Current Problems: Environment
Exploring Stakeholder: "Government of British Columbia"
Updates on this page: 81
April 4, 2024
Why Locking In Logging Deferrals to Save BC Old Growth Is So Slow
Three years into the plan, many First Nations continue discussing signing deferral agreements with the province. The Tyee: More than three years after announcing plans to defer logging of old-growth forests, the British Columbia government continues talking with many individual Indigenous nations about whether or not to move ahead with the deferrals proposed on their...
March 14, 2024
Gitanyow Condemns B.C. Government’s Move To Proceed With Ksi Lisims LNG Review
NationTalk: Gitanyow Lax’yip, March 14, 2024: Premier Eby’s push for the expansion of LNG development directly contradicts his promises on climate action, exacerbating the very crisis he claims to combat. The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs (GHC) condemn the Premier’s hypocrisy and dismissal of their plea to assess the impacts of the Ksi Lisims LNG project thoroughly....
February 29, 2024
The protection of wetlands is tied to Indigenous and human rights
Despite their ecological, social, cultural and economic importance, over the past two centuries wetlands have been systematically destroyed for industrial, commercial and residential development. First Peoples Law Report: Rabble.ca, David Suzuki – In his 1972 non-fiction book No Name in the Street, James Baldwin asked, “Does the law exist for the purpose of furthering the ambitions...
February 27, 2024
Report finds deficient communication with First Nations during hazardous spills
On Oct. 21, 2021 the Zim Kingston encountered stormy weather while entering the Juan de Fuca Strait, resulting in 109 40-foot shipping containers falling overboard. Just four containers were recovered after they washed up on west Vancouver Island in the days following, while fridges, sofas, clothing, toys, industrials parts and various other items collected on...
February 16, 2024
First Nation challenges LNG project over climate, salmon concerns
An artist’s rendering of the Ksi Lisims LNG project in northern B.C. Screenshot Canada’s National Observer – Gitanyow is prepared to challenge Ksi Lisims, even through the courts, over what they say is “one-sided and industry-driven” consultation on its LNG project in northern B.C. The nation is concerned about the climate and environmental impacts, particularly...
January 30, 2024
Eyes turn to B.C. as U.S. pauses approval of LNG projects
Canada’s National Observer: Climate advocates are calling on Canada to follow the lead of U.S. president Joe Biden and pause Canadian liquified natural gas projects. Joe Biden in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. Wikimedia Commons / https://www.instagram.com/p/-4GT-WFwUS Listen to article Calls from climate advocates to follow the lead of the United States and pause Canadian liquified...
January 29, 2024
15 Fairy Creek land defenders sued for $10M by Teal-Jones
Defendants say the lawsuit is meant to silence old growth activists A road blockade at Fairy Creek. Photo: Harley Gordon / Capital Daily The Tyee: Capital Daily – Things have been quiet lately in the Fairy Creek watershed. Logging in the area has been deferred until 2025 and the injunction that prevented protesters from blocking...
January 26, 2024
First Nations question the economic toll of shipping through the Salish Sea
T’Sou-ke First Nation Chief Gordon Planes says shipping in the Salish Sea shouldn’t be free given the environmental impacts. Photo Rochelle Baker / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: Tsawout First Nation councillor John Paul Etzel stood up and posed a central question for hundreds of people gathered this week to preserve the...
January 21, 2024
Federal Green deputy leader convicted of criminal contempt for Fairy Creek logging blockades
Angela Davidson participated in Fairy Creek protests that tried to block logging on Vancouver Island The Tyee: Victoria Times Colonist, – Federal Green Party deputy leader Angela Davidson — also known as Rainbow Eyes — has been convicted of seven counts of criminal contempt for her participation in the Fairy Creek logging blockades on Vancouver...
January 10, 2024
Canada’s next big LNG project may be the sleeper climate issue of 2024
A delegate is silhouetted while walking past the ExxonMobil booth during the LNG2023 conference, in Vancouver, B.C., Monday, July 10, 2023. Photo by: The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: One of the biggest climate stories in Canada in 2024 might well prove to be a project that, so far at least, few...
December 15, 2023
The Case of the Ghostly Trestle
On the northern Sunshine Coast, a popular lake preserves the remnants of early settler history The Tyee: A few summers ago, my friend Nola took me paddle boarding at Haslam Lake, in one of the more accessible recreational forest areas surrounding what is currently known as Powell River, B.C. We drove down a logging road...
