British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 weeks ago • 80%

thenarwhal.ca

A relatively new industry is taking off in British Columbia, as forestry companies set their sights on logging burn zones after wildfires. It’s called salvage logging — and it may disrupt forests’ abilities to naturally recover from fires. B.C. rules allow companies to remove the last remaining living trees from burn zones. Those trees can offer critical support for healing ecosystems. Now some experts and affected communities, including First Nations, are raising the alarm and calling for more selective logging practices.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 weeks ago • 96%

The governments of former Alberta premier Jason Kenney and now Premier Danielle Smith have been vigorously lobbied to support a private company’s high-stakes gamble on a rail line from Calgary to Banff. With potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of public money at stake, internal government documents obtained by The Tyee raise a question. Why did Smith personally arrange for her husband to be granted extraordinary access to confidential internal government discussions about the proposed project? The internal documents, obtained through freedom of information, show Smith’s husband, David Moretta, attended an hour-long confidential government meeting at McDougall Centre, the provincial government’s Calgary office, on Sept. 26, 2023. The government redacted any information that would show who else attended the meeting and what was discussed.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 1 month ago • 100%

edmontonjournal.com

Leaders in Edmonton’s Black and African communities say they’re frustrated after learning the police officer who shot Mathios Arkangelo has resumed work. Edmonton police confirmed Wednesday that the unidentified officer has completed a “reintegration” program following the deadly shooting “and has returned to active duty.” EPS spokeswoman Cheryl Sheppard acknowledged the “tragedy of this incident” but urged family and community members to trust the independent investigation process.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 1 month ago • 66%

Max Paulhus says he could hear wood breaking and a roaring sound before an approaching surge of water raced down the Fraser River after breaking free from a landslide upstream. Paulhus lives in Lillooet, B.C., and is one of several Fraser River community residents and business operators who described watching the power of water and debris churning from the Chilcotin River landslide towards British Columbia's Lower Mainland. "You could hear an abnormal sound coming from the river," said Paulhus, the Lillooet and District Rescue Society chief. "You could hear that noise. You could hear branches breaking. It was almost like a roar." Others downstream at Lytton and at the Hell's Gate Airtram said they could also hear the river's flow as the water and debris passed through Tuesday afternoon and evening.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 2 months ago • 100%

Thousands of people with disabilities could end up stranded in the coming weeks across Metro Vancouver as strike action by ATU Local 1724 ramps up. The union represents HandyDart drivers, maintenance workers, road supervisors, trainers and office workers in Metro Vancouver and has been on strike since July 3 when an overwhelming majority of members voted in favour of taking action, said union president Joe McCann. This does not impact HandyDart services outside of Metro Vancouver. HandyDart offers a “paratransit” service for people who can’t take conventional public transit without assistance due to physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities. Drivers offers passengers door-to-door service and are trained to work with people with a range of disabilities and mobility aides, McCann said. Passengers can book a ride up to a week in advance and pay the same fare as conventional public transit users. They will often ride the bus with several other passengers. Leo Yu, a HandyDart bus operator and member of Local 1724, says working conditions have been deteriorating over the past decade. More recently, “completely chaotic” workdays have been negatively impacting drivers, dispatchers, passengers and their caregivers, he says.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 2 months ago • 100%

thenarwhal.ca

On the night of July 17, a massive lightning storm rolled across the Kootenay region of B.C.’s southeast Interior, lighting up the darkness and setting dry hillsides ablaze. In my small, end-of-the-road community of Argenta, home to approximately 150 people, we awoke to at least four fires burning on the mountain directly above our homes. It’s something many of us have been waiting for, recognizing it as an inevitable reality of living so intimately with the forests we love so dearly. It’s also something we prepared for. With over 200 strikes reported and little rain to accompany them, mountain sides were set on fire near villages and cities that included Nelson, Silverton, Meadow Creek and New Denver.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 2 months ago • 100%

There’s another shoe that needs to drop before the United Conservative Party’s embarrassing skybox scandal goes quiet and Alberta can go back to sleep as Premier Danielle Smith and her political advisors doubtless profoundly wish we would. To wit: Did UCP ministers or political staffers avail themselves of corporate flights to NHL playoff games in Vancouver and perhaps in Sunrise, Florida? And if so, who paid? Thanks to the reporting of the Globe and Mail’s Carrie Tait, we already know who bought skybox tickets — at least some of them — for well-connected members and employees of Smith’s government. Tait’s July 18 report confirmed some of the rumours heard on social media and in political circles about cabinet members and senior staffers accepting corporate skybox tickets during the playoffs. But if the Calgary Stampede rumour mill, at least, had it right, the skies over B.C.’s Lower Mainland and perhaps around Miami International Airport too were a free-flight zone during the Stanley Cup finals. So inquiring minds want to know: Who was on those corporate jets? What did they pay, if anything? And if passengers didn’t pay, who did? Smith, it would seem, is just as determined that it’s none of our business. Which, naturally, raises suspicions that some well-connected folk didn’t take WestJet and pay for their flight themselves, as Smith told reporters she did.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 2 months ago • 100%

