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Unique newspaper coverage of local, regional and global topics - serious and light-hearted.




Forestry + Mining

MiningWatch files charges against Mount Polley and BC government

November 3, 2016

A mining watchdog has filed a private prosecution against the BC government and the Mount Polley Mining Corporation, nearly 30 months after the collapse of the tailings dam at the gold and copper mine became one of BC’s worst environmental disasters in history.

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UBCM passes resolution to protect old-growth

October 20, 2016

The Union of BC Municipalities has voted to pass a resolution to protect old-growth forests in BC after a lengthy campaign by the Ancient Forest Alliance.

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Old-growth clearcutting discovered near Port Renfrew

October 6, 2016

Members of the Ancient Forest Alliance have discovered two clearcuts in the old-growth forests of Edinburgh Mountain, and plans for four new cuts are also in the works by logging company Teal Jones.

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Norway bans deforestation

June 30, 2016

Norway made history in late May when it became the first country to ban deforestation. This latest move was one in a string of decisions by the Scandinavian country to protect forests from clear cutting.

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Walbran old-growth logging begins

November 26, 2015

Friends of Carmanah/Walbran keep an eye on the start-up of logging of the last unprotected stand of old-growth in the Walbran Valley.

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Mount Polley Report - the told and untold

February 19, 2015

The Mount Polley Independent Review report investigates the tailings dam collapse and provides recommendations for changes in mining practices - it raises more questions than answers.

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Walbran Valley at risk of old-growth logging

February 5, 2015

Survey tape indicates that parts of the ancient Walbran forest are at risk of logging. Photo shows where.

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Canada’s Mining Record Abroad Not Golden

February 5, 2015

David Suzuki discusses the Canadian mining industry and takes a look at the sometimes unethical practices of our companies abroad.

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Mount Polley - Regulation & Aftermath

September 4, 2014

Patrick Brown tells us how the Mount Polley tailings pond dam failure has shaken public, investors’, and US confidence in ‘self regulation’ of mines. The BC government is scurrying to set up inquiries into the catastrophe, to review the safety of all 98 other dams, and to review it’s own procedures.

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Mining without worry

August 21, 2014

Patrick Brown discusses the tailings pond dam collapse at Mount Polley Mine. Did the company’s practice of building the dam higher compromise its strength?

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Woodlots threaten Gambier

August 7, 2014

The proposal of two new woodlots on Gambier Island not only threatens the island’s wilderness and recreation, but also adds to the growing danger of the re-industrialization of Howe Sound and the loss of marine life we have been struggling to protect, locals say.

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Environmentalists work to protect McLaughlin Ridge

August 7, 2014

Diverse organizations fight to stop Island Timberland from logging old-growth forests on McLaughlin Ridge, an important habitat and watershed.

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Fish Lake mine turned down again—but not finally

March 6, 2014

After 10 years, joy of First Nations and NGOs over second New Prosperity Mine turndown was shortlived. Proponent Taseko will appeal, BC government says it will help Taseko.

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Raven coal mine environmental submission rejected

June 6, 2013 | Patrick Brown

Compliance Coal Corporation’s environmental submission was turned down on its initial screening by the BC Environmental Assessment Office. The company received a 144-page list of deficiencies. Compliance posted an operating loss of $1,255,000 for the 2012 fiscal year.

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Saving BC’s old growth trees

April 11, 2013

Sonora Island residents are trying to save some 160 of the remaining old growth trees on the Island from clearcut logging. There aren’t many left of the Douglas fir and Cedar, estimated to be 700 years old.

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Islands Trust: no mining claims

February 14, 2013 | Patrick Brown

BC’s obsolete mining legislation and online claims trump ‘preserve and protect’ mandate, leading to nuisance activities on the Gulf Islands. Should staking of claims require First Nations consultation?

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Forest policy: more than one approach

February 14, 2013 | Patrick Brown

Is granting a corporate Tree Farm License the answer to wood supply for BC’s Burns Lake mill? Opponents fear a policy roll-over away from volume cutting and provincial stewardship of forests. Would community stewardship be a better option?

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Regional district opposes coalmine process until aquifers mapped

December 13, 2012

Comox Valley Regional District wants to see comprehensive aquifer mapping, a baseline study, and a federal review undertaken before the Compliance coalmine application proceeds.

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Groups ask Trust to act on Fanny Bay coal mine threat

November 1, 2012

Local groups urge Islands Trust Council to more actively protect Baynes Sound from potential impacts of the proposed Raven coal mine, which would operate just outside the Islands Trust Area.

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Logging BC’s forest reserves to solve timber shortage?

July 12, 2012

The BC government is considering opening protected forest reserves to logging in order to maintain production levels that spiked in response to the pine beetle epidemic. Mill workers and conservationists alike are calling it a ‘short sighted’ move. The public comment period closes July 20.

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New evaluation for Taseko mine

May 31, 2012 | Patrick Brown

The federal government will consider a new proposal for the gold and copper mine. This time, the tailings pond has been moved 2 kilometres upstream of Fish Lake. Will this make a difference?

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Another view of another coal mine development

February 9, 2012 | Graham Brazier

It looks as if Campbell River will continue to be a coal-mining town, although mines are failing to deliver on jobs as projected. Denman's Graham Brazier recounts the town’s mining history.

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Taseko tries again for Prosperity mine

November 17, 2011

Despite a turn down, Fish Lake mine is on the table again. Although the developer previously claimed that the tailing pond must be side by side with the mine, a smaller upstream lake is now proposed for the tailing pond.

