Tag Archives: City of New Westminster

Energy, Environment

Camera footage of Canada’s first LNG terminal raises questions about invisible pollution

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

New camera footage from Canada’s first LNG export terminal is raising concerns about invisible pollution and whether current monitoring adequately detects what reaches nearby communities.

To the naked eye, the sky looks mostly clear above LNG Canada’s Kitimat facility on the northern coast of BC. But footage taken with a specialized infrared camera and presented at a media briefing Wednesday showed dark plumes around flares, stacks and processing equipment.

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Energy, Health

Climate activist calls on New Westminster council to support assessment of gas industry

By Theresa McManus, Freshet News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A climate activist is urging New Westminster city council to follow the lead of other cities and call for an independent assessment of B.C.’s gas industry.

Aggie Black, a member of the New Westminster Climate Action Hub and the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment, said she is deeply concerned about the climate crisis and its impact on people’s health and the health-care system. 

“I am here to join my voice with hundreds of other health professionals who are calling for an accumulative independent health impact assessment of B.C.’s gas industry,” she told council at its May 11 meeting. “There is a large and growing body of peer-reviewed research that links fracking and LNG production to health harms for humans.”

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Cost of Climate Change, Housing, Politics

New Westminster aims to protect tenants from extreme heat

Editor’s note: Will any other municipalities or regions follow this example?

By Theresa McManus, Freshet News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

New Westminster tenants aren’t allowed to freeze to death in their apartments — nor should they be allowed to succumb to heat in their homes.

That’s the motivation behind bylaws that will require New Westminster landlords to maintain safe temperatures in at least one living space in rental units occupied by a tenant. City council unanimously supported three readings to business bylaws at its March 30 meeting. 

“This is a very exciting piece of work that the city is taking on,” said Coun. Nadine Nakagawa. “To the best of my knowledge, we are the first municipality in Canada to take this move to protect renters against extreme heat.”

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Disaster

City of Burnaby prepares for possible Trans Mountain disasters

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The City of Burnaby is preparing for a series of unlikely but potentially disastrous accidents stemming from the Trans Mountain pipeline system.

An animated video, released Sept. 5, depicts three hypothetical, fiery scenarios that could arise at the Burnaby Mountain tank farm and Westridge Marine Terminal. The city plans to carry out a full emergency exercise in 2027 to prepare for these worst-case scenarios.

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Jobs, Poverty

Vancouver’s Decision to Abandon Living Wage Program Creates Shockwaves

By  Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In 2017, the City of Vancouver committed to ensuring its employees — and workers for city contractors — were paid enough to live there. 

At the time, Vancouver was  the biggest employer in the country to offer a living wage based on the  cost of rent, food and other necessities. 

“It was the largest living wage  municipality, and it did a tremendous job over the years in encouraging  other businesses to sign on,” said Anastasia French, the director of Living Wage for Families BC.  Then-mayor Gregor Robertson told media it was a way to guarantee  workers “a basic level of opportunity” in an expensive place to live and  work. 

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