Tag Archives: North Island-Powell River

Politics

Canada’s Path Forward: Two Visions for a Stronger Nation

More than a month has passed since Prime Minister Mark Carney took centre stage at the World Economic Forum with a speech calling for middle powers to forge strategic partnerships across energy, food, critical minerals, finance, and supply chains – standing up to lawless superpowers pursuing their own interests. Days have elapsed since Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addressed the Economic Club of Canada, outlining his vision for a stronger Canada. In this morning’s interview, Jennifer Lash, a former senior policy advisor for Environment Canada, compares their visions for the nation’s future.

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Energy

Elizabeth May: ‘It is safer to Move Bitumen by Rail’

Green Party leader Elizabeth May claims it is safer to move bitumen by rail than through pipelines. She has mentioned this in the House of Commons, written about it in her blog, and told reporters.

Elizabeth May: “In a marine environment, diluted bitumen is impossible to clean up.”

Michael Lowry (Western Canada Marine Response Corporation): “The biggest spill we’ve ever cleaned up was a diluted bitumen spill.”

Elizabeth May: “It wasn’t dilbit.”

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Politics

MP Aaron Gunn to host town halls; Cortes Island possible stop

Our local MP, Aaron Gunn, is holding a series of town hall meetings in the North-Island Powell River riding. He will be in Courtenay tonight (Feb 17), Campbell River on February 21, Port McNeil on March 16 and Powell River on March 19.  Gunn may also come to Cortes Island, but the dates have not been set. 

Potential Town hall in Cortes

Aaron Gunn: “ We want to come to Cortes, but if I just come to Cortes with no plan – I haven’t really accomplished anything other than a photo op. So we always try to set up some kind of coffee or meeting where people that live there know that I’m coming and if they want to come and engage, they have an opportunity to do so.”

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

The Battle Over DRIPA & Land Claims

(The first in a series of articles about Indigenous consent, property rights and the future of DRIPA)

British Columbia is currently navigating a widening divide. On one side, the courts are handing down historic decisions affirming Indigenous rights. On the other, a growing wave of anxiety over private property and economic certainty. Today, we look at the fallout from the Gitxaala and Cowichan Tribes decisions—and the political battleground forming around the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). 

These are actually three separate topics: two court cases regarding the duty to consult before registering mining claims (Gitxaala versus British Columbia and the 2025 appeal); a court case regarding the Aboriginal title to an ancient village site that was sold out from beneath the Cowichan Tribes (Cowichan Tribes v. Canada); and DRIPA, the provincial legislative framework that formally adopts and implements the the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

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Politics

Jennifer Lash: Why I still Think Mark Carney is the right Prime Minister For Canada

It has been two months since Mark Carney survived a non-confidence vote and went on to sign an MOU in which he agreed to support a new bitumen pipeline across British Columbia. In this morning’s interview, Jennifer Lash, the Liberal candidate for our North Island Powell River riding in the last election,  explains why she still thinks Mark Carney is the right Prime Minister for Canada. 

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