Tag Archives: Gov of BC

Health

BC Should Be Doing More Rapid Testing, Experts Say

By Moira Wyton, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As the highly transmissible Omicron variant takes hold, British Columbia is one of the only provinces not making rapid antigen tests  widely available to the public.

Rapid tests can be  administered at home and measure whether someone has COVID-19 and is  likely to infect others. They return results in as little as 15 minutes.

B.C. has received three kinds of tests from  the federal government: Abbott ID Now, Abbott PanBio and BD Veritor.  None are packaged for use at home.

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Energy

Quadra ICAN asks ‘What can we do when the grid goes down?’

When Jan Zwicky talked about the need to be independent of the grid, she referred to a 60 second power outage at 4 AM last year. Zwicky wasn’t aware there was a problem until she went into the basement three days later. Her freezer, which had been packed with food, was still off. Most of the contents were ruined. 

Zwicky said she is not dependant on a computer and has a back-up system that can keep the lights on, “ But boy, I don’t want that freezer to fall apart!”

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Forests

SRD protests BC’s ‘reactive’ and ‘emotionally driven’ forestry policies

How our local government works

The Strathcona Regional District Board is writing Premier Horgan, to protest the government’s new ‘reactive,’ and ‘emotionally driven’ forestry policies. 

This letter appears to have largely been composed by Campbell River Director Charlie Cornfield, with some additions by SRD Chair Brad Unger. 

If the authors had stuck to the idea that local government should be involved in the process, or taken a less confrontational approach, their letter would have received more support. 

Instead, the decision to send it carried by a 7 to 6 vote.

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Forests, Indigenous Nations, Justice

Update From Fairy Creek: interview with Kathleen Code

[Kathleen Code is is a spokesperson for the Rainforest Flying Squad and other land defenders attempting to protect old growth areas at Fairy Creek. She founded the legal team, and is also a member of their media team. Since joining the effort in August, 2020, she’s worked closely with elder Bill Jones to understand the situation of the Pacheedaht First Nation, in particular their interactions with industrial forest company Teal Jones and the NDP government. I interviewed Kathy on December 3rd 2021, asking her for an update to round out the “Cortes At Fairy Creek” story. This is a lightly edited transcript of that interview.]

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Indigenous Nations, Justice

Northwest B.C. MLA calls on RCMP commissioner to review pipeline opponents’ arrests in Hazelton

Terrace Standard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Stikine MLA Nathan Cullen has called on RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki to review police action in the arrest of two of his constituency members in northwest B.C. in November.

In the letter sent to the RCMP top cop in Ottawa, Cullen asked about the RCMP’s “enforcement behaviour” while referring to a “disturbing” video in which two young men were arrested with “undue force” last month near the New Hazelton rail tracks.

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