All posts by Rochelle Baker

Rochelle Baker is a staff reporter with Canada’s National Observer, thanks thanks to a grant from the Local Journalism Initiative of the Government of Canada. She previously worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer in BC’s Lower Mainland for over 7 years.
Politics

Canadian shoppers anxious and outraged at Trump tariff threats

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Shopping has become a political act for many consumers worried and angry about the looming trade war between Canada and the U.S. 

U.S. President Donald Trump gave Canada a one-month reprieve from his proposed 25 per cent tariffs on Monday, but the threat is still a very real possibility.

Armed with her shopping trolley and braving the snow along Vancouver’s Fourth Avenue this week, 80-year-old Jude Gilroy is indignant and apprehensive on how the looming trade war between the two countries will play out for Canadian consumers. 

For her part, Gilroy plans to shop for Canadian products as best she can and worries about a potential economic recession. 

Continue reading Canadian shoppers anxious and outraged at Trump tariff threats →
Rivers & Oceans

Federal ministers sued over lack of action on endangered orcas

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

For a second time, the world watched as Tahlequah, an endangered southern resident killer whale, struggled to keep her dead newborn calf afloat in the Salish Sea.

But with Ottawa failing to take urgent action to protect the 73 remaining orcas, a coalition of environmental groups is suing two federal ministers to push them to assume their legal responsibility and recommend an emergency order to save the West Coast icons.

Continue reading Federal ministers sued over lack of action on endangered orcas →
Cost of Climate Change

Feds release flimsy first report on climate risk managment

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The federal government expects the cost of disaster relief funding to balloon to a billion dollars or more each year as the climate crisis advances, according to a new risk-management report. 

The document, examining steps by the federal public service to manage the financial risks and possible rewards tied to climate change, was released by Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc on Monday. 

Over the past decade, the federal government spent an average $793 million annually to help provinces and farms, businesses, industries and communities overcome natural disasters, according to the inaugural Federal Climate-Related Risk Management report. 

However, as extreme weather and catastrophes aggravated by climate change — like the 2021 flooding in B.C. or Hurricane Fiona in Atlantic Canada the following year — occur more frequently, funding transfers to provinces through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement (DFAA) are expected to spike, the report noted. 

Continue reading Feds release flimsy first report on climate risk managment →
Indigenous Nations, Politics

No ‘Team Canada’ without First Nations land rights, BC leaders say

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

First Nations leaders say they must be part of “Team Canada” — and decision makers on resource projects — to combat looming U.S. tariffs as they head into a key annual summit with the B.C. government.

Eby’s opening remarks at a press conference for the ninth B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders’ Gathering on Tuesday focused on the province working closely with Indigenous leadership to address challenges, such as housing affordability, the toxic drug crisis, global inflation and the threat of the U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. 

However, chiefs with the First Nations Leadership Council made it clear that making headway on rights and title issues, decision-making around resource projects and aligning B.C. laws with the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) were their priorities over the next two days. 

Continue reading No ‘Team Canada’ without First Nations land rights, BC leaders say →
Cost of Climate Change, Indigenous Nations, Water

Feds invest $117 million to protect drinking water on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

More than $117 million in infrastructure funding will be unleashed to address water woes on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, the federal government announced on Thursday. 

The shíshálh Nation will head up the project along with the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) to upgrade the region’s water treatment plant and construct two large storage reservoirs in the Chapman Creek watershed.

Drinking water in the region, which is on B.C.’s southern coast and includes the municipalities of Sechelt and Gibsons, is under threat from a constant string of summer droughts. 

Continue reading Feds invest $117 million to protect drinking water on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast →