Tag Archives: Gov of BC

Health, Transportation

Islanders worry they’ll be marooned if medical emergency strikes at night

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Editor’s note: the last ferry from Cortes Island, a 45 minute ferry trip away from Quadra, leaves at 5:50 PM

Residents of Quadra Island are worried about being stranded ashore when medical emergencies occur at night because BC Ferries can’t guarantee a crew for sailings to get ambulances across to the hospital in Campbell River.

A petition with close to 1,000 signatures is circulating in the community of 2,700 full-time residents calling on B.C.’s Transportation Minister Rob Fleming to work with BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) and BC Ferries to reinstate off-hour ferry service so ambulances can get patients to hospital in a timely manner.

Continue reading Islanders worry they’ll be marooned if medical emergency strikes at night →
Industry, Rivers & Oceans

Mining risks for Pacific Northwest salmon murky due to lack of transparent data

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The impact of mining on key salmon watersheds in northwestern Canada and the U.S. is impossible to gauge because of a lack of transparency and access to data.

That was one conclusion of a cross-border study involving a team of experts in salmon ecology, watershed science, mining policy that surveyed the intersection of mining risk with important salmon habitat, ranging from Montana to Alaska as well as B.C. and the Yukon.

Continue reading Mining risks for Pacific Northwest salmon murky due to lack of transparent data →
Health, Housing, Poverty

With no place to live, some B.C. seniors are couch-surfing

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

One senior spoke about the anxiety she feels not having a family doctor after losing four in the past eight years. 

Another, the president of the local seniors centre, asked what she should tell a woman in her 80s crying on the phone because she’s got nowhere to live and is reduced to the indignity of couch-surfing with friends after a lifetime of paying taxes. 

Continue reading With no place to live, some B.C. seniors are couch-surfing →
Communications

Telus invests $10M to improve connectivity in Haida Gwaii

Editor’s note: The Connected Coast project has just laid 87 kilometres of fibre-optic cable across the seabed of Hecate Strait to bring high-speed connectivity to Haida Gwaii.

By Kaitlyn Bailey,  Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

More than $10,000 in Telus-funded upgrades will benefit Queen Charlotte and Skidegate after the company’s June investment in the broadband and cellular services, the telecommunications organization announced on July 4.

Continue reading Telus invests $10M to improve connectivity in Haida Gwaii →
Health

BC’s Opioid Lawsuit Win No Cause for Celebration, Say Advocates

By Moira Wyton, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A British Columbia-led lawsuit against more than 40 pharmaceutical companies has resulted in a proposed $150-million settlement with Purdue  Pharma Canada for health-care costs related to the company’s marketing  of opioid pain medications.

But advocates say the  lawsuit is also an exercise in distracting the public from the  government’s failure to make changes — including introducing safe supply  — that would have saved thousands of lives lost to toxic drugs.

Continue reading BC’s Opioid Lawsuit Win No Cause for Celebration, Say Advocates →