Tag Archives: Julie Osborne

Health

BC’s Toxic Drug Crisis Hits a Grim 10-Year Anniversary

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s been four and a half years since Jane McCormick’s son, Jeff, was killed by unregulated drugs. Were he alive, he would have just celebrated his 40th birthday with his two kids.

McCormick said that for the first three years she was filled with sadness. And then she started to get mad.

She’s mad because Jeff’s death, just like the more than 18,179 British Columbians killed by unregulated drugs since April 14, 2016, was preventable.

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Health

BC Halts Construction of Seven Long-Term Care Facilities

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

British Columbia is pausing construction on seven long-term care facilities as it searches for a way to reduce building costs.

The pause was announced as B.C. released its annual budget on Tuesday. During question period on Wednesday, Health Minister Josie Osborne said construction was being stopped while the province searched for ways to build the beds for less than $1.8 million each, which is what it currently costs. 

Seven long-term care facilities in Abbotsford, Campbell River, Chilliwack, Delta, Fort St. John, Kelowna and Squamish have been put on hold indefinitely. Osborne said the projects are not cancelled. 

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Health, Politics

Anna Kindy: Waiting for the legislature, the Health Crisis & Being the MLA for North Island.

Anna Kindy was sitting in her Campbell River office. Her assistant stood almost out of the frame long enough to wave, before handing Kindy a headset and disappearing. The thing I find refreshing about Kindy is she doesn’t sound like a politician, which is understandable because she only recently became one. She and her husband are both doctors. Anna Kindy was elected as the MLA for North Island on October 19, 2024 and is the Health Critic for the Conservative party Shadow Cabinet, but has yet to sit in the legislature. 

This fact emerged when I asked her about the trips between her home in Merville and the provincial legislature.

Continue reading Anna Kindy: Waiting for the legislature, the Health Crisis & Being the MLA for North Island. →
Energy

An invisible climate killer is lurking behind B.C.’s LNG boom

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Invisible to the naked eye, undetectable by smell and 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide for its  short-term warming impact on the climate, methane is explosive, toxic  and can make helicopters fall out of the sky. It’s like something out of a superhero movie — or a bad dream.

About half of Canada’s reported methane emissions  are produced by the oil and gas industry, both from regular operations  and leaks. But much of the climate damage caused by the sector’s methane  pollution goes undetected due to weak regulations.

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Health

Grant awarded to Kuu-us Crisis Line Society, which serves Indigenous communities across B.C.

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Port Alberni, BC – Kuu-us Crisis Line Society is one of 22 Indigenous-led non-profits awarded $216, 000 over the course of three years from a provincial program.

Cindy McAnerin, associate director at Kuu-us Crisis Line Society, said a need that they have is to upgrade their vehicles for outreach.

Continue reading Grant awarded to Kuu-us Crisis Line Society, which serves Indigenous communities across B.C. →