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.
Forests

Star Trek captain chides B.C. premier over old-growth forests

 National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

B.C. Premier John Horgan, a self-proclaimed Star Trek fan, has disappointed a high-ranking member of the federation who is calling for action to protect the province’s old-growth forests. 

Canadian actor William Shatner, who famously played Capt. James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek TV series, is one of more than 200 celebrities, scientists, artists, and Indigenous and political leaders who have joined a campaign to pressure the NDP government to protect B.C.’s irreplaceable and iconic tall trees. 

Continue reading Star Trek captain chides B.C. premier over old-growth forests →
Cost of Climate Change

‘We know it’s possible’: Severn Cullis-Suzuki sees road map for climate response in Canada

 National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Environment and culture activist Severn Cullis-Suzuki is taking up the reins as executive director at the renowned environmental organization — the David Suzuki Foundation — just as the globe reaches the critical juncture for action to stem the worst outcomes of the climate emergency.

Continue reading ‘We know it’s possible’: Severn Cullis-Suzuki sees road map for climate response in Canada →
Rivers & Oceans

A type of Orca: the big game hunter of the sea

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

There’s a type of killer whale that prowls deeper waters and specializes in hunting big game, research by a B.C. scientist suggests.

West Coast residents are familiar with the well-known and iconic chinook salmon-eating endangered southern resident killer whales in the Salish Sea, and the more numerous Bigg’s killer whales, or transient orcas, that ply the shallower waters of B.C.’s coast and inlets in search of seals and other sea mammals.

But evidence indicates there’s a newly identified type of orca — outer coast killer whales — that are a distinct subgroup of transient whales, and which frequent the ocean depths along the continental shelf off the coast of central California and Oregon, said lead author Josh McInnes, a scientist with the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of British Columbia.

Continue reading A type of Orca: the big game hunter of the sea →
Cost of Climate Change

Canadian media needs to pay more attention to the climate crisis, Sean Holman says

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Climate change is the largest and most impactful story on the globe, yet Canadian media in particular has done an inadequate job in covering the issue, one expert says.

Continue reading Canadian media needs to pay more attention to the climate crisis, Sean Holman says →
History, Indigenous Nations History

The shadow of residential schools ‘gets longer and longer’

Warning: This story contains details that may provoke distress or trauma in some readers.

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Homalco Chief Darren Blaney has the tragic distinction of being a third-generation residential school survivor.

Like his father, and grandfather before him, Blaney was forced from his home, family, and culture in the small community of Church House in Bute Inlet along B.C.’s remote central coast.

“My great-grandfather was the first one from Homalco to go to residential school in 1875,” said Blaney.

Continue reading The shadow of residential schools ‘gets longer and longer’ →