December 13, 2023
Exclusive: Docs Blocked by BC NDP Raise Questions about First Nation Statement on Fairy Creek Protests
The Pacheedaht First Nation’s statement was an ideological bomb for protesters and their supporters. Was it influenced by the BC government? Joshua Wright / Wikimedia Commons NationTalk: The Walrus – IN THE SPRING of 2021, all eyes were on Fairy Creek, Vancouver Island. The valley, which contained one of the largest unbroken tracts of old-growth forest...
November 29, 2023
Balancing Indigenous perspectives and international policies at COP28
There are a wide range of perspectives from Canada headed to the UN climate conversation People walk near a logo for the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) APTN News: A major annual international climate meeting kicks off tomorrow in Dubai, in the United Arab...
October 30, 2023
Forest range licence renewed without consultation, First Nation says
Halfway River First Nation says the provincial government has failed to consult with them over a forest tenure range located at the Crystal Springs Ranch. First Nations Law Report: Halfway River First Nation has filed a B.C. Supreme Court petition to protect their treaty rights, following a provincial licence renewal for a forest tenure range located...
October 18, 2023
Climate change solutions need to keep Indigenous knowledge at centre of approach
“It all comes down to resources…Resources are very important to be able to do what we need to do to work together.” —interim National Chief Joanna Bernard AFN Quebec-Labrador Regional Chief Ghislain Picard Windspeaker.com:The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) has released its National Climate Strategy and is calling on all levels of government to “make...
October 13, 2023
Former B.C. mining exec fined $30K for environmental violations — but First Nation says damage costs far more
Yellow Giant mine released excess waste water into wetland and waterways on Gitxaała territory in 2015 CBC Indigenous: The former executive of a now-bankrupt mining company has been fined nearly $30,000 for environmental violations dating back to 2015 — an amount that has led to competing appeals from both sides. The charges follow a July 7 ruling...
October 12, 2023
First Nation in B.C. ‘furious’ after federal government rejects order to protect owls
This June 1995 file photo taken in Point Reyes, Calif., shows a northern spotted owl. The chief of a British Columbia First Nation says members of his community are “furious” after the federal government reversed course on an emergency order to protect the endangered northern spotted owl. Photo: Tom Gallagher/The Canadian Press. APTN News: The...
October 4, 2023
Coastal Gaslink Is Facing 11 More Potential Fines
The company’s current total for penalties is $800,000. But that number is likely to grow. The Tyee: B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office says it’s still considering nearly a dozen administrative penalties against the Coastal GasLink pipeline after issuing its heftiest fine so far to the project last month. The recent fine, for $340,000, was a result...
October 3, 2023
B.C. Ombudsperson says the province needs Indigenous-led disaster relief services
The B.C. Ombudsperson report calls the provinces current disaster program “outdated” and “poorly communicated” Lytton 2021 after the wildfire. Photo: APTN file. APTN News: A new report from British Columbia’s ombudsperson says emergency support programs for those forced from their homes during the 2021 floods and wildfires are outdated, rely on volunteers working long hours,...
September 25, 2023
Governments grappling with ‘cumulative impacts’ in environmental assessments
Forging partnerships with Indigenous groups can be a remedy for regulatory uncertainty, say lawyers NationTalk: LEXPERT: Business of Law – The concept of “cumulative impacts” in environmental assessments is the latest milestone as consent and collaboration requirements evolve in project development, say lawyers advising energy sector players on Indigenous consultation. In June 2021, the BC...
September 25, 2023
Why First Nations Bear the Brunt of BC’s Drought
If we’re serious about the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we need water policy reform. The Tyee: The state of drought in British Columbia is at a critical point, and government officials are watering down their responsibility to act. This points to widespread governmental policy failures in climate change, forest and mining...
September 22, 2023
Coastal GasLink fined $340,000 for erosion, sediment control challenges
The Globe and Mail: Coastal GasLink has been fined $340,000 by the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office for issues related to erosion and sediment control. Coastal GasLink, which is owned by Calgary-based TC Energy Corp. TRP-T +0.64%increase, said the fines stem from four inspections of its ongoing pipeline construction project that occurred in April and May of 2022....
