Tag Archives: US

Environment

The West Coast’s tidal swamps are supercharged carbon sinks

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A collaborative cross-border study digging into forested tidal swamps in the Pacific Northwest has determined these ecosystems are carbon storage superheroes. 

Found upstream from coastal estuaries and shorelines, but still subject to the flux of ocean tides, the woody wetlands feature a tangle of shrubs, grasses and trees, like willows and Sitka spruce, that can trap about nine million tonnes of organic carbon per hectare — the equivalent to the amount of carbon burned by two million gas-powered cars every year. 

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Politics

Donald Trump, Canada’s Conservatives and uncertainties of the 2025 election

If there were an election today, the polls show that Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative party would probably form the next government. This isn’t what is necessarily going to happen. I like to think of polls as ‘point in time’ snapshots which may be 100% accurate right now, but the situation can be very different tomorrow. 

One of the trends I have noticed on 338Canada, which gleans data from many polls, is that support for the Liberals has been tacking upwards since Trudeau resigned (6 points), while support for the Conservatives and NDP has gone down (4 points each). If the Liberals pick a popular leader, we can expect their popularity to rise even higher in the polls – all of which is just to say that the as yet undeclared election is too far away to be certain.  

Anyway Max Thaysen, one of our thought leaders here on Cortes, has been watching what Donald Trump, a Conservative leader in the United States, is doing and getting anxious about what this latest rendition of Canada’s Conservative Party might be like if it comes to power.   

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Politics

Canadian shoppers anxious and outraged at Trump tariff threats

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Shopping has become a political act for many consumers worried and angry about the looming trade war between Canada and the U.S. 

U.S. President Donald Trump gave Canada a one-month reprieve from his proposed 25 per cent tariffs on Monday, but the threat is still a very real possibility.

Armed with her shopping trolley and braving the snow along Vancouver’s Fourth Avenue this week, 80-year-old Jude Gilroy is indignant and apprehensive on how the looming trade war between the two countries will play out for Canadian consumers. 

For her part, Gilroy plans to shop for Canadian products as best she can and worries about a potential economic recession. 

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Indigenous Nations, Tourism

Klahoose Wilderness Resort: Tourism as a Vehicle for Reconciliation and Culture

The Klahoose Wilderness Resort’s second full season is over.

“We’re only open from May to the middle of October,” explained Chris Tait, the Tourism Manager. 

As he reflected on this past season, one word that kept coming up is reconciliation. 

“It’s 100% owned by the Klahoose First Nation. From the beginning, as we built the resort, that was front and center. We wanted all of our experiences at the Klahoose Wilderness Resort to  reflect the traditions, reflect the culture. Part of that is a reconciliation piece, bringing people into the Klahoose territory. Making sure we have Klahoose First Nation guides leading those guests, whether they’re going on a boat tour  through Toba Inlet – which is my background – or sharing their culture at the Klahoose Wilderness Resort.”

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Cost of Climate Change

The Quadra Project: “Damned Fools”

The mood in the U.S. Senate on June 23, 1988, was expectant and tense. A prominent scientist from NASA, Dr. James Hansen, was giving testimony about the condition of the world’s climate and the implications for both the United States and planet Earth as a consequence of continued global carbon dioxide emissions. His prognosis was serious and sobering. His evidence unequivocally supported the conclusion that the results would be a catastrophic rise in temperature, with a consequent melting of ice caps, an uncontrollable rise in sea levels, and widespread disruptions in normal weather as carbon dioxide levels rose. Other scientific evidence was equivocal, but Hansen argued that no other explanation but carbon dioxide emissions came “anywhere close” to explaining the existing weather anomalies.

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