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International standards for Canadian mines?

September 8, 2011

Our government endorses corporate social responsibility standards for international mining operations, but neglects approval processes at home. Patrick Brown contrasts Peru's situation with the Raven Coal Mine proposal on Vancouver Island.

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Comments for Raven proposal set record

July 14, 2011

The comment period for the the proposed Raven Coal Mine project on Vancouver Island set a new benchmark for public participation.

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Editorial: Red Herring Railway

Mar 24, 2011

A rebuilt railway from Fanny Bay to Port Alberni is a coal-fired smoke screen. It could never be a community trade-off for a coalmine.

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Just under the environmental radar

Feb 10, 2011

As long as the extraction rate is below 250,000 tonnes/year no environmental assessment is required. No matter that the limestone mine will be producing for 400 years. The absurdity of the situation has Texada's Friends of Davie Bay calling for a judicial review.

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Provincial government resource plans upset by Prosperity mine decision

Nov 11, 2010

The federal environmental panel has turndowned the William's Lake area Prosperity mine. The BC government okay'd the project earlier this year, saying economic benefits outweighed environmental damage.

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The gold rush returns - this time it's the water

Oct 28, 2010

BC government proposes more 'flexibility' by changing the Water Act, which dates from the gold rush. Public meetings have introduced many unanswered questions. Page 2, also letter 'Water Modernization Act'

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Raven Coal prospects downgraded, criticized

Oct 28, 2010

Proposed mine’s potential yield reduced; quality also questioned. Transportation and shipping concerns continue.

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Editorial: None So Deaf As Those Who Will Not Hear

Sept 16, 2010

The public is ill-served if comments are not published online.

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Thirty days for Raven mine comments

Aug 19, 2010

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) has opened the first public comment period about the proposed coal mine near Fanny Bay on Vancouver island. It is intended to identify which aspects of the project must be considered in the assessment. The deadline for comment is September 10, 2010.

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Another limestone quarry proposed for Texada

Aug 19, 2010

Texada Island already has three quarries operating well below capacity and a fourth that is inactive. Lehigh Hanson has proposed a fifth quarry near Davie Bay, a potential park and centre of a rockfish conservation area, and access point to a network of karst caves, halfway along the southwest coast of the Island. Despite owning 3.5km of waterfront, Lehigh have applied to use Crown land at Davie Bay for a loading facility.

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Public concern grows about Raven Coal mine

April 1, 2010

A coalmine proposed for mid-east coast Vancouver Island could result in the pollution of Baynes Sound. Area-residents are organizing to defeat the proposal.

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Jordan River TFL removal breeds chaos for CRD

March 26, 2009

The dumping of 2,500 hecares of forest lands on to the southern Vancouver Island real estate market has community planning in disarray, and in the courts; a background to forestry on Vancouver Island is revealing.

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Provincial auditor criticized release of Jordan River lands

March 26, 2009

Southern Vancouver Island TFL forest release was ill-informed, inadequately researched, and lacked clear procedure or guidelines, said Provincial Auditor's 2008 review.

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Old growth worth more while growing

Sept 18, 2008

Leaving British columbia's old-growth forests standing may make more economic sense than cutting them down for timber, suggests study.

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Logging the last

May 29, 2008

An on the ground look at the logging destruction of old-growth forest in remote East Creek valley.

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Editorial: Will The Canary Sing?

November 15, 2007

Local governments across Vancouver Island will be watching as the Islands Trust Executive considers a revised Forest Zone bylaw for Galiano Island.

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The Great PMFL Tax Scam

October 18, 2007 | Commentary by Jerry Azevedo

Four years ago this month, then Minister of Sustainable Resource Management Stan Hagen announced the creation of a public/private corporation to oversee forestry on private lands in BC. His press release trumpeted: ‘Sustainability Boosted On Private Managed Forest Lands.’ Last month the community of Galiano found out exactly what he meant by ‘sustainability.’

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Editorial: Respect and Dissent

March 22, 2007

Betty Krawczyk is back in jail again at age 78, sentenced to ten months as a ‘repeat offender’ after being convicted of criminal contempt of court.

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Landowners angry over mining claim staking, say Greens

June 29, 2006

On a three-week road tour of BC, Green Party leader Adriane Carr has uncovered province-wide anger with the BC Liberals for encouraging claim staking on private lands, stripping away people’s property rights.

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Proposal to mine limestone threatens Skookumchuck Narrows

May 4, 2006

The FOSP is a group of coastal citizens organized to protest Pan Pacific Aggregates’ (PPA) plans to create substantial open-pit mining along the west side of the Sechelt Inlet.

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New private forest land tax break for 903,000 hectares

September 9, 2004 | Patrick Brown

A series of announcements from the provincial Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development in late July and early August have put in place a new regime for the exploitation of privately owned forest lands.

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Forest Land Reserve gone; communities denied role

August 26, 2004 | Carolyn Canfield

On August 3, as the last step in dismantling the Forest Land Reserve, the provincial government put into force new rules for privately-owned managed forest.

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Bill 46: ‘Working Forest’ Legislation Goes Forward Despite 97% Opposition

September 11, 2003 | Patrick Brown

Despite public consultation in which 97% of 2700 respondents opposed the provincial government’s ‘Working Forest’ discussion paper, the government appears set to go ahead with Bill 46, the enabling legislation.

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