September 6, 2023
First Nations people say devastation from B.C. wildfires threatens cultural identity
Fires affecting access to traditional foods, medicines CBC News: Most of Mike McKenzie’s summers were spent hunting moose and deer out of his family’s camp near his community of Skeetchestn, near Kamloops, B.C. But it’s been a long time since McKenzie has done this. “It’s too dangerous,” said McKenzie, about record-breaking heat and longer, more intense fire seasons. ...
September 5, 2023
Did a High-Profile Wildfire Review Lead to Real Change?
Five years later, the co-chairs say much more action is needed. Andrew MacLeod 5 Sep 2023The Tyee Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria and the author of All Together Healthy (Douglas & McIntyre, 2018). Find him on Twitter or reach him at amacleod@thetyee.ca. NationTalk: the Tyee – Maureen Chapman, co-chair of a review five years ago into...
August 29, 2023
BCFNEMC and FNLC Call for Moratorium on Placer Mining in British Columbia
NationTalk: (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) )originally published on August 28) The BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council (BCFNEMC) and the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) urgently call on the British Columbia government to immediately impose a moratorium on placer mining claims and leases as highlighted in a recently released report prepared for...
August 29, 2023
30 years after Clayoquot Sound protests, old-growth logging continues unabated: B.C. conservation group
Forest management in region since so-called War of the Woods should be model for rest of B.C., critics say Chad Pawson · CBC News · Posted: Aug 29, 2023 6:13 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago CBC News: The Sierra Club of B.C. says the logging of large old trees in verdant, biodiverse forests on Vancouver Island...
August 23, 2023
Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Calls for Support for First Nations Communities Affected by Wildfires in B.C. and N.W.T.
NationTalk: Ottawa, ON – The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Interim National Chief Joanna Bernard is urgently calling for increased support in response to wildfires in British Columbia (B.C.) and the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.), for the affected First Nations individuals and communities, including in the city of Yellowknife, nearby communities of Ndilo, Dettah, and the...
July 20, 2023
New forest surveillance system exposes ongoing old growth logging in British Columbia, amid ongoing calls for transparency
Stand.earth Research Group’s ‘Forest Eye’ combines government data with remote sensing and satellite imagery to send the public alerts about recent logging in old growth forests in proposed deferral areas NationTalk: xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Territories (Vancouver, BC) – Award-winning researchers launched a bespoke data mapping tool today exposing the state of of old...
July 14, 2023
Wildfires are disproportionately harming Indigenous communities
CTV News: Canadian wildfires are disproportionately affecting Indigenous people at a greater rate than non-Indigenous Canadians, a recent report finds. The audit published in June by Indigenous Services Canada and authored by a Metis fire researcher, found that in the past 13 years, Indigenous communities had more than 1,300 wildfire-related emergencies leading to more than...
June 14, 2023
During the worst wildfire season this century, Indigenous communities need to consider their participation in resource extraction: says researcher
37 per cent of the total burned forest area in Western Canada and the United States between 1986 and 2021 can be traced back to 88 major fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers. ‘These fires are a culmination of ongoing resource extraction projects’ says climate researcher APTN News: In light of increasing extreme weather and...
May 17, 2023
Tracing the toxic impact of B.C. coal mining
Concern is mounting over the effects of B.C. mines on aquatic life, with Indigenous groups, scientists and environmentalists in Canada and the U.S. saying action cannot be delayed. CBC News: South of the border, in Bonners Ferry, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho is working to restore the population of Kootenai River white sturgeon. The landlocked...
May 11, 2023
More needs to be done to involve First Nations in emergency management, says Indigenous leader
Province says it is working to modernize emergency management legislation CBC News: Provincial and local authorities need to do more to involve First Nations in their emergency management plans, says Stó:lo Tribal Council Chief Tyrone McNeil. McNeil says the B.C. government is not providing enough direction to local and regional governments on how to work...
April 18, 2023
Fairy Creek old-growth protesters celebrate as a slew of contempt charges are withdrawn
Decision comes after earlier court ruling found RCMP did not properly read the injunction to protesters CBC News: The B.C. Prosecution Service says it has withdrawn contempt charges against 11 old-growth logging protesters accused of breaching a court injunction during blockades at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island. Spokesperson Gordon Comer says prosecutors were in court Tuesday to...
March 21, 2023
Why BC Needs a Climate Fund for First Nations
COP27 created a global loss and damages fund. David Eby’s government should do the same. The Tyee: COP27 ended in November with a historic agreement to establish a “loss and damages” fund to address the impacts of climate change on the most vulnerable nations. Given the disasters B.C. has faced over the last couple of years, is...
March 16, 2023
We Need to Talk about Private Forest Lands
A gap in government protection is undermining Indigenous rights and environmental protection. The Tyee: The B.C. government has been roundly applauded for removing a key word from the provincial regulations governing forest planning. For two decades the word “unduly” has limited the protection of so-called “non-timber” values in B.C. forests. Wildlife habitat, soil, biodiversity and...
March 11, 2023
Sitting on a carbon bomb
CBC News: Under the ground in the B.C. Peace lies Canada’s largest potential source of greenhouse gases. Some want to leave it there. Others say we need the energy. One First Nation is uniquely positioned to play a key role. Elder Jerry Davis pulls his pickup truck over to the side of a road on...
March 10, 2023
Canada, home to a massive boreal forest, lobbied to limit U.S., EU anti-deforestation bills
Canada’s boreal forest covers 270 million hectares, spanning from Yukon through to N.L. CBC News: Canada is facing international criticism for undermining efforts to protect one of the world’s last primary forests — our own. Jennifer Skene, natural climate solutions policy manager for the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), accuses the Canadian government of...
March 7, 2023
Indigenous chiefs fly to Ottawa in rival moves as salmon farm battle intensifies
The Globe and Mail: Indigenous chiefs representing B.C. Indigenous communities came to Ottawa on Tuesday to make opposing arguments about whether open-net salmon farms should be able to continue off the coast or be closed and moved to tanks on land. As the battle over the future of ocean-based salmon farms off the coast of British...
March 6, 2023
A First Nation’s Quest to Know Why Their Cemetery Was Flooded
After water invaded Kwikwetlem burial grounds, the long journey towards a solution. A Tyee special report. The Tyee: George Chaffee walked to the burial site with his brother and a pair of shovels. Their choices for where to make the grave were limited, given the sprawling traditional territory of the Kwikwetlem First Nation had been...
February 24, 2023
One fish, two fish, red fish, dead fish? Feds fail to disclose Coastal GasLink data on salmon eggs, habitat
Pipeline contractors estimated there were at least 273,000 salmon eggs in a Wet’suwet’en river crossing. Fisheries and Oceans Canada said it was ‘impossible to confirm’ The Narwhal: Shannon McPhail said she felt like the “world’s biggest schmuck” after reading an email from a senior official at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The official told her it...
February 17, 2023
Fisheries department to shut 15 salmon farms off B.C.’s coast to protect wild fish
The Globe and Mail: Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray has announced the federal government will not renew licences for 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms around British Columbia’s Discovery Islands. Murray says in a news release the Discovery Islands area is a key migration route for wild salmon where narrow passages bring migrating juvenile salmon into close...
February 4, 2023
Pacific Coast Indigenous nations see a glimmer of hope for the future of salmon
Habitat loss decimated salmon populations. Indigenous communities are working to bring them back CBC News: Brook Thompson grew up along the shores of the Klamath River in Northern California, where her family would spend their summers camping and catching salmon. “It’s where I got a lot of connection about my culture and my family history,”...
January 20, 2023
‘Crush you like a bug’: BC Hydro’s Site C lawsuit targets farmers, First Nations
The suit brought against peaceful opponents of the most expensive hydro dam in Canadian history has the hallmarks of a strategic lawsuit meant to silence and intimidate critics, according to experts The Narwhal: In the basement of Yvonne Tupper’s home, in northeast B.C., sits a banker’s box filled with papers from a Site C dam civil lawsuit...
January 20, 2023
B.C. announces cumulative impact agreements with Treaty 8 First Nations
LANDMARK DEAL WITH TREATY 8 NationTalk: Castanet – The B.C. government has reached four new agreements with Treaty 8 First Nations to address the cumulative impacts and future planning of industrial development in the northeast. The agreements provide hundreds of millions of dollars for land restoration and resource revenue sharing, and lays the groundwork to...
January 16, 2023
Federal fisheries officers investigate Coastal GasLink pipeline project
The Globe and Mail: Work on the contentious Coastal GasLink pipeline is under investigation by federal fisheries officers, as construction pushes through sensitive salmon-bearing rivers. The B.C. Environmental Assessment Office has already issued dozens of regulatory warnings and orders, as well as fines, for the 670-kilometre-long, $11.2-billion project. Dan Bate, spokesman for the Department of...
