed to follow the law in relation to the calculation of income assistance benefits. Special Report No. 41, Working Within The Rules: Supporting Employment For Income Assistance...
‘Drastic and scary’: Salmon declines prompt First Nation to take Canada to court over fish farms
By Sarah Cox, from The Narwhal In an unprecedented move, the Dzawada’enuzw nation is claiming in court that farming Atlantic salmon — which often carry disease — in their traditional waters constitutes a violation of Aboriginal rights Willie Moon’s family used to catch hundreds of salmon a day ...
Column: Pipeline Blockade Signals Deeper Troubles
Recent controversy over a natural gas pipeline blockade and the differing priorities of hereditary chiefs and elected band councillors illustrates a fundamental problem with our systems of governance and economics. Elected councils for the Wet’suwet’en and other Indigenous bands have signed lucrative “impact benefit agreements”...