Category Archives: Technology

Energy, Environment

Coastal First Nations warn billions at risk if Ottawa sinks tanker ban

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

If the oil tanker ban on the West Coast is lifted, nearly $2 billion in Indigenous-led economic gains could be scuttled, says a First Nations conservation finance organization. 

A single oil spill doesn’t just threaten First Nations communities, but could sink BC’s entire economy — impacting tourism, commercial and recreational fisheries, aquaculture and marine services — all of which depend on the healthy, pristine coast, said Coast Funds CEO Eddy Adra. 

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Energy

Here’s who lobbied for key measures in Mark Carney’s first budget

By Carly Penrose, Bethany Lindsay, Investigative Journalism Foundation, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Last week’s budget included billions in new spending and cuts that affected climate policies, defence spending, technology and taxation. 

An IJF analysis reveals that in the months and weeks leading up to the budget’s release, dozens of organizations registered to lobby and recorded hundreds of communications with public office holders on some of the very measures announced in Mark Carney’s budget.

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Communications

Hallucinations- The Quadra Project

Cultures persist because of a confidence in themselves. Common agreement binds them together, and they endure for as long as their collective understanding is based on reality. But what happens if the assumptions that they make are faulty? The incongruity between the beliefs motivating their behaviour and the actual reality in which they live instigates increasing conflicts until reality asserts itself with a dispassionate shrug and the culture experiences the discomfort of a minor reset or the trauma of a major one.

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Communications

From Lanzhou to BC: Bots Overwhelming Cortes Currents

Editor’s note updated Feb 13 2026 – China now leads the world in terms of internet users – 1,1 billion, as compared to 806 million users in India and 302 million in the United States. This comes at a time when bots have replaced humans as the #1 source of traffic on the web. In 2025, Cortes Currents received 32,969 visits from Lanzhou, China. The first ‘visitor’ arrived on October 3 and the worst day was December 23 – when 4,105 came. The average bot visit lasts for a fraction of a second, during which they each make numerous requests of the website – sometimes overwhelming the server.

Posted Nov 19, 2025 – There have been numerous reports of cyberattacks, bots, and hackers this month. On November 13, the Wallstreet Journal reported what is reputedly the world’s first cyberespionage operation largely carried out using AI. The makers of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Claude subsequently revealed that they detected this operation in September. The attacks were carried out by Chinese hackers targeting large tech companies, financial institutions, chemical manufacturing companies, and government agencies.

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Transportation

Cortes EV Forum

On October 31st, the Cortes Climate Action Network (CCAN) hosted an EV forum at Manson’s Hall, attracting over a dozen people. The event began with a prepared presentation about the carbon/energy profile of EVs vs internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, followed by general Q&A in which local owners of EVs answered questions about their cars, usage patterns, and overall experience.

The last EV discussion and demo event to be held on Cortes was pre-Covid, on Earth Day in 2019. Since then the number of EVs on the island has grown considerably and many more brands and models are now available. E-bikes have become more common on our local roads than pedal-only bikes, and interest in “going electric” for our transportation needs seems to be growing.

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