January 4, 2023
The Sacred Balance: Learning from Indigenous Peoples
We are no more removed from nature than any other creature, even in the midst of a large city. Our animal nature dictates our essential needs: clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean energy. NationTalk: Rabble.ca. David Suzikii The following is adapted from the prologue to the 25th anniversary edition of The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our...
December 8, 2022
Tahltan’s decades-long struggle to protect Sacred Headwaters
David Suzuki Foundation: That’s just one of many revelations in the powerful new film The Klabona Keepers, about the Tahltan Nation’s struggle to protect the Sacred Headwaters, or Klabona, from mining. (The film, co-directed by my grandson Tamo Campos, is a collaboration between non-Indigenous filmmakers and Indigenous elders, who were given ownership of the intellectual property....
November 2, 2022
Tensions rise as Coastal GasLink blasts a creek near a Wet’suwet’en camp
Questions and concerns about salmon, steelhead and the health of the river remain unaddressed as TC Energy continues construction of its gas pipeline The Coastal GasLink pipeline crosses more than 700 watercourses on its 670-kilometre-route. The crossing of Ts’elkay Kwe (Lamprey Creek) involves blasting to clear a path and excavating a trench directly through the...
October 23, 2022
Coastal GasLink in hot water over pipeline environmental violations
Vancouver SUN: TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline project is in hot water with British Columbia’s environmental regulator for failing to meet the conditions of a compliance agreement that was supposed to correct a lengthening history of violations of the project’s environmental permit. The Environmental Assessment Office posted an order to its website late Friday, issued...
October 21, 2022
First Nations angered by delays in joint probe of cross-border contamination from coal mines
Globe News: First Nations and environmentalists say they are angry the federal and British Columbia governments continue to stonewall American requests for a joint investigation of cross-border contamination from coal mining as meetings of the panel that mediates such issues wrap up. “They can sit on every fence they want, but at the end of the day,...
October 13, 2022
‘Salmon are the heartbeat of our coast, our people, everything around us’
Coastal First Nations Community Storyteller Emilee Gilpin in conversation with Haíɫzaqv cultural leader and conservation manager Dúqva̓ísḷa, William Housty on Oct 11, 2022. Audio clips of the interview are included throughout the story. NationTalk: A shocking video of over 65,000 dead pink and chum salmon in Heiltsuk territory spread across social media last week and...
October 4, 2022
Put out wildfires before they begin with Indigenous fire stewardship
The Keremeos Creek wildfire southwest of Penticton, British Columbia on July 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Don Denton Canadian governments need to better engage with Indigenous fire stewardship to counter increased wildfire occurrence and severity Policy Options: by James Michael Collie, Hannah Verrips After the Keremeos Creek wildfire swept through the southern Interior of British Columbia in August,...
August 30, 2022
‘Trying to save our fish’: B.C. First Nations appeal a court ruling in an attempt to restore the Nechako River
Saik’uz and Stellat’en First Nations have been fighting for the health of the watershed for over a decade. A dam operated by Rio Tinto Alcan and regulated by the province continues to devastate sturgeon and salmon populations The Narwhal: Seventy years ago, B.C. approved a hydroelectric project that would irreversibly alter an entire watershed and...
August 23, 2022
Multiple Threats to Pacific Salmon Fishery: Canada and BC double funding and extend pacific salmon program
Vancouver, BC – Improving the health of Pacific salmon and ensuring a sustainable fishing sector is a priority for both the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia. Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Joyce Murray and the BC Minister of Land, Water, and Resource Stewardship,...
June 29, 2022
Enforcement operation near Lake Cowichan
NationTalk: Since early June 2022, the BC RCMP, through the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) and Division Liaison Team (DLT), have been involved in ongoing discussions with the impacted First Nations communities – Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht and Pacheedaht – regarding their concerns over a protest camp that has been placed across Haddon Main and Carrmanah Mainline Forest...
June 23, 2022
Protesters Ordered to Remove Illegal Camp and Respect Indigenous Sovereignty and Provincial Authorizations
Nitinaht, Traditional Ditidaht First Nation Territory, B.C. – Indigenous leaders from the Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht and Pacheedaht First Nations met with protesters today to give final notice to immediately dismantle an illegal camp built across a main logging road on Ditidaht Traditional Territory in Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 44 on Vancouver Island. The Nations’ elected and hereditary...
