Tag Archives: Bella Bella

Energy, Environment

Coastal First Nations warn billions at risk if Ottawa sinks tanker ban

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

If the oil tanker ban on the West Coast is lifted, nearly $2 billion in Indigenous-led economic gains could be scuttled, says a First Nations conservation finance organization. 

A single oil spill doesn’t just threaten First Nations communities, but could sink BC’s entire economy — impacting tourism, commercial and recreational fisheries, aquaculture and marine services — all of which depend on the healthy, pristine coast, said Coast Funds CEO Eddy Adra. 

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Rivers & Oceans

DFO ‘legacy of neglect’ leaves North Coast salmon to flounder

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Fisheries and Oceans Canada cut the monitoring of salmon streams along BC’s North and Central Coast, leaving critical stocks uncounted at the height of spawning season.

Seasonal “creek walkers” — contractors for the fisheries department (DFO) who trek along streams to record salmon returns — haven’t been hired as stocks return along the coast from Bella Bella to the Alaskan border, including major watersheds like the Skeena, Nass and Kitimat systems, says a coalition of conservation groups. 

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Business, Food

Measuring Workforce Exposure to the US Tradewar

A new interactive dashboard on the Institute for Research on Public Policy website measures the vulnerability that specific Canadian communities have in the US trade war.

“Canada’s reliance on the U.S. market has left certain communities vulnerable to shifting trade policies, including tariffs and protectionist measures,” explained Rachel Samson, the IRPP’s vice-president of research.

“Our dashboards can help identify which communities could experience challenges if tariffs are applied to sectors they depend on, allowing governments to work with the community to plan effective responses.”

The data is organized around Canada’s 293 census divisions.  

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Indigenous Nations

Híɫzaqv leaders take RCMP to court, say police discriminate against the nation’s laws

 IndigiNews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Hereditary and elected leaders of Híɫzaqv Nation are taking the RCMP to court, saying the police force refuses to enforce the nation’s bylaws — including a law expelling drug dealers and sexual offenders from the community.

The lawsuit says this had led to “an atmosphere of fear and lawlessness” on reserve that put members’ safety at risk. 

It further states that the case has broader implications around whether “Canada” respects Híɫzaqv jurisdiction on their own territories.

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Energy, Indigenous Nations

A dozen First Nations in B.C. funded to pursue clean energy projects

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Editor’s note: Two of the dozen First Nations alluded to this story, the Uchucklesaht tribe and Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation, are on Vancouver Island. The remainder are to the north. None of the reciupeints are in our immediate vicinity.

A dozen First Nations in B.C. are taking strides to reduce their dependence on dirty diesel fuel and secure a clean energy future for their communities for generations to come. 

The First Nations have received a total of $7.1 million to develop alternative-energy projects and improve energy efficiency through a wide range of initiatives in the first round of funding via the provincial Community Energy Diesel Reduction (CEDR) program, developed and operated in co-operation with the First Nations organizations New Relationship Trust and Coast Funds. 

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