Tag Archives: Gov of BC

Environment, Indigenous Nations

Impending Site C Megatrial

The West Moberly First Nation just released an important update about the failure of their negotiations with the BC Government. The Site C Megatrial will begin in March 2020.

August 27, 2019 – Moberly Lake BC, Treaty 8 Territory. Discussions between West Moberly First Nations and the Government of British Columbia to avoid litigation over the Site C dam have ended. The megadam must now face a 120-day trial to determine whether Treaty 8 rights have been infringed. 

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Transportation

BC Transit Is Going Electric

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By Roy L Hales

The first step was taken in November 2018, when BC Transit approved a Low Carbon Fleet Program that will phase out over 1200 existing buses over the next decade. While some of their replacements will use compressed natural gas (CNG), this is only a short term measure. BC Transit is going electric.

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Education

Cleaning Up The BC Liberal’s education Mess

By Roy L Hales

The BC Liberal government’s 14-year-long war with the BC Teacher’s Federation (BCTF) left the province’s education system in shambles. At least 267 schools closed down. Many were old and in need of repair; others had declining enrolment numbers. The equivalent of 3,500 full time teaching and support jobs were lost. One of the government’s fiercest critics was the current Minister of Education, NDP MLA Rob Fleming. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the BCTF’s favour in November 2016 and the task of cleaning up the BC Liberal’s education mess was left to the new NDP government.

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Politics

Why Re-elect George Sirk As Regional Director?

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By Roy L Hales

In my second interview with the candidates for Cortes Island’s Regional Director, I became aware that they have a very different vision of how the island should be governed. The current Director, Noba Anderson, portrays herself as an instigator, who “convenes conversations that would not otherwise happen.” Many of the island’s best known projects came about through her direct intervention. Though George Sirk chalked up a similar list of accomplishments during the nine years he represented the island (1996 – 2005), he stresses the idea that there should be more of a separation between the Regional Director and specific business projects. In this morning’s episode, I ask, why re-elect George Sirk as Regional Director? 

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Forests

Cortes Community Forest’s First Five Years

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British Columbia’s old growth forests fertilize themselves as efficiently as a farmer looking after his fields. The tree plantations that are fast replacing them lack this ability. If this trend continues, the province’s vast forests may be a memory in the next two or three centuries. The inhabitants of one tiny island are trying to change this. In this morning’s program one of the directors, Bruce Ellingsen, tells me about Cortes Community Forest’s first five years of operations.

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