April 18, 2022
Multiple Threats to Pacific Salmon Fishery
NationTalk: The First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance (“FNWSA”) is deeply troubled with the revelations set out in an article featured on the front page of today’s Globe and Mail which identifies that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (“DFO”), under the Harper administration, withheld critical science related to the existence of a highly transmissible...
January 9, 2022
Indigenous Rights: Conservation vs Logging: Fairy Creek
Toronto Star: The Indigenous-led Fairy Creek protest on southern Vancouver Island, active since August 2020 and with 1,188 arrests, so far, is the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. The RCMP has reportedly spent $6.8 million on policing in 2021, cycling in officers from round the province for one- to three-week stints. Pacheedaht...
December 1, 2021
Indigenous Rights: Conservation vs Logging: Fairy Creek
NationTalk – First Nations leaders from across B.C. and Technical Advisory Panel member Dr. Rachel Holt called on the provincial government to take faster action to protect threatened old-growth forests and commit the resources necessary to support First Nations through this process with immediate deferrals. Following the government’s announcement of its intention to defer 2.6...
September 9, 2021
Indigenous Rights: Conservation vs Logging: Fairy Creek
Ricochet – “Double standard: B.C. requires Indigenous consent for forest conservation but not logging”. Among the specific recommendations in an independent report “A New Future for Old Forests: A Strategic Review of How British Columbia Manages for Old Forests Within its Ancient Ecosystems” is the deferral of logging in all at-risk old-growth forests in B.C....
August 17, 2021
BC Government ignores First Nations Forest Strategy
Tŝilhqot’in, Lake Babine & Carrier Sekani Territories: Our Nations call on the Province to significantly rethink and revise the Forestry Intentions Paper content that is intended to address Crown Indigenous reconciliation, and commit to a process to co-draft a revised version of the Paper with our Nations, other interested First Nations, and the First Nations...
March 26, 2021
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
The AFN, based on direction from the Chiefs-in-Assembly, intervened in this case, as well as court cases in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta, arguing the Government of Canada has a direct legal obligation to recognize Aboriginal and Treaty rights in any legislative efforts to address climate change....
March 25, 2021
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
Westaway Law Group – The majority judges noted that climate change “has had particularly serious effects on Indigenous peoples, threatening the ability of Indigenous communities in Canada to sustain themselves and maintain their traditional ways of life.” [para 11] They also acknowledged that, “the effects of climate change are and will continue to be experienced...
March 25, 2021
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
Supreme Court finds that the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act 2018 is constitutional....
March 4, 2021
The Narwhal – Response to the Milburn review
The Narwhal as flagged the following as major problems: 50 per cent of the $5B increase to $16B in project costs are due to geotechnical issues relating to the unstable valley prone to large landslides and the COVID-19 pandemic. But the other 50 per cent of the cost increase was not revealed. Every single independent...
February 26, 2021
Milburn Review of Site C Dam
BC Government – The Province has released the Milburn review (Oct. 10, 2020), with 17 recommendations aimed at improving oversight and governance. Government and BC Hydro have accepted all the recommendations. The review focused on four areas: Governance and Oversight Geotechnical issues Risk Construction Supervision and Claims Management https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Milburn_Summary_Review.pdf...
February 16, 2021
BC Government ignores First Nations Forest Strategy
BC First Nations Forestry Council – The Forest Stewardship Council of Canada (FSC) has announced their full support of the BC First Nations Forest Strategy (the ‘Forest Strategy’). Released in May 2019, the Forest Strategy was developed in collaboration with the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development (MFLNRORD) to advance...
January 29, 2021
Multiple threats to Pacific salmon fishery
The Province – K̓áwáziɫ Marilyn Slett — Chief Councillor of the Heiltsuk Nation, President of Coastal First Nations and co-chair of the Wild Salmon Advisory Council to British Columbia — describes the urgency of the salmon crisis and the immediate need for collective action. The importance of healthy salmon populations for coastal First Nations cannot...
January 13, 2021
Opposition to Imperial Metals Mining permit in the Skagit Watershed
NationTalk – An international coalition of more than 200 conservation, recreation and wildlife groups as well as local elected officials, businesses and Tribes and First Nations opposing a pending mining permit by Imperial Metals in the headwaters of the Skagit River continues to grow. Letter to British Columbia Premier John Horgan signed by 108 U.S....
