Author: Judith Lavoie

As Valerie Murray realized she was witnessing the end of grizzly bear hunting in B.C. she burst into tears. After years of tirelessly campaigning to stop the trophy hunt, Murray, a founder of Justice for B.C. Grizzlies, could hardly believe that the provincial government was not only banning grizzly bear trophy

The Wilderness Committee has won a landmark defamation case brought against it by Taseko Mines Ltd. but, despite the win, the non-profit environmental group will suffer financially after fighting the company in court for five years. The case is being held up as a textbook example of why anti-SLAPP legislation is needed

Hundreds of gas wells could be leaking methane and potentially contaminating groundwater, according to a B.C. Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) report that has been kept secret from the public and politicians for four years. That suppression of information is giving ammunition to calls for a full public inquiry into fracking

Wild salmon swimming past B.C. fish farms are at high risk of picking up a virus that causes weakness and affects their ability to reach spawning grounds according to new groundbreaking research published this week in the scientific journal PLOS One (Public Library of Science One). The study found the percentage

A leading credit rating agency’s financial downgrading of Imperial Metals Corp. is sending alarm signals through B.C. and Alaska groups concerned about the future of mines operated by the company. Moody’s Investor Service has reassessed Imperial Metals’ “probability of default rating,” with financial analysts stating the company is at imminent risk

Alternatives to the $10 billion Site C dam would produce significantly more jobs than construction of the controversial hydroelectric dam, according to a new study led by the University of British Columbia. The independently-reviewed analysis by researchers from UBC’s Program on Water Governance found that if Site C is scrapped, there

A controversial proposal for a gravel mine at the mouth of a salmon-bearing creek on Howe Sound is a graphic illustration of a broken environmental assessment process — one that relies on science paid for by the proponent, say opponents of the Burnco Aggregate Project on McNab Creek. “This project is

A controversial proposal for a gravel mine at the mouth of a salmon-bearing creek on Howe Sound is a graphic illustration of a broken environmental assessment process — one that relies on science paid for by the proponent, say opponents of the Burnco Aggregate Project on McNab Creek. “This project is

Leaders of the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations are warning that the B.C. provincial government will face a billion dollar lawsuit over treaty violations if it decides to go ahead with the controversial Site C dam. Chief Roland Willson of West Moberly First Nation said in an interview with

The Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society (CCCS) abruptly resigned this month from the Technical Advisory Committee that keeps tabs on water discharges from Taseko’s Gibraltar Mine, the second-largest open-pit copper mine in Canada. After eight years there has been “absolutely no progress” on improving the mine’s water management practices, society chair Bill

A full public inquiry, with powers to call witnesses and gather research, is needed to investigate natural gas fracking operations in B.C., says a coalition of 17 community, First Nations and environmental organizations. The group, which includes the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, David Suzuki Foundation, Public Health Association of B.C.

A ground-breaking Supreme Court of Canada decision on Charter protection of religious beliefs that depend on sacred areas is likely to reverberate through future legal cases and will test Canada’s support of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Ktunaxa Nation appealed a 2012 decision by the B.C.

Canada has more mine tailings spills than most other countries in the world, according to a report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which urges governments and the mining industry to improve safety, accountability and oversight. During the last decade there have been seven known mine tailings spills in Canada,

A muddled mess of plans that were never implemented, unclear accountability, lack of organized monitoring and spotty oversight has been at the root of the provincial government’s management of grizzly bear populations for more than two decades, Auditor General Carol Bellringer found in a highly critical report released Tuesday. The report

The federal government is playing a shell game, claiming to have acted on most of the Cohen Commission recommendations, but failing to fully implement many of them, say critics, pointing to lack of action on fundamental issues such as fish farms and removing responsibility for the promotion of salmon farming

Opportunities provided by 21st century renewables, such as geothermal, wind and solar, have either been ignored or the costs over-inflated in BC Hydro documents justifying construction of the Site C dam, the B.C. Utilities Commission Site C Panel was told by presenters during two days of technical briefings. Speaker after

Fish and wildlife in Alaska’s major watersheds are threatened by six British Columbia mines close to the Alaska border, according to a new petition that asks U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to investigate the threat of acid-mine drainage, heavy metals pollution and the possibility of catastrophic dam failure originating

Fugitive fish from a collapsed salmon farm in Washington State are showing up in the waters off Campbell River, Tofino, Sechelt and Saanich, but, last week, delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention side-stepped a debate on salmon farm licensing. Instead, an emergency resolution from the Victoria council asking the

B.C. hasn’t been particularly good at including Indigenous populations in the decision-making process. First Nations are often brought to the table after high-level political decisions have already been made — leading to significant social and legal conflict over consultation, consent and the management of natural resources. Legal challenges of Site C,

A much-anticipated preliminary report from B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) has raised numerous questions about the Site C dam, underlined the extent of missing and out-dated information and pointed out unknowns surrounding the largest and most expensive infrastructure project in B.C. The 205-page report on the economic viability of the $8.8