National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Old-growth forests the B.C. government has identified for logging deferrals are still at risk of being clear cut, according to a West Coast conservation group.
“Intentions don’t stop chainsaws,” said Torrance Coste, campaign director for the Wilderness Committee, of the government’s failure to immediately act on the deferrals announced Nov. 2.
Continue reading B.C.’s old growth still falling with delay of provincial logging deferralsBy Melissa Renwick, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Thousands of British Columbians remain displaced following a series of devastating floods and landslides that have swallowed highway roads and entire cities in the southern part of the province.
The floods prompted British Columbia to declare its third state of emergency this year on Nov. 17. The devastation was triggered by an atmospheric river that carried rainfall two times the average amount within a 72-hour period.
Continue reading Do clearcuts contribute to BC’s flooding?By Shari Narine, Windspeaker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Two bills introduced in the British Columbia legislature on Nov. 17 illustrate the province is heading in the right direction, say two First Nations leaders.
However, both BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee and Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs president Grand Chief Stewart Phillip say more political will is needed to move the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples forward at a faster pace.
Continue reading New BC bills welcomed, but UNDRIP implementation moving at a snail’s paceBy Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Wet’suwet’en land defenders and supporters say inaction from B.C. and Canada left them no choice but to enforce an eviction order against Coastal GasLink workers and deactivate road access to the project, a pair of measures that have prompted the provincial and federal governments to call for a peaceful resolution to the blockades.
Continue reading Wet’suwet’en land defenders say BC, federal inaction prompted enforcement of Coastal GasLink evictionBy Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
When B.C. Supreme Court Justice Emily Burke served her ruling on a long-fought case between Blueberry River First Nations and the province in late June, unequivocally determining the B.C. government breached the Nations’ Treaty Rights by permitting and encouraging widespread resource extraction, she noted B.C.’s regulatory regime for industrial development is broken.
Continue reading How the Blueberry ruling in B.C. is a gamechanger for the Site C dam, extractive industries and Indigenous Rights
