Tag Archives: Pipelines

Animals, Development

BC is moving millions of frogs for construction—no one knows if they’re surviving

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The study finds that frogs and salamanders are moved by the millions, along with smaller numbers of snakes and other reptiles, to clear the way for pipelines, culverts and other development.

By Lou Bosshart, UBC News

New research shows that more than five million amphibians and reptiles were relocated to make way for development in B.C. between 2019 and 2022, yet there is no requirement to determine whether they survived.

Moving millions, tracking few 

The practice, called mitigation translocation, has been standard in B.C. for over a decade: before breaking ground, proponents obtain a provincial permit and move amphibians and reptiles off-site. What they’re not required to do: determine if those animals survive.

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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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Energy, Indigenous Nations

A ‘foot in the door’: BC First Nations buy into Enbridge pipeline

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

For decades, a natural gas pipeline has cut through the territories of dozens of First Nations in BC — moving billions of dollars’ worth of gas with zero ownership and little return to the communities.

Now, 36 First Nations have bought in.

“For decades, the nations have watched resources leave their communities with very minimal benefit,” said Justin Napoleon, from Saulteau First Nation and director of Stonlasec8, a newly formed, Indigenous-owned, limited partnership made up of 36 First Nations in BC, including Treaty 8 members. 

In a landmark deal announced today, Stonlasec8 revealed its plan to invest approximately $715 million to acquire a 12.5 per cent ownership in Enbridge Inc.’s Westcoast natural gas pipeline system that stretches from BC’s remote northeast to the US-Canada border.

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Energy, Indigenous Nations

First Nations leaders push for energy wealth and ownership at Canadian Hydrogen Convention

By Jeremy Appel,  Alberta Native News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

Less than a week before Billy Morin was elected as the Conservative MP for Edmonton Northwest in the Canadian federal election, the former elected chief of Enoch Cree Nation moderated a panel on Indigenous opportunities in hydrogen.

The Canadian Hydrogen Convention was held on April 23 and 24 at the Edmonton Convention Centre, with the second day including the panel, “Indigenous Partnerships for a Clean Energy Future.”

Grand Chief Greg Desjarlais of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, Salish Elements chairman and co-founder Reuben George, and Xaxli’p (Fountain First Nation) executive director Andrew Mercer spoke on the Morin-moderated panel.

Salish Elements, an Indigenous-run company that produces green hydrogen—meaning hydrogen that is made with water, rather than natural gas—signed a May 2024 agreement to build a 25-megawatt hydrogen production facility on the Xaxli’p reserve in Lillooet, British Columbia.

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Politics

Jessica Wegg: Why Green Voices Matter

The second in a series of candidate visits sponsored by the Cortes Island Climate Action Committee

Green Party candidate Jessica Wegg came to Gorge Hall, on Wednesday, April 16th, 2025. She won’t be the next Member of Parliament for North Island Powell River (NIPR).

“We commissioned a poll at our riding level. I think they made the phone calls March 20th to 24th, and it matched what 338Canada is saying. The Conservatives will likely win and the progressive vote will be split pretty evenly by the NDP and the Liberals. As long as the NDP and the Liberals are both running, neither party will get in,” she explained.

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