Tag Archives: Gov of Canada

Disaster, Environment

Canada’s new climate adaptation plan puts up $1.6 billion to tackle wildfires, heatwaves, flood risk and more

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

Canada’s much-anticipated roadmap to weather the impacts of climate change is out, and it includes $1.6 billion in new spending to fortify infrastructure, protect human health and predict future risks.

The country’s first National Adaptation Strategy lays out specific targets for its five focus areas: disaster resilience, health and well-being, nature and biodiversity, economy and workers and infrastructure.

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Community, Opinion

Immigration lawyers caution Ottawa on new Express Entry system

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Editor’s note: Roughly ½% of the people who moved to Campbell River between 2014/15 and 2018/19 were immigrants from the United States or other nations. The other  99½% came ‘from other parts of BC, and to a lesser extent, migration from other parts of Canada.”(1) The percentage of International immigrants coming to Area C was higher, roughly 2.5%, during a similar time frame.(2) The Cortes Island Profile does not give a breakdown for the number of immigrants. 27.7% of the household moves between 2011 and 2016 involved people from ‘either another province or another country.’ The vast majority were most likely Canadians. 

By Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canada’s major overhaul of its Express Entry System to attract more economic migrants will see a dramatic increase in “invitations to apply” (ITAs) being issued by Immigration Canada (IRCC)

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Rivers & Oceans

‘Writing on the wall’ for West Coast fish farms, conservationists say

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Open net-pen fish farming on the Pacific coast took a one-two punch after operations closures were announced in both B.C. and Washington state this week. 

The shíshálh Nation said Wednesday that aquaculture giant Grieg Seafood is removing salmon farms from the nation’s waters along B.C.’s Sunshine Coast by February 2023. Meanwhile, on Monday, Washington state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said it’s not renewing Atlantic Canada’s Cooke Seafood’s last two open-net pen leases in Puget Sound and farm operations will end by Dec. 14. 

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Animals, Environment, Parks

Saving B.C.’s at-risk species is pivotal to Canada’s biodiversity promises at COP15

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

British Columbia represents the country’s greatest opportunity to be a world leader when Canada hosts the landmark global UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal next month. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has committed to the 30×30 pledge — to protect 30 per cent of Canada’s land and waters by 2030 — and is urging other world leaders to follow suit. The goal won’t be met without gains in B.C., which boasts the greatest biological diversity of any province or territory in the country but also has the greatest number of species at risk.

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Animals, Environment, Forests

Government protection of Species at Risk ineffective, report says

A new report commissioned by the Wilderness Committee and Sierra Club BC found that Federal and Provincial government policy gaps have rendered their protection of Species at Risk ineffective. 

“Our study looked at terrestrial and freshwater vertebrate species in BC We needed to refine the scope a little bit just because there are so many Species at Risk in BC. In order to do this analysis, we had to narrow in on a few representative species. In total, we chose 64 species. Of the 64 species, only two of them have had their critical habitat mapped by the deadlines. The remaining 97% have experienced critical habitat mapping delays anywhere from 2 to 18 years. Then there’s 16 of the 64 species that still don’t even have their critical habitat mapped,” explained Charlotte Dawe of the Wilderness Committee.

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