Category Archives: Technology

Transportation

Clean Energy Canada responds to misconceptions about EVs

According to the BC Government, more than 18% of the light duty passenger vehicles sold in the province last year were electric vehicles (EVs). There has been a sixfold increase in the number of annual registrations since 2016 and there are currently more than 100,000 EVS on the roads. Some of them are in remote communities like Cortes Island. As the prospect of a transition to electric vehicles becomes more likely, some are asking if this is really a viable option. 

Last week Clean Energy Canada, a think tank based in Simon Fraser University, responded with media brief addressing common myths about electric vehicles. Rachel Doran, Director of Policy and Strategy at Clean Energy Canada, subsequently agreed to an Q & A interview. 

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Industry

Canada swells the ranks of nations calling for moratorium on deep-sea mining

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canada is joining the tide of nations calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining in the high seas as an international summit gets underway Monday to decide on the issue.

“The protection, conservation, restoration and sustainable use of ocean ecosystems is essential to all life on Earth,” said Mélanie Joly, minister of foreign affairs; Jonathan Wilkinson, minister of natural resources; and Joyce Murray, minister of fisheries and oceans, in a statement released Monday.

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Transportation

The Cortes Island ‘Room for Rider’ Initiative

 Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) is launching a new transportation initiative

“We’re really excited to be launching this new ‘Room for Rider’ initiative. It’s a mirror tag that people can hang in their rear view mirror to let people know that they’re willing to give people a ride across Quadra,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI.  

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Communications, Community, Jobs

Angst in America as Canada launches new plan to poach foreign tech workers

By Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canada’s newly unveiled approach to attract foreign tech talent is being met with angst in America while being heralded as a game changer for the country’s emerging technologies, according to experts.

But for the multi-pronged Tech Talent Strategy to work, Canada needs to ensure that there is a clear and predictable pathway toward obtaining permanent residency, said immigration experts and IT consultants.

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Rivers & Oceans, Transportation

Canada’s new cruise ship rules don’t plug loopholes for major source of wastewater pollution

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The federal government says some new cruise ship pollution measures are now mandatory, but environmental groups say the move still doesn’t plug gaps that permit the ongoing contamination of some of Canada’s most sensitive coastlines.

Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra announced Friday that voluntary measures established last April on the discharge and treatment guidelines for sewage (black water) and grey water — which includes kitchen water, laundry detergent, cleaning products, food waste, cooking oils and grease as well as hazardous carcinogens and other pollutants — will be mandatory immediately under an interim order. 

But the largest source of acidic waste water from cruise ships and other vessels will continue to flow into the ocean unabated, said Anna Barford, shipping campaigner for Stand.earth Canada. 

Continue reading Canada’s new cruise ship rules don’t plug loopholes for major source of wastewater pollution →