Tag Archives: Terrace

Energy, Politics

Carney supercharges BC’s northern grid with nation-building label

 Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the addition of the North Coast Transmission Line to his list of projects of national importance on Thursday.

The $6-billion transmission line in northern BC will now be fast-tracked by the Major Projects Office, developed by the federal government to speed proposals expected to boost Canada’s economy and lessen trade dependence with the United States and the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.

Continue reading Carney supercharges BC’s northern grid with nation-building label →
Energy

The B.C. agency overseeing oil and gas is about to get more powerful. Here’s why you should care

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporters

One of British Columbia’s government agencies is poised to get a lot more power.

Premier David Eby’s NDP government has just introduced legislation to give new responsibilities to the BC Energy Regulator (BCER), which oversees the province’s growing oil and gas sector and other energy projects.

The changes will put the regulator — largely funded by the oil and gas industry — in charge of fast-tracking renewable energy projects like wind and solar, along with the $3-billion North Coast transmission line that will power liquefied natural gas (LNG), mining and other industrial projects.

Continue reading The B.C. agency overseeing oil and gas is about to get more powerful. Here’s why you should care →
Health

Greater Campbell River Continues To Be Among BC’s worst Local Health Areas For Toxic Drug Deaths

Greater Campbell River continues to be one of the worst Local Health Areas in the province for unregulated drug deaths, according to the BC Coroner’s Service. Vancouver-Centre North, Terrace, Prince George and Grand Forks were also named.   

So far this year, 1,925 British Columbians have lost their lives because of unregulated drug use. 155 of them died in October. 

These numbers come on the heels of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s recently released State of Mental Health in Canada 2024, which reported that “32% of all apparent drug-related deaths in Canada occurred in British Columbia. This province is ground zero in the drug toxicity crisis. The high rates of housing insecurity and unaffordability, core housing need and poverty all contribute to these drug-related harms.” 

Continue reading Greater Campbell River Continues To Be Among BC’s worst Local Health Areas For Toxic Drug Deaths →
Energy

‘Hard to believe it’s real’: B.C.’s energy regulator repeatedly gave Coastal GasLink a pass on alleged environmental infractions

Editor’s note: Another account of how government regulators are not equipped to do their job and the resulting lack of oversight may be putting the public at risk.

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

When officials from the BC Energy Regulator travelled to Wet’suwet’en territory in September 2022, they were planning a routine inspection of a fish-bearing stream.

Two years had passed since Coastal GasLink completed installation of a section of pipeline through the stream, a tributary of Tchesinkut Creek, near the community of Burns Lake in northwest B.C.

They discovered Coastal GasLink had never finished restoring the waterway and, for two years, pipeline construction had been impacting fish habitat. It was a mess. 

Continue reading ‘Hard to believe it’s real’: B.C.’s energy regulator repeatedly gave Coastal GasLink a pass on alleged environmental infractions →
Rivers & Oceans

Death on the Coast: A Stormy Night, a Missing Tugboat

By  Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Troy Pearson had never wanted a job on land. On Feb. 10, 2021, he got up early to make a big breakfast for his wife, Judy Carlick-Pearson,  and their 11-year-old son who had an 8 a.m. hockey practice in Prince  Rupert. 

Pearson worked on tugboats  at Wainwright Marine, a tug and barge company in nearby Kitimat. He had  been on the water since he was a 10-year-old on his dad’s fishing boat,  but Carlick-Pearson said safety problems at work were keeping him up at  night. “He didn’t feel safe,” she said. 

Continue reading Death on the Coast: A Stormy Night, a Missing Tugboat →