British Columbia

The power mavens have already pronounced its energy too costly to warrant construction. You’d think that would be the end of it. But no. BC Hydro and its masters in Victoria remain doggedly committed to the construction of the Site C Dam to power the export of Canadian energy.

A recent BC Hydro poll suggests British Columbians are split on the issue. More correctly, British Columbians are in the dark when it comes to the public policy implications of Site C.

It’s time to start using the F-word. The F word is food.

VANCOUVER — The Canadian Press’s list of charities being audited for political activities by the Canada Revenue Agency reads suspiciously like a Who’s Who of the Canadian left.

There’ll be 272 new seats in trades programs at the B.C. Institute of Technology this September, and the provincial government says they’ll help equip students to work in the proposed liquefied natural gas industry.

Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk said Monday the Burnaby, B.C.-based institution will receive a total of $1.35-million to pay for the new positions and some minor equipment, and there’ll be similar announcements in the coming weeks across the province as the government rolls out its Skills for Jobs Blueprint.

In the transition towards a post-carbon future, infrastructure built today for fossil fuels could easily become stranded assets which burden investors and taxpayers with sunk costs. The proposal to build coal shipment facilities at Fraser Surrey Docks and Texada Island for U.S.-mined thermal coal is at risk of becoming B.C.’s version of Mirabel Airport in Quebec ­ underused infrastructure built for a future which never arrived.

Enbridge is facing a startling number of new First Nations lawsuits, challenging the constitutionality of the Harper’s government decision in June to approve the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline.  

Eight First Nations -- from Haida Gwaii to Yinka Dene territory west of Prince George – have launched legal challenges, since Friday.  Nine more, were launched earlier this year, said the West Coast Environmental Law organization.

The B.C. government has written directly to about 60 hereditary chiefs of the Gitxsan First Nation, outlining a multimillion-dollar gas-pipeline benefits deal.

In the letter, the government offers the Gitxsan about $12-million, plus a signing bonus of over $2-million, if it will allow two pipelines to cross territorial lands.

Port officials in Prince Rupert are watching a bulk carrier very closely, and the Transportation Board of Canada (TSB) have deployed a team to assess the situation, after the ship ran aground late Monday night near the entrance to the harbour on B.C.'s North Coast.

The 228-metre Amakusa Island was about 15 kilometres from Ridley Island, the coal-loading facility south of Prince Rupert.

A healthy majority of First Nations in British Columbia have joined the opposition to federal government approval of the Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline, arguing that it fails to respect the human rights of Indigenous peoples and violates Canada's legal obligations under both federal and international law. In particular, the "right to exclusive use and occupation of land" and the "right to choose to what uses land can be put" -- is specifically excluded from Joint Review Panel's mandate.

A new study suggests the Supreme Court of Canada ruling to extend Aboriginal territorial rights will mean a more active role for government to ensure oil and gas development.

It's hard to believe the current federal government could do more to actively promote Prime Minister Stephen Harper's longstated ambition for Canada to be a "global energy superpower" but that's what the Fraser Institute predicted in a report Thursday.