Tag Archives: David Eby

Housing

Number of Tri-Cities properties cashing in on short-term rentals spikes 45% in year

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Editor’s note: To what extent are we looking at a province wide trend? Is this spike happening in our area, or is it a more urban phenomenon?

By Patrick Penner, Tri-Cities Dispatch, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The number of landowners in the Tri-Cities using their properties for short-term rentals spiked 45 percent in one year. 

In August, sites like Airbnb and Vrbo posted 807 active listings for Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, according to data provided by AirDNA, a market research provider.

That’s up from 446 total listings in August 2022. Despite the number of active listings being halved during the COVID-19 pandemic, overall rental growth still jumped 35 percent since 2018.

Continue reading Number of Tri-Cities properties cashing in on short-term rentals spikes 45% in year →
Disaster

Preparing for a wildfire: the Cortes Island Fire Department

There have been large wildfires on Cortes Island in the distant past. The largest shown in the 2011 Wildfire protection plan was more than 330 acres in extent, and there were two fires that burned close to 250 acres. Those were in 1932, 1924 and 1923, respectively. There hasn’t been a fire larger than 10 hectares since at least 1950. 

This could change, as our summers become warmer and dryer. 

Last week Premier Eby declared a state of emergency in face of the worst wildfire season in BC’s history. 

While there are no major fires in our immediate vicinity, the BC Wildfire service says, “We are in a drought condition. Our forest fire fuels are very dry and the ignition potential is extremely high.” So Cortes Currents asked interim Fire Chief Eli McKenty what the situation is like on Cortes Island.

Continue reading Preparing for a wildfire: the Cortes Island Fire Department →
Disaster

Wildfire Update for our area: Day 4 of the State of Emergency

In the midst of the worst fire season in BC’s history, Premier Eby declared a state of Emergency last Friday. 

However there are no major fires in the Discovery Islands. The Village Bay Lake Fire, on Quadra Island, seems to have been brought under control in a single day. Aside from that, the closest wildfires are in Phillips Arm and the Strathcona Provincial Park. 

Cortes Currents asked BC Wildfire Information Officer Kimberly Kelly for an update on local conditions and insight into what they mean.

Continue reading Wildfire Update for our area: Day 4 of the State of Emergency →
Forests

New online ‘Forest Eye’ will daylight old-growth logging in B.C.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

There will soon be no way for old-growth logging to go undetected in B.C. 

An online tracking system developed by an international environmental group goes live today. It will enable the public to monitor where old growth is being logged and is designed to hold the province accountable for promises to reform forestry, said project lead Angeline Robertson, a senior investigative researcher with Stand.earth. 

Continue reading New online ‘Forest Eye’ will daylight old-growth logging in B.C. →
Energy, Indigenous Nations

Heightened need for clean energy prompts BC Hydro to put call out for new sources

By Mina Kerr-Lazenby, North Shore News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

BC Hydro will be issuing a call for new sources of renewable, emission-free electricity, with applications to open in the spring of next year.

The call out, the first to come from BC Hydro in 15 years, has been prompted by an accelerated need for clean energy, said Premier David Eby on Thursday, at a media event at the Tsleil-Waututh Nation administration building in North Vancouver.

Eby said an additional 3,000 gigawatt hours per year of renewable energy, enough electricity to power 270,000 homes in B.C, is needed by 2028 – three years earlier than previously estimated.

Continue reading Heightened need for clean energy prompts BC Hydro to put call out for new sources →