Inconvenient truths
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Isn't it the worst when facts contradict your actions and beliefs?
It's been happening a lot this week — to the B.C. government, to mining companies, to fish farms and to the oil and gas industry.From failed SLAPP suits to finance experts saying the math behind the decision to go ahead with the biggest public infrastructure project in B.C. history "has no logic at all" to a study showing fish farms do, in fact, spread disease to wild salmon, it seems that a little scrutiny goes a long way to busting through PR smokescreens.
What was that about Site C math?
So remember B.C. Premier John Horgan standing up last week and saying it would cost $4 billion to cancel Site C, and that cancellation would lead to an immediate 12 per cent rate increase for B.C. ratepayers? Turns out, that wasn't exactly — what's the best way to put this? — true.Among others, a retired partner of one of the world's largest accounting firms, told us, “This is the stupidest capital decision ever made by a B.C. premier. I don’t know who is giving them accounting advice.”
And he's not alone in that assessment. You can read that story here.
Then there was the lawsuit
Right, the lawsuit. Back in 2012 the Wilderness Committee said some mean things about Taseko Mines Ltd. as the company worked on approvals for the New Prosperity mine in central B.C. Taseko, naturally, was hurt, and took the Wilderness Committee to court for libel. For five years.This week an appeals court judge ruled that the company's lawsuit was meant to silence criticism, a tactic known as a SLAPP suit. Other places have their own legislation to prevent these lawsuits. In B.C., that legislation was repealed by Gordon Campbell's BC Liberals in 2001.
Wasn't there something about fish farms?
Yeah, there was! Fish farms have long been accused of spreading diseases to wild fish, a danger to the livelihoods of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people up the B.C. coast. New evidence backs that up.Basically, fish populations that pass near fish farm-heavy regions on their migration were compared to those that don't. And wouldn't you know it, those that passed through places like the Broughton Archipelago were much more likely to have picked up piscine reovirus, a disease associated with fish farms. There's more to it; check it out here.
And bears. Something happened with bears, right?
Did it ever! The grizzly hunt — both trophy and food — was put out of its misery this week, with the NDP saying it was "the right thing to do." This is after years of research showing, for example, that trophy hunters are responsible for 87 percent of grizzly bear deaths in B.C., and that the government has done a very very bad job of managing the bears. Indigenous hunting rights remain.
Oil and gas didn't escape unscathed
This fall it was revealed that B.C.'s fracking industry built nearly 50 unauthorized dams out of sight to hold back water for fracking operations. But that just got worse. More than half of those dams were built without engineering plans in place, leading to a bunch of unregulated dams scattered across public lands with serious structural issues.While we're talking about oil and gas...
The B.C. Oil and Gas Commission was found to have been “unreasonable” and “intransigent” in its dealings with the Fort Nelson First Nation while it considered (and approved) a gas pipeline through endangered caribou habitat.But wait, there's more
Hundreds of gas wells could be leaking methane and potentially contaminating groundwater, according to a B.C. Oil and Gas Commission report that has been kept secret from the public and politicians for four years.Why was the report kept secret? What else does it say? Find out here.
And the Ajax Mine was denied its environmental certificate
It was going to be an open-pit copper-and-gold mine near Kamloops, but the adverse effects on Indigenous peoples and the environment outweighed its benefits, according to the provincial government. If you're a company or government that has had its worldview shattered this week by inconvenient truths, we can help! Subscribe to this newsletter to learn how to base your decisions on, um, facts.What we're reading this week
Read that story here
Read that story here
Know someone who can't get enough science-based decision-making? Tell them to sign up for this newsletter here.
Copyright © DeSmog Canada, All rights reserved.This email has been sent because you opted in to receive that latest news and updates.
Our mailing address is:
DeSmog Canada
Suite 634
185 - 911 Yates St.
Victoria, BC
V8V 4Y9
Want to stop receiving DeSmog Canada's emails?
You can r34.
