Only three First Nations speakers turn up for federal Indigenous pipeline consultation in Vancouver, B.C.
We don't trust the process, says UBCIC Grand Chief Stewart Phillip
"I attended three consultations and the consensus is clear. The people do not consent to pipelines in our backyards," says Melanie Mark, first Indigenous women elected as an MLA in B.C.
Internal documents show B.C. Hydro officials have had concerns since at least 2009 that earthquakes triggered by fracking are a potential risk to its Peace River dams.
August 16, 2016 - The electricity-generating dams in northeastern B.C. include one of the largest earth dams in the world, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, as well as the smaller Peace Canyon Dam, and the $9-billion Site-C dam, which is under construction.
The Crown agency has not discussed the issue publicly.
Northeastern B.C. sits on an ocean of natural gas. But so do Montana, North Dakota and New York State, so the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian gas.
That’s why the B.C. government put so much energy into opening up new markets for B.C. gas in Asia in its bid to to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.
But one by one, LNG proposals have been falling like dominoes as companies have shelved or deferred projects.
Oil tanker approval would betray written commitment by Liberals.
Sitting in a Burnaby hotel ballroom this week across from three sheepish federal pipeline panelists, I couldn’t help but remember a conversation I had with Justin Trudeau one year ago. “All I want to know,” I asked at a campaign stop, “is does your NEB overhaul apply to Kinder Morgan?”
[Editor's note: Following is one of the many great presentations made to the Ministerial Panel in Burnaby on August 9, 10, and 11. In general the presentations were intelligent, very well researched, and presented with great passion. I was there for most of the day on Wednesday and most of the afternoon/evening on Thursday and I heard no presentations that supported the expansion but many that agreed with Gene that the panel was a sham!]
Presentation – Ministerial Panel – Aug. 10, 2016 – Burnaby, BC
Review panel member says her past with Kinder Morgan is no big deal.
July 19, 2016 - Imagine in the middle of a murder trial, it turned out one of the jurors was friends with the accused. The judge would have to call a mistrial and start over.
In June, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the federal government’s approval of the controversial Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, which would ship diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands through the Great Bear Rainforest to the British Columbia coast.
North America has a serious problem with climate change. And the effects are being felt now.
It's apparent in the California drought, atmospheric rivers that have caused massive flooding in Toronto and Calgary, and the lengthening forest-fire season.
This year, parts of Fort McMurray burned down in early May. In May! Not July or August.
Just two months after federal government officials got a standing ovation at the United Nations for embracing a declaration on indigenous rights, the Liberals are facing criticism for issuing authorizations for Site C – a massive dam in northeast B.C. that some First Nations say will harm their way of life.
“It’s an absolute betrayal,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.
The Monad building, a collection of four apartments clustered around an interior courtyard, is one of the city’s most environmentally friendly buildings.
(Nic Lehoux)
July 29, 2016 - The modest four-storey building facing a park in Vancouver’s popular Kitsilano neighbourhood looks unmistakably modern compared to its neighbours.
But just a look from the outside doesn’t show off what is truly different.
