The Connection Between Suicide and Environmental Destruction

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Contaminated Waste Site Inappropriate for Shawnigan Lake Watershed, B.C. Supreme Court Rules

The steady stream of trucks filled with contaminated waste that have been making their way to the small community of Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island for the last 10 months will come to a stop after the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the province erred in granting a waste disposal permit for 460 Stebbings Road.

The B.C. Supreme Court ruled “a contaminated soil treatment facility is not a permitted use on the property” after finding the provincial Ministry of Environment granted a waste discharge permit to South Island Aggregates in August 2013 that violated local bylaws. Read more.

Want To Reduce Suicide in Native Communities? Step 1: Stop Destroying Native Land

For the past couple weeks, Canadians have been wringing their hands about the suicide epidemic in the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Cross Lake, Manitoba.

Much of the blame has been placed on historic injustices — the very real fall-out of colonization and the residential school system.

But another historic injustice has also come to light: hydro development — which can be traced back to the Northern Flood Agreement of 1977. That agreement forced people from their homes and disrupted hunting, trapping and fishing.Read more.

Think 2015 Was Hot and Weird? Get Ready for Worse, Experts Say

B.C. faces a future of disappearing salmon runs, more wildfires and dying forests with a temperature increase of two or three degrees and it is time to adapt to a new reality, a panel of experts told a packed audience at the University of Victoria’s Ideafest.

The weird weather of 2015 broke records, but it is a harbinger of the future, said Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium climate scientist Trevor Murdock, adding that models showing a two degree temperature rise are probably optimistic. Read more.

Supreme Court To Hear Ktunaxa Nation’s Jumbo Glacier Resort Appeal on Freedom of Religion Grounds

The Ktunaxa Nation, which for 25 years has battled plans to build a massive ski resort on land that is considered sacred, will make its case to Canada’s top court with a freedom of religion argument that could set a precedent for indigenous people worldwide.

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear the Ktunaxa appeal of a 2012 decision by the B.C. government to approve plans by Glacier Resorts Ltd. for a 6,250 bed, all-season ski resort on Crown land in the Purcell Mountains, about 55 kilometres west of Invermere. Read more.

Five Scary Facts About Canada’s Water (And Two Bits of Good News)

Canadians have long been labouring under “the myth of abundance” when it comes to our water resources and we’re in the midst of experiencing an abrupt wake-up call, according to experts.

“We often think of the earth as this wonderful blue pearl, but how much water is there?” says Oliver Brandes, leader of the Water Sustainability Project at the University of Victoria. “Only 2.5 per cent of that water is fresh. A much smaller amount, about 0.3 per cent, is the ground or surface water where we live.” Read more.

Top Climate Highlights from Trudeau's Budget 2016

For clean energy enthusiasts, yesterday’s budget brought lots of good news.

From public transit to renewables in remote communities, the budget made investments that support a thriving low-carbon economy.

In this guest post, sustainable energy think tank The Pembina Institute offers its top highlights from the budget.r0