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Study on Native Addiction Brings Elders to Tears
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/16/2008
A new public health study that looked at more than 500 young aboriginal drug users in two British Columbia cities produced such shocking data that people wept openly when it was first presented to a panel of elders.
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Views: New Urbanism's Contrarion
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/16/2008
New Urbanism is dangerous because it claims to cure the very sprawl and social class separation that it causes. There are worse ways to develop the suburbs, but none are so two-faced. The New Urbanism is city planning's equivalent of the "compact SUV."
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Hints on our brave new climate initiative aren't coming from the Liberals
Vancouver Sun
05/14/2008
As B.C. prepares to enter into a regional system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reporters were invited to a briefing Tuesday on the pending release of draft regulations for the scheme.
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Fate of mine hinges on definition of word
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/16/2008
The fate of a proposed open pit mine in northern British Columbia may hinge on how three judges of the Federal Court of Appeal define the word "project."
The proposed Red Chris mine would produce 30,000 tonnes of ore a day, and would turn fish-bearing streams into tailings impoundments laced with toxic waste.
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Maker of HPV Vaccine Under Fire
The Tyee
05/16/2008
While British Columbia Health Minister George Abbott was announcing the province will provide a controversial new vaccine starting in September with assurances that it is "safe," the American Food and Drug Administration was threatening to close the factory where it is made.
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Vancouver mayoral candidate tightlipped on carbon tax
Georgia Straight
05/16/2008
Both Gregor Robertson’s MLA Web site and his mayoral campaign site stress his environmental leanings. However, neither site has much to say on the carbon tax.
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Vancouver needs affordable housing: realtor
Vancouver Sun
05/16/2008
Demand for housing in downtown Vancouver will only increase over the next few years, and developers need to look at cheaper ways to build high-density condominium units, real estate marketer Bob Rennie told an audience of 700 developers and realtors Thursday at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
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Reduce salmon catches by 50 per cent, panel urges
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/16/2008
A scientific panel reviewing management of the Skeena River fishery has concluded that the ocean catch of some salmon stocks should be reduced by as much as 50 per cent and late-season commercial netting near the estuary should be restricted.
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Peak-Oil Spike Reshapes the Suburbs
Georgia Straight
05/15/2008
The reality of peak oil will see properties classified into two types in the near future, according to Simon Fraser University professor Anthony Perl.
One will be properties from which owners can get to work, leisure activities, and services predominantly by car. The other offers alternatives to the automobile such as public transit, biking, and walking.
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Crunchy Courtenay Opposes BC Carbon Tax
Victoria Times Colonist
05/15/2008
Courtenay city council, which frequently trumpets the city's green credentials, will send a letter to the province opposing the upcoming carbon tax.
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Vancouver, B.C. Mayoral Candidate Tightlipped on Carbon Tax
Georgia Straight
05/15/2008
Vancouver-Fairview NDP MLA Gregor Robertson won’t reveal if he’ll vote with NDP Leader Carole James in opposition to the B.C. Liberal carbon tax.
In a phone interview with the Georgia Straight from Victoria, Robertson, the one-term MLA and Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate, said he has not yet decided whether to support or reject B.C. Finance Minister Carole Taylor’s Carbon Tax Act, Bill 37, which currently sits at first reading in the legislature.
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New, Greener Development for Tsawwassen
Vancouver Sun
05/15/2008
Almost two decades ago a proposal to develop a swath of land in Tsawwassen known as the Spetifore Lands became synonymous -- rightly or wrongly -- with the evils of urban sprawl.
But today a different owner is promoting a new and greener future for the 307-hectare property, now called Southlands, one that would have small farms, compact neighborhoods and shops.
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Methane Extraction Threatens B.C. Rivers
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/15/2008
A new report released by the Pembina Institute raises fears about the possible impact of coal-bed methane extraction on three major salmon rivers in northwestern British Columbia.
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Blue Whale Skeleton Destined for UBC
Victoria Times Colonist
05/15/2008
Call it a whale of a job. The arduous task of unearthing a 26-metre female blue whale, buried here since 1987, began yesterday.
A team from the University of British Columbia arrived in the northwestern end of P.E.I. on Tuesday to take possession of the whale's skeleton.
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B.C. Grant Offers Homeless Housing
Victoria Times Colonist
05/15/2008
The Capital Regional District has approved a $270,000 grant to Pacifica Housing to provide 18 supportive-housing units for the homeless in an office building at 3293 Douglas St., near the Ukrainian Cultural Centre.
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Views: Vancouver Island Rail Bumped for Buses
Victoria Times Colonist
05/15/2008
The Island Corridor Foundation -- the best idea on Vancouver Island since the Nanaimo bypass -- won big at the casino yesterday.
Great Canadian Casino is donating $300,000 to help the non-profit foundation further its dream of a functioning rail and transportation corridor the length of the Island. But the rail may be nothing more than a dream, with more funding going to buses.
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U.S. Farm Bill Affects B.C. Lumber
Vancouver Sun
05/15/2008
The U.S. Congress passed a farm bill Wednesday that could wrap lumber imports from Canada in red tape and has the potential to impose limits beyond the restrictions already in the softwood lumber agreement.
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B.C. Business People Look at Homelessness
Victoria Times Colonist
05/14/2008
Yesterday, representatives of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce headed to Ottawa to call on the federal government to take more action on homelessness. No quibble that the top level of government needs to take a role in what is becoming a national embarrassment.
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B.C. Drafts Climate Initiative
Vancouver Sun
05/14/2008
As B.C. prepares to enter into a regional system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reporters were invited to a briefing Tuesday on the pending release of draft regulations for the scheme.
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Forestry Crisis Creates Political Opportunity in B.C.
CBC BC
05/14/2008
The crisis in B.C.'s forestry industry is shaping up to be a political opportunity for the province's official opposition party.
With B.C.'s next provincial election now just one year away, the NDP opposition says the Campbell government will pay a political price at the polls for policies that have left thousands unemployed in what was once B.C.'s No. 1 industry.
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Feral Rabbits to be Culled in Kelowna
CBC BC
05/14/2008
Kelowna city council has contracted a company to eliminate its exploding population of feral rabbits.
EBB Environmental Consultants won the contract on Monday with its bid to trap and kill hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of rabbits that have taken over the city's lawns and parks in recent years.
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Pushing Carpools Instead of Transit
Vancouver Sun
05/14/2008
With ridership growing on an already crowded system, TransLink won't be launching any advertising campaigns urging people to take public transit because of soaring gas prices.
But it is encouraging people to turn to carpooling, telecommuting and bicycling.
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B.C. Green Groups Praise Cap-and-Trade
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/14/2008
Two environmental groups based in Western Canada say the regional effort to develop a system to slap a price on harmful industrial greenhouse-gas emissions could ultimately form the basis for North America's best response to climate change.
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Osoyoos Band Signs Mining Agreement
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/14/2008
The entrepreneurial Osoyoos Indian Band in the Okanagan has signed its first formal mining agreement supporting a new gold and copper venture.
The agreement is intended to provide business and employment opportunities for band members, along with training assistance and revenue sharing.
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Green Sell: Do You Buy It?
The Tyee
05/14/2008
The evolution of green from a movement of zealots as fierce as anything politics and religion have spawned into a mainstream marketing phenomenon has been fascinating, but I've yet to decide if it is A Good Thing. Unfortunately, the EPIC trade show in Vancouver last month left me no more certain.
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