By Maddi Dellplain, Vancity Lookout, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The heat dome that has caused an estimated 20,000 deaths in Europe and North America over the past few weeks has served as a stark reminder of the 619 lives claimed across B.C. during the province’s heat wave five years ago.
“It all happened so fast that it wasn’t until afterwards that we were trying to catch up … [and able to understand] who was most impacted by it,” said Jeannie Furmanek of B.C.’s deadliest weather event. Furmanek is the director of the adult day centres at the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, but was a part of the organization’s Seniors Team at the time.
“We’re living through a time of great disruption. The global trading system, in which we’ve long relied as a country, is being dramatically restructured. Global conflicts have sharpely increased gas and food prices around the world and right here at home. The rapid rise of artifical intelligence is beginning to transform how we live and how we work. Climate change is worsening, with bigger storms, heavier flooding, more devastating wildfires. Canadians are feeling the impacts at their kitchen tables, at the pimps and on their factory floors. The good news is that unlike many countries, we can control our future, but that will require doing things differently – movng faster, building bigger and working together. And nowhere is that more the case than energy.” – Mark Carney
The new West Coast Pipeline will closely follow the existing Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMX) route. BC has been promised billions of dollars through a new prosperity agreement, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has stepped back from Canada’s emissions targets because they are too divisive.
In this morning’s broadcast, two experts provide their insights into these matters. Jennifer Lash is a former senior analyst with Environment and Climate Change Canada and ran as a Liberal candidate in the 2025 election. She endorses the Prime Minister’s actions. Ian Sanderson, a senior analyst in the oil and gas division at the Pembina Institute, explains his reservations.
About 4.5 billion years ago, the miscellaneous material orbiting a star at the edge of the Milky Way coalesced into a planet that we call Earth. It took another billion years—a thousand million years—before it cooled enough for life’s self-replicating biochemical processes would flourish in the primeval stew of the oceans. Another billion years was required before multicellular organisms would evolve. Not until about 500 million years ago did fungi and plants appear on the land that had risen out of the oceans. Insects evolved in this terrestrial ecology. Then 100 million years was required for some marine animals to transition to the continents on their long and convoluted journey from simplicity to complexity. Thus began the magic of life and death that has alternated between the prolific and the extinct throughout the subsequent eons of history. We, as a distinct species, evolved as Homo sapiens only about 200,000 years ago.
Coastal First Nations are welcoming the federal government’s commitment to keep the North Coast tanker ban in place as part of a new development deal with BC.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and BC Premier David Eby announced a nearly $20-billion agreement in Vancouver, with federal support for electricity transmission, LNG, mining, ports and transportation — while confirming the tanker ban will remain, even as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Carney prepare to announce details of their pipeline deal on Thursday evening.
Their events program started Monday June 28 with Misty Isles, and the Secret Shelf Exploration. Executive Director Helen Hall recently explained, “That’s a guided visit to a really amazing intertidal area off southern Cortes. People will get the chance to explore by snorkel and learn all about the marine environment there.” It was fully booked, and unfortunately, those who might have liked to go along have now missed the opportunity.
