Author: Emma Gilchrist

BC Hydro violated its environmental assessment certificate for the Site C dam project, according to a B.C. government report released Thursday. The inspection report, from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, detailed how BC Hydro failed to develop acceptable mitigation measures for an aboriginal sweat lodge and suspected burial site, and cannot

B.C. won’t need more electricity for many years and, when that time comes, there are less expensive alternatives than the Site C dam, says a submission filed with the B.C. Utilities Commission on Monday by Harry Swain, the man who chaired the federal-provincial review panel of the project. “Demand will not

The new B.C. government announced on Monday it will end grizzly bear trophy hunting throughout the province and stop all hunting of grizzles in the Great Bear Rainforest. “By bringing trophy hunting of grizzlies to an end, we’re delivering on our commitment to British Columbians,” Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands,

Malaysia’s Petronas has cancelled plans to build the Pacific NorthWest LNG plant on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert, B.C., in a move seen as a major setback for B.C.’s LNG dreams and as a major win for those concerned about climate change and salmon habitat. The project would have involved increased

The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that the National Energy Board (NEB) made a legal mistake by not considering whether TransCanada’s Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline is under federal jurisdiction, thus requiring NEB approval. The 900-kilometre natural gas pipeline would move mostly fracked gas from northeastern B.C. to the proposed

A new podcast series by CBC Vancouver paints a dramatic picture of what life in British Columbia will look like after 30 years of climate change. More frequent heat waves, more extreme forest fires, a massive drop in the snow pack and brutal storms are just some of the consequences British

Almost exactly a year ago, B.C. Hydro touted “broad support” for its controversial Site C dam — a mega hydro dam on the Peace River that would flood 107 kilometres of river valley, forcing farmers and First Nations off their land. Now, as besieged Premier Christy Clark puts all her spin doctoring powers

Roland Willson is a practical man. As chief of the West Moberly First Nation in northeastern B.C., he’s got to be. “The natural gas industry is the main source of employment,” Willson said over coffee in Victoria this week, before heading into meetings with the B.C. NDP and B.C. Green parties.

Last week Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau managed to capture international headlines for a kayak outing on the Niagara River in Ontario. How, you may ask? Well Trudeau paddled up to a family’s dock and had a brief conversation with them about water levels. According to Elle Magazine, he looked “picture

Politics and propaganda have never been strangers to one another, but what’s happening to political discourse around the world right now is cause for concern. While much attention is paid to Donald Trump’s obvious attempts to mislead the public, a more insidious form of propaganda is playing out right here in

B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan has written to B.C. Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald to urge the crown corporation not to finalize any contracts or evict any residents to make way for the Site C dam until a new government is in place. “I note that the majority of British Columbians who

After three weeks of nail-biting, British Columbians finally have a clearer sense of what’s in store for the province as the NDP and Greens released their cooperation agreement today. The 10-page agreement establishes the basis for the Greens to “provide confidence” in an NDP government. Translation: the agreement lays out what

Provincial politics. There, I said them — two of the most boring words in the English language. There’s no denying it. Provincial elections fail to capture the imaginations of citizens the way national or even international elections do. Case in point: in the last B.C. provincial election, just 55 per cent of

For years, the B.C. government has touted the benefits of developing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry — and while some of those benefits may be legit, one of them almost certainly isn’t. That’s the claim that exporting natural gas from B.C. will somehow result in emissions reductions in China. Let’s

Eighty-seven per cent of grizzly bear deaths in B.C. are attributable to trophy hunters, who have killed 12,026 grizzly bears since the government began keeping records in 1975, according to data obtained by David Suzuki Foundation. In 2016, 274 grizzlies were killed — the vast majority of which (235) were

The solar industry was responsible for creating one out of every 50 new jobs in the U.S. last year and the country’s fastest-growing occupation is wind turbine technician — so no matter one’s feelings on climate change, the renewable energy train has left the station, according to a new report.  “It’s

The B.C. government is subsidizing the LNG industry to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars — and British Columbians are going to pay the price, according to a new report by Sierra Club B.C. The report, Hydro Bill Madness: The BC Government Goes For Broke With Your Money,

Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador are preparing for electricity rates to double in the next five years, adding an estimated $150 per month in power costs for the average homeowner, as a consequence of building the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric dam — and experts warn it could be a cautionary tale

The Site C hydro dam in northeastern B.C. may be more than a year into construction, but the federal government still hasn’t determined whether the mega dam infringes on treaty rights — and, according to a Federal Court of Appeal ruling this week, the government isn’t obligated to answer that question.

Governments love buzzwords — probably because they roll off the tongue so nicely that people often overlook the fact they’re meaningless. Take one of the B.C. government’s favourite expressions of late: “world leading” oil spill response. It’s included not once, but twice, in B.C.’s five conditions for approval of oil pipelines — used to