Canada in Hot Seat for Resource Policies at UN
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 17 August 2017 04:00
- Written by editor
At DeSmog Canada we are always on the lookout for important stories and you may be surprised to hear some of our best scoops come from readers just like you. Have a story in mind you think our team of journalists should cover? Don't be a stranger!
Emma Gilchrist, Editor-in-Chief
Share
Tweet
Forward
Canada in Hot Seat for Resource Policies at UN Racial Discrimination Hearing
By James Wilt
Indigenous leaders from northern British Columbia are calling on the UN to investigate whether ongoing industrial development of Indigenous lands and waters constitutes a violation of UN conventions this week.
In a submission, tribes from B.C.’s northwest said Canada’s environmental assessment laws continue to measure money instead of impact.
“We asked [the Committee] to use any force that they can to get Canada to uphold support and use the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP),” said Deneza Na’Moks (John Ridsdale), a hereditary chief of the Wet’suwet’en. Read more.
The B.C. government announced on Monday it will end grizzly bear trophy hunting throughout the province and stop all hunting of grizzles in the Great Bear Rainforest.
“By bringing trophy hunting of grizzlies to an end, we’re delivering on our commitment to British Columbians,” Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, said. “This action is supported by the vast majority of people across our province.”
The ban will take effect Nov. 30th — after this year’s hunt. But not everyone is pleased with how the ban is taking shape. Read more.
Where On Earth is Manitoba's Climate Plan?
By James Wilt
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Premier Brian Pallister initially seemed very serious about confronting greenhouse gas emissions — a position that came as a surprise to many given the history of Canada’s conservative politicians sidestepping the tricky issue of climate change.
The party’s election platform pledged to “work with the federal government and other jurisdictions as we develop a made-in-Manitoba climate action plan.”
After winning a massive majority in April 2016, it hired Canadian climate policy legend and campaign manager David McLaughlin as senior adviser on the file.
But nearly 16 months later, the plan has never materialized. Read more.
Exclusive: BC Hydro Spent $20 Million Quietly Buying Land for Site C Before Dam Was Approved
By Sarah Cox
BC Hydro spent more than $20 million quietly buying up Peace Valley property for the Site C hydro dam in the four years before the project was approved, according to documents obtained by DeSmog Canada.
The cost of the land purchases has never been publicly disclosed by BC Hydro, and only came to light as a result of a Freedom of Information request.
Even then, it took more than four months after the request was filed for BC Hydro to release the figures, and the information was only provided following an appeal to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner after BC Hydro said it was extending the legal deadline for response.
The OIPC found that BC Hydro “did not provide sufficient evidence” to justify a time extension. Read more.
By James Wilt
The new B.C. NDP government has officially taken its first major step in attempting to stop the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline.
Last week, it announced it will seek intervener status in upcoming legal challenges to the federal approval of the pipeline.
Perhaps the most significant part of the announcement was who the B.C. government hired as external legal counsel for the process: Thomas Berger, one of the most renowned lawyers in Canadian history, especially in the realm of Indigenous and environmental rights.
Here’s a quick explainer about who Berger is, and what message this hiring sends. Read more.
Eclipse of Reason: Why Do People Believe Scientists?
By Bryan Gaensler
If you’ve been paying attention, you know that on Aug. 21, we’re in for a special cosmic treat: the Great American Eclipse of 2017.
The moon’s shadow will track a 4,000-kilometre course across the continental United States from coast to coast, beginning with Depoe Bay, Ore., and end after 93 minutes in McClellanville, S.C. As a result, tens of millions of Americans will be treated to that rarest of natural wonders: a total eclipse of the sun.
What is remarkable among all this excitement and frenzy is the lack of “eclipse deniers.” r34