Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne writes that Canadians care plenty about the well-being of hungry children even if the Cons don’t: After a firestorm of shocked responses from Canadians, Mr. Moore apologized for his “insensitive comment” uttered days before Christmas. What he did not apologize for
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The Common Sense Canadian: $10 Billion Site C Dam: You pay, no say
If you live in BC, it will cost you, conservatively, $10 Billion – paid through skyrocketing power bills and taxes. It will flood tens of thousands of acres of excellent farmland – sacrifices you will make entirely for the benefit of multinational oil and gas companies. And here’s the kicker:
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Industry seeks right to release water from oilsands tailings ponds
Syncrude tailings pond (photo: David Dodge, Pembina Institute) EDMONTON – Oilsands producers are talking with the federal and Alberta governments about conditions under which water from the industry’s tailings ponds could be released into the environment. Officials say releases would only involve treated water and wouldn’t happen until the end
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Alberta questions downstream impacts of BC’s Site C Dam proposal
BC Hydro’s proposed Site C Dam (artist’s rendering) by Dene Moore, Canadian Press FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The province of Alberta is concerned that a multibillion-dollar hydroelectric dam proposed in northeastern British Columbia could increase mercury levels in fish and escalate the risk of floods or drought along the
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: The Transformational Company: CBSR Summit
The 11th Annual Summit by Canadian Business for Social Responsibility brought together an international panel of leaders to address how corporate social responsibility practitioners can lead their companies onto a transformational path. Keynote speaker John Elkington showed how enterprises can set and achieve bold goals that touch their core business while
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC Hydro rate shock powered by lies
BC Energy Minister Bill Bennett How do you know when a politician’s lying? When you see his/her lips move. Bill Bennett, the BC Hydro point man in the government, tells us that there will be a 28% increase in Hydro charges over the next few years, which NDP critic John Horgan
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Enbridge plans major private power project on fish-bearing river
The Clore River (Neil Ever Osborne/ILCP) Read this Nov. 22 story from Larry Pynn in The Vancouver Sun on Enbridge’s plan to resurrect a private run-of-river project on the Clore River in northwest BC. The 120-megawatt project was abandoned by another company after it learned of the river’s significant fish values. A
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Site C Dam hearings designed to discourage public participation, critics say
Opponents of Site C Dam paddle the Peace River (Damien Gillis) Read this Nov. 21 story from The Vancouver Sun on criticism of the public hearings for the proposed Site C Dam, scheduled over the holiday season in northeast BC. The Wilderness Committee says the lack of any hearings outside of the Peace region and short
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Regulator, Encana sued over fracking, water
Vancouver-based environmental law firm ecojustice announced a lawsuit Wednesday in BC court against the province’s oil and gas regulator over its allegedly unlawful issuance of water permits for fracking. The suit, which also names energy giant Encana, is being brought on behalf of the Wilderness Committee and Sierra Club BC
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Athabasca River contaminated by Canada’s largest coal slurry spill
Read this Nov. 8 story from EcoWatch on what is quite possibly Canada’s largest coal slurry spill, which happened in late October near Hinton, Alberta. A scary thing happened on Halloween near Hinton, Alberta. Canada had what may be the largest coal slurry spill in its history when a dam
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: New dam planned for St. Lawrence River
BECANCOUR, Que. – The Quebec government is helping to bankroll a $130-million project by RER Hydro, Hydro-Quebec and Boeing to generate clean energy on the St. Lawrence River, in what officials say would be the world’s largest river-generated turbine farm. The three-phase project could eventually culminate in nine megawatts of
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Need for Site C Dam exaggerated as public hearings start next month
Public hearings into the controversial, $8 Billion Site C Dam are set to commence next month, as the Joint Review Panel for the project indicated today that proponent BC Hydro has filled in some key gaps identified in its proposal. The process will kick off on December 9 in Fort
Continue readingPostArctica: Recent
Verdun and water…
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Will new Water Act rein in groundwater use for fracking, LNG?
Frack water pit in BC’s Horn River Basin (photo: Damien Gillis) By Anna Novacek – republished from Energy Law BC As the only province in Canada that does not regulate groundwater use, BC has been referred to as the “wild west” of groundwater. Groundwater has and will continue to be relied on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Frances Russell rightly asks whose freedom is supposed to be protected by free trade agreements such as CETA: Once Canada signs CETA (the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) with Europe, federal, provincial and municipal governments will suddenly find their hands and feet
Continue readingPostArctica: Water – Edward Burtynsky
One of my favorite photographers, and a Canadian, eh? “While trying to accommodate the growing needs of an expanding, and very thirsty civilization, we are reshaping the Earth in colossal ways. In this new and powerful role over the planet, we are also capable of engineering our own demise. We
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: First Nation upset CNRL is draining lake to contain Alberta bitumen leak
photo: Canadian Natural Resources Limited Read this Sept. 28 story from CBC on the ongoing Alberta bitumen leak crisis near Cold Lake. The Common Sense Canadian has been following the unfolding disaster for several months now and there appears to be no resolution in sight, as CNRL’s operation has spilled over 1.5 million litres
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On democratic exercises
The results are in from Regina’s wastewater treatment referendum. And unfortunately, the combined forces of the City and the corporate sector (with an assist from far too much of the city’s media) were able to carry the day. But there’s still plenty of reason to think we’re better off for
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Today is of course voting day in Regina’s wastewater treatment plant referendum – and you can get voting information here. And Paul Dechene explains his personal Yes vote by pointing to the need for public control over our infrastructure, while Brian Webb highlights
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On sucker’s bets
As the old saying goes, if you sit down at a poker table and can’t spot the sucker, you’re it. And there shouldn’t be much doubt that when the City of Regina sits down with an interconnected group of consultants and privatization advocates to decide who stands to be handed
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