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.
Parks

West Coast multimillionaires gift land for parks and donate remainder of their fortune to philanthropy

Editor’s note: Scientists from the Hakai Institute have played a prominent role on Cortes Island, often in partnership with local organizations like the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI), or Cortes Island Academy. They have also been frequently interviewed by local media like Folk U, Rochelle Baker of the National Observer and Cortes Currents.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

When multimillionaires Eric Peterson and his wife Christina Munck launched their charity foundation more than two decades ago, the couple pledged to go to their deaths flat broke.

On Wednesday, Peterson and Munck made good on that longtime vow, gifting a chunk of pristine island coastline to the BC Parks Foundation and the bulk of their remaining fortune to the Hakai Institute and the Tula Foundation, which the pair created to leverage science and technology to tackle issues for the public good.

Continue reading West Coast multimillionaires gift land for parks and donate remainder of their fortune to philanthropy →
Transportation

BC Ferries urged to chart a new course around LNG

Editor’s note: The MV Tacheck, which sails between Heriot Bay and Whaletown, has a 200 kW-hr battery bank and is considered BC Ferries’ first ‘hybrid ferry.’ However it was built in 1969 and The Tachek’s primary power source is conventional diesel engines. It is currently scheduled to be replaced by one of the six Island Class hybrid-electric ferries in 2027. BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez told Cortes Currents that as the infrastructure to go fully electric is not in place, the new ferry will initially have to rely in its diesel engines.

 “I would say the technology hasn’t quite caught up  to us, but in 20 years, 40 years, 60 years, 80 years, I think that would be a very different proposition.  We might have different energy sources like hydrogen (and others) that today aren’t really being explored as viable in this industry, that could be with advances in technology. I think we have to be open minded about the whole thing, but it’s definitely going to be a cleaner, greener future.”

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

BC Ferries has launched a bid to build up to seven green flagship vessels but climate groups are urging the company to abandon liquified natural gas to fuel ships and speed electrification of its fleet to reach its emissions targets. 

The ferry service recently revealed it has teamed up with a naval architectural firm to develop an early design to replace six large aging vessels and expand capacity on the busiest routes between the mainland and Vancouver Island. 

Continue reading BC Ferries urged to chart a new course around LNG →
Politics

Greenwashing death threats ‘show you who the Conservatives are,’ NDP leader says

By Marc Fawcett-Atkinson & Rochelle Baker, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed the federal Conservatives on Wednesday for spreading falsehoods that left his party’s natural resources critic facing death threats and homophobic slurs. 

Earlier this week, Canada’s National Observer reported that NDP MP Charlie Angus had been “inundated” by calls from people — mostly men — threatening and insulting him for tabling a bill to rein in misleading advertising by the fossil fuel industry. If successful, Bill C-372 would prohibit oil and gas companies from marketing their products as a solution to climate change. 

Continue reading Greenwashing death threats ‘show you who the Conservatives are,’ NDP leader says →
Rivers & Oceans

Rays of hope for kelp and climate in south Salish Sea

Editor’s note: Bull kelp grows from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to Santa Barbara County in California. There is a lot of it around Vancouver Island, and in the waters off both Cortes and Quadra Islands.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s not all doom and gloom for the rich underwater kelp forests in the southern Salish Sea struggling to weather increasingly warm oceans. 

Some pockets of bull kelp vital for sea life off southern Vancouver Island and B.C.’s Gulf Islands are proving to be resilient to rising sea temperatures and marine heat waves, a new University of Victoria study has found. 

Continue reading Rays of hope for kelp and climate in south Salish Sea →
Weather

‘Here we are talking about drought in February’

Editor’s note: When the rains finally started in October 2022, Cortes Island had received very little precipitation for 97 days. That was the first year Basil Creek came close to drying up and only about 10 Chum were able to swim upstream to spawn. The creek almost disappeared during the 2023 drought and some of Cortes Island’s shallow wells stopped recharging. On Quadra Island, I-CAN’s water security team responded to the drought by launching a project to gather data on the island’s ‘water budget,’ wetlands and wells, so they can be better prepared for the future. With Vancouver Island’s snowpacks currently 70% below normal, we may need a wetter than normal spring and summer to avert another drought in 2024.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Water security groups in B.C. are rallying to face another summer wracked by drought and wildfire after the province revealed the snowpack is 40 per cent lower than normal. And they are urging the provincial government to do the same. 

Extremely low snow levels across most of B.C., ongoing drought in certain areas of the province and unusually warm weather are increasing the risk of widespread drought and wildfire this spring and summer, according to the BC River Forecast Centre’s snow bulletin released Thursday. 

Continue reading ‘Here we are talking about drought in February’ →