A legal battle between the City of Burnaby and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has ended with the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruling the National Energy Board can override municipal bylaws.
[Webpage editor: 'Side' with Mayors? Why not oppose and publicly campaign against this expensive, anti-transit, pro-LNG project?]
March 17, 2017 - The B.C. New Democrats will side with Metro mayors wary about a proposed $3.5-billion bridge over the Fraser River if they win power in the looming provincial election.
The winds of resistance from Standing Rock blew into Washington D.C. last week, as indigenous leaders brought their demands directly to the door of the Trump administration.
CTV Vancouver Island
Published Friday, March 10, 2017 3:20PM PST
Last Updated Friday, March 10, 2017 5:39PM PST
The Canadian Coast Guard responded to an oil spill off the north coast of Vancouver Island, the second spill in the area in a week.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada says a crew was dispatched Friday afternoon to an area near the Port Harvey Marina, south of Port McNeill.
Members will deploy sorbent pads if necessary as an initial response measure, B.C.'s Ministry of Environment said.
Over the past few years, Oregon and Washington fended off several proposals to build enormous fracked fuel and petrochemical terminals on their coasts.
Some directly affected residents and groups along the proposed expansion route have concerns in regard to the route, timing or construction methods. For instance many residents of Chilliwack are concerned about the risks to the aquifers which supply their drinking water. Some in Abbotsford are concerned about the close proximity of the expansion route to aggregate mine blasting.
A coalition of First Nations, environmentalists, doctors and other community leaders are calling on the British Columbia government to launch a judicial inquiry into mining, given flaws they have cited in oversight of the industry.
“It’s in the public interest to do it. We have had repeated instances where it has been shown that the regulatory system has failed,” said Calvin Sandborn, legal director of the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre, which has helped rally the coalition.
The problem of corporate influence in politics and government is heating up in BC as we head towards the May election. 2017 kicked off with an explosive story in the New York Times, aptly titled “British Columbia: The Wild West of Canadian Political Cash.” The story drew widespread attention to the complete absence of limits in BC on political donations by wealthy corporations and individuals, including foreign donations and contributions from outside the province.