November 18, 2020
Climate Crisis and First Nations Right to Food
The Narwhal – Human Rights Watch released “My Fear is Losing Everything: Climate Crisis and First Nations’ Right to Food in Canada“. The report details how longer and more intense forest fire seasons, permafrost degradation, volatile weather patterns and increased levels of precipitation are all affecting wildlife habitat and, in turn, harvesting efforts. The report...
November 16, 2020
BC Government ignores First Nations Forest Strategy
NationTalk – [Op-Ed] BC First Nations in Forestry: What Does Commitment Mean? – In several letters sent to BC First Nations in 2018 and 2019 the Government committed to involving Nations in the development of forest policy, including legislative and regulatory review. Regardless of these commitments, the BC Government made significant changes to forest policies...
October 20, 2020
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
Toronto Star – The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) reserved judgement on whether the federal government’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act 2018 (GGPPA) is constitutional following hearings on September 22 and 23 with the United Chiefs and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising (UCCMM), along with the Anishinabek Nation (AN), granted intervener status. The GGPPA sets minimum...
August 10, 2020
Mount Polley Mine Tailings disaster
“Safety First” a new report by Earthworks and MiningWatch Canada recommends that all new mine tailing ponds be constructed using filtered tailings storage, otherwise known as dry-stack tailings. When filtered tailings are not an option, at the very least better dam construction needs to be required by regulators, Safety First states. The reports notes the...
July 24, 2020
Coastal GasLink ignores Environmental Assessment Act
Unist’ot’en – BC’s Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO) has issued a non-compliance after Coastal GasLink clears pipeline Right of Way through hundreds of wetlands without environmental fieldwork. There are nearly 300 of these protected wetlands along the pipeline route, and Coastal GasLink’s “Qualified Professionals” have neglected to develop site-specific mitigation for any of them. Nearly 80%...
July 15, 2020
Bill 17 Clean Energy Act ignores First Nations
The amendment of Bill 17, proposed in June, raises alarming concerns that the NDP government has no intention of honouring the principles of the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), despite proclaiming it to be a cornerstone of its mandate. Many of the UNDRIP principles speak to the importance of consent...
August 9, 2019
Multiple threats to Pacific salmon fishery
BC Assembly of First Nations – Failure to issue a closure to all marine and recreational Fraser River salmon fishing due to the Big Bar Landslide near Lillooet. On June 21, 2019 a large land slide was discovered in a remote part of the Fraser River, which is considered one of the most sacred rivers...
August 1, 2019
Mount Polley Mine Tailings disaster
BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council – released “Reducing the Risks of Mining Disasters in BC: How Financial Assurance can Help”. Based on the analysis presented in this report, we make one overarching recommendation to British Columbia policy-makers and two supporting ones. 6.1 Main recommendation Require hard financial assurance against the risk of mining...
May 1, 2019
BC Government ignores First Nations Forest Strategy
BC First Nations Forest Strategy (Draft) May 2019 Guiding principles To advance reconciliation by recognizing First Nations as governments with an increasing role in the governance and stewardship of forest lands and resources in BC; NOT ADDRESSED To honour and move forward on the commitments made by the Province to fully implement the United Nations...
December 1, 2018
Failure to protect Woodland Cariboo
Government of Canada – “Progress Report on Steps Taken to Protect Critical Habitat for the Woodland Caribou” indicates little progress is being made toward conservation. Meanwhile, provinces continue to issue permits for energy and forestry developments that do not comply with Species At Risk Act (SARA) , placing caribou at even greater risk. (David Suzuki...
November 3, 2017
Canadian Council of Ministers of the Envronment must include Indigenous views
Assembly of First Nations – First Nations must be full participants in all meetings of Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) to ensure their voices are heard in environmental and climate change solutions. “Reconciliation has to include respect for our Elder’s traditional knowledge and our understanding of the lands and waters, the animals...
August 14, 2014
Mount Polley Mine Tailings disaster
The Mount Polley mine tailings dam collapsed, releasing 25 million cubic metres of contaminated mining waste. The massive spill destroyed or affected over 2.6 million square meters of aquatic and riparian habitats over a 10-km distance. Imperial Metals did not even pay the full cost of the clean-up. British Columbians and Canadians picked up a...
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