BC politics

Dallas Smith, president of the Nanwakolas Council, an organization of B.C. coast and Vancouver Island first nations. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

Four coastal B.C. first nations agree on further old-growth deferrals

Western Forest Products says more cooperation to come

 

A truckload of B.C. lumber heads to the United States, which has imposed steep border duties on standard construction lumber that is in short supply as timber cutting restrictions increase. (Resource Works Society)

B.C.’s value-added forest industry pleads for old-growth wood

‘We’re talking months until we’re running out’

 

B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says COVID-19 restrictions are likely to remain in place for some time as high infection rates continue. (B.C. government photo)

500 in B.C. hospitals Wednesday as rapid COVID-19 spread continues

More than 36,000 active cases, 6 more deaths confirmed

 

RBC Dominion Securities analyst Paul Quinn, Truck Loggers Association executive director Bob Brash and consultant Russ Taylor speak to delegates at the association’s virtual convention, Jan. 12, 2022. (TLA video)

Forest industry analysts paint grim picture for B.C. investment future

Old growth restrictions threaten value added, truck loggers told

RBC Dominion Securities analyst Paul Quinn, Truck Loggers Association executive director Bob Brash and consultant Russ Taylor speak to delegates at the association’s virtual convention, Jan. 12, 2022. (TLA video)
Tent camp reappears on Pandora Ave. in Victoria, Nov. 27, 2021. Motels were bought by B.C. Housing and permanent supportive housing projects are underway in Victoria and other B.C. communities in an effort to keep up with influx of homeless people with mental and addiction conditions. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press Media)

B.C. urban mayors say they’ve hit their limit on homelessness, disorder

‘Catch and release’ system for people with mental illness, addiction

Tent camp reappears on Pandora Ave. in Victoria, Nov. 27, 2021. Motels were bought by B.C. Housing and permanent supportive housing projects are underway in Victoria and other B.C. communities in an effort to keep up with influx of homeless people with mental and addiction conditions. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press Media)
Fraser Health registered nurse Kai Kayibadi draws a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe at a walk-up vaccination clinic at Bear Creek Park, in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, May 17, 2021. The deadline for British Columbia health care workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Looking ahead to upheaval in 2022: The great reset in B.C.

By Bruce Cameron Decades ago, Bob Dylan sang, “You don’t need a…

  • Jan 10, 2022
Fraser Health registered nurse Kai Kayibadi draws a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe at a walk-up vaccination clinic at Bear Creek Park, in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, May 17, 2021. The deadline for British Columbia health care workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and B.C. Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside speak about COVID-19 measures in B.C. schools at the Vancouver cabinet offices, Dec. 29, 2021. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. to deploy rapid COVID-19 tests for school staff when they arrive

Expansion to students with symptoms depends on supply: Henry

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and B.C. Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside speak about COVID-19 measures in B.C. schools at the Vancouver cabinet offices, Dec. 29, 2021. (B.C. government photo)
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix outline holiday season gathering restrictions to reduce COVID-19 infections, B.C. legislature, Dec. 21, 2021. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. COVID-19 cases soar past 4,000 Thursday, hospitalization stable

More than 1,000 higher than Wednesday’s record infections

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix outline holiday season gathering restrictions to reduce COVID-19 infections, B.C. legislature, Dec. 21, 2021. (B.C. government photo)
Former cabinet minister Kevin Falcon speaks to delegates at a B.C. Liberal leadership debate, November 2021. (B.C. Liberal Party video)

B.C. Liberals heading into 2022 with new leader, financial pressure

Party members choose from 6 candidates in early February

Former cabinet minister Kevin Falcon speaks to delegates at a B.C. Liberal leadership debate, November 2021. (B.C. Liberal Party video)
Logs await milling at a Canfor sawmill in Prince George in 2017. Declining allowable harvest in the B.C. Interior and anti-logging protests on the coast have the B.C. forest company investing outside the province. (Canfor Corp. photo)

B.C. old-growth forest preservation plan off to a slow start for 2022

Canfor buys Alberta sawmills, sends harsh message to NDP

Logs await milling at a Canfor sawmill in Prince George in 2017. Declining allowable harvest in the B.C. Interior and anti-logging protests on the coast have the B.C. forest company investing outside the province. (Canfor Corp. photo)
Economist Mariana Mazzucato gives a TED talk on her approach to rethinking capitalism. (marianamazzucato.com)

