All posts by Guest Post

Rivers & Oceans

Some BC First Nations want to replace the salmon farming ban with their own system — and preserve jobs

Editor’s Note: Four of the 17 First Nations supposedly belonging to the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship asked that their names be removed when this organization was first announced. They were the Mamalilikulla, Namgis and Kwikwasutinuxw Haxwa’mis First Nations (collectively referred to as the “Broughton First Nations”) and the Klahoose First Nation. This was apparently not done.

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Some BC First Nations want Ottawa to cancel its ban on open-net salmon farms and hand them the reins of a reformed system that could better protect both wild salmon and jobs in their communities.

Continue reading Some BC First Nations want to replace the salmon farming ban with their own system — and preserve jobs →
Energy

Who really pays for BC’s power?

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

The average home in British Columbia uses around 10,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

There are approximately 2.2 million homes in B.C. This means the province needs to make sure the grid has enough energy to supply about 22 billion kilowatt hours every year to keep those homes warm and the lights on.

And that’s just for homes. It doesn’t include all the electricity needed for industry, businesses and a rapidly expanding electric-vehicle market.

In B.C., the average resident pays around $100 a month for electricity, roughly $1,200 per year for those 10,000 kilowatt hours.

Residential rates just went up on April 1, when BC Hydro increased its rates by 3.75 per cent. That’s partly to start paying off some of the sunk costs the government has already invested in building new power infrastructure.

Continue reading Who really pays for BC’s power? →
Politics

Area C Director’s Report: the latest on Strathcona Gardens + Quadra Island

From the desk of Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney

Hello,
At the beginning of the week I submitted a Director’s Report to the Discovery Islander which focused on results of the Quadra Island survey regarding Strathcona Gardens. Since then, there has been an SRD Board meeting where actions were taken to further the potential inclusion of Quadra Island properties in the Strathcona Gardens Service. This report shares news on that, as well as info from the survey which 626 Islanders participated in.

Continue reading Area C Director’s Report: the latest on Strathcona Gardens + Quadra Island →
Animals, Indigenous Nations

Upper Nicola program a ‘gold standard’ in effort to save B.C.’s burrowing owls

By Aaron Walker, Windspeaker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A decade after the first burrowing owls were released onto its reserve lands, the Upper Nicola Band is marking what leaders and partners describe as a rare conservation success in a province where the species remains on the brink.

On April 22, community members, knowledge keepers, and conservation partners gathered on the Douglas Lake reserve to release six more captive-raised burrowing owls as part of an ongoing recovery effort that has quietly become one of the most productive breeding sites for the species in British Columbia.

Continue reading Upper Nicola program a ‘gold standard’ in effort to save B.C.’s burrowing owls →
Rivers & Oceans

Lack of regulations leaves humpback at risk despite BC Ferries slowdown, experts say

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Researchers welcome a slowdown by BC Ferries through one of the region’s key humpback whale corridors, but warn it’s not enough without binding federal rules for foreign cruise lines and surging LNG tankers.

The company will reduce speeds starting June 1, after one of its ships struck and killed a humpback whale named Midnight in Wright Sound last year.

Continue reading Lack of regulations leaves humpback at risk despite BC Ferries slowdown, experts say →