B.C. green investment fund looks to steer economy through 2022

Economist says InBC can ‘save capitalism from itself’

Economist Mariana Mazzucato gives a TED talk on her approach to rethinking capitalism. (marianamazzucato.com)
Repair work at Bottletop Bridge on the Coquihalla Highway, Dec. 7, 2021. Repairs to dozens of highway sites in B.C.’s southern Interior will be ongoing through next year and beyond, at costs not yet estimated. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation photo)

B.C.’s climate plans battered by extreme weather as 2022 begins

Electric cars, forest offsets, carbon taxes don’t stop damage

Repair work at Bottletop Bridge on the Coquihalla Highway, Dec. 7, 2021. Repairs to dozens of highway sites in B.C.’s southern Interior will be ongoing through next year and beyond, at costs not yet estimated. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation photo)
B.C. Forests Minister Katrine Conroy listens as professional forester and Tahltan Nation member Garry Merkel explains the province’s old-growth forest preservation plan at the B.C. legislature, Nov. 2, 2021. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. Indigenous leaders testing new authority in 2022 forestry remake

Horgan’s battle with big forest companies is just beginning

B.C. Forests Minister Katrine Conroy listens as professional forester and Tahltan Nation member Garry Merkel explains the province’s old-growth forest preservation plan at the B.C. legislature, Nov. 2, 2021. (B.C. government photo)
The B.C. Ferries vessel Spirit of British Columbia passes Salt Spring Island while travelling on the Salish Sea from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, B.C., at sunset on Sunday, October 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The best of times, the worst of times

During these tumultuous times, it is easy to forget how blessed we truly are

  • Dec 22, 2021
The B.C. Ferries vessel Spirit of British Columbia passes Salt Spring Island while travelling on the Salish Sea from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, B.C., at sunset on Sunday, October 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
North Island NDP MLA Michele Babchuk. (Photo supplied)

Taking political attacks home part of ‘dangerous trend’ says Vancouver Island MLA

Protests part of the job, but Michele Babchuk says her family did not sign up for that job

North Island NDP MLA Michele Babchuk. (Photo supplied)
A Victoria house is disassembled by Unbuilders Deconstructors, with doors, windows and old-growth lumber recovered for remanufacturing and sale. Unbuilders received a $500,000 grant from B.C.’s building innovation fund last year. (Unbuilders photo via Facebook)

B.C. government looks to assist more low-carbon building solutions

$5M CleanBC building innovation fund opens for applications

A Victoria house is disassembled by Unbuilders Deconstructors, with doors, windows and old-growth lumber recovered for remanufacturing and sale. Unbuilders received a $500,000 grant from B.C.’s building innovation fund last year. (Unbuilders photo via Facebook)
Agriculture depends on irrigation in many parts of B.C., and licences are required for using groundwater sources such as wells for agricultural or industrial use. Farm irrigation in Abbotsford. (B.C. government)

More time needed for B.C. groundwater registration, opposition says

B.C. Liberals, Greens says most well owners unaware

Agriculture depends on irrigation in many parts of B.C., and licences are required for using groundwater sources such as wells for agricultural or industrial use. Farm irrigation in Abbotsford. (B.C. government)
White Rock residents Karen Arsenault and four year-old Dylan Arsenault at the Pacific National Exhibition midway in 2017. (PNE photo)

B.C. doubles COVID-19 relief fund for community festivals, events

Fairs, festivals, rodeos in 134 B.C. communities qualified

White Rock residents Karen Arsenault and four year-old Dylan Arsenault at the Pacific National Exhibition midway in 2017. (PNE photo)
B.C. NDP house leader Mike Farnworth takes a question in the B.C. legislature as Citizens’ Services Minister Lisa Beare listens, June 16, 2021. (Hansard TV)

B.C. sets $10 fee for non-personal public information requests

Down from $25 originally hinted, pushed through legislature

B.C. NDP house leader Mike Farnworth takes a question in the B.C. legislature as Citizens’ Services Minister Lisa Beare listens, June 16, 2021. (Hansard TV)
Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair (left), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan meet at the premier’s office in Victoria after touring flooding in the Fraser Valley, Nov. 26, 2021. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. local governments need help with flood control, Horgan says

Passing down responsibility for dike works ‘a bad call’

Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair (left), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan meet at the premier’s office in Victoria after touring flooding in the Fraser Valley, Nov. 26, 2021. (B.C. government photo)