The Township of Langley will investigate how an extreme-right group was able to book a community hall jointly managed by the township and a local Lions Club. “We’ll have to be reviewing that in the future, especially with this particular hall,” Langley Mayor Eric Woodward told The Tyee. “And seeing if there’s any assistance the township can provide and any policy updates to help these groups ensure that they don’t mistakenly book something like this in the future.” Diagolon is led by several livestreamers who spend hours online spouting racism against Jewish and South Asian people and other minorities, dwelling on violent fantasies of fighting against invading immigrants. The RCMP has described Diagolon as a “militia-like network with supporters who subscribe to accelerationist ideologies — the idea that a civil war or collapse of western governments is inevitable and ought to be sped up.” This June, the group started advertising for an in-person “Terror Tour” across Canada during the summer, promising stops in major Canadian cities from Halifax to Vancouver. In reality, the meetings have been held in small venues in smaller communities. The Ottawa gathering happened in an agricultural hall in the village of Carp. For the Kamloops stop, the group apparently met at a skating rink owned by the Falkland and District Community Association. The small community is about 70 kilometres east of Kamloops. When Diagolon members showed up at the community centre venue they had rented in Sudbury, they found the doors locked. In Kelowna, Diagolon held an informal gathering in a park rather than booking an event venue. A warning about the event was posted on a Kelowna Reddit group.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 2 months ago • 88%

British Columbians will no longer get plastic and Styrofoam takeout containers and will be charged fees for new shopping bags, as part of single-use plastic regulations rolling out Monday. It's the latest part of the province's regulations on plastics, which started rolling out last December to align with federal regulations that are going into effect across the country. B.C., however, had delayed some aspects of the federal single-use plastics regulations, saying that producers and businesses needed more time to adapt. The province says the bans will help divert plastic waste from landfills, where an estimated 340,000 tonnes of plastic items and packaging were disposed of in the province in 2019.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 97%

www.lgbtqnation.com

A lesbian couple in Halifax, Canada was assaulted by a group of men who were shouting homophobic slurs at them. Emma MacLean and her girlfriend, Tori, were walking down the street celebrating one of their birthdays when a group of men made a rude comment at MacLean, CTV News reports. “A group of men walking in the other direction and they made a comment to me,” said Emma MacLean. “My girlfriend, Tori, said, ‘Hey that’s my girlfriend.’” This response led to the men making explicitly homophobic remarks at the two, taunting them both. “They continued walking and then Tori followed them to basically verbally be like, ‘That is not okay,’” MacLean said. That’s when the men started attacking Tori. “I see Tori being pushed on the stairs right in front of the BMO Centre and they are cement stairs and she’s on her back, that’s when all the men started punching and kicking her,” she continued. MacLean said that she yelled for them to stop before she got involved in the fight to protect her girlfriend. “The fight or flight came in. Basically jumped on one of their backs and put them in a chokehold, trying to restrain them.” A bystander alerted police shortly after the fight ended. They spoke with one of the men involved in the incident, and he told them that it was the two women who had initiated the fight. The rest of the men refused to cooperate and give IDs, however. There are currently no charges as police are investigating the situation. Both MacLean and Tori suffered injuries. Tori had bruises covering her body, while MacLean had a chipped tooth, a broken nose, and many bruises as well. MacLean said, “I felt punches and kicks and then I felt it on my nose and there was blood. I just thought this needs to stop now. I went to emerge the night of and they basically said it was too swollen for surgery.” “I’m terrified to go downtown again in Halifax. I just feel like it’s so out of your control on what could happen. It’s overwhelming. I didn’t expect something like this to happen, especially with it happening during Pride Month as well.”

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 91%

www.nelsonstar.com

Youth players on a Nelson soccer team were allegedly threatened with racial slurs during a May tournament in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Nelson Soccer Association (NSA) says a person in a truck shouted racist threats at a team with players of colour during a game May 12. Multiple Nelson teams were visiting Coeur d'Alene at the time for an annual tournament. A detective with Coeur d'Alene Police Department told the Nelson Star that it had opened an investigation and has since sent the case to a local prosecutor for review, but did not offer any further details. It's the second time this year athletes have faced racial abuse in Coeur d'Alene. In March, a Utah women's NCAA basketball team said its players were twice threatened by people in a vehicle who shouted racial epithets. NSA board chair Goran Denkovski said NSA was not previously aware of the March incident involving the basketball team. The organization hasn't made a decision on its future participation in Idaho tournaments, but Denkovski said NSA will begin assessing regional safety prior to making tournament commitments. “We do all recognize that Idaho specifically, that state is a state of concern that we should acknowledge.”

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 75%

www.straight.com

What could be more idyllic than watching the sunset at the beach while being serenaded by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra? On July 6, grab your blankets and head to the beach for a performance that only comes once a year in Vancouver. The VSO is taking to the shoreline at Sunset Beach for a special 90-minute sunset concert. Led by Maestro Otto Tausk, the Symphony at Sunset program will feature both classical and contemporary music. The complete set list is: - Coast Salish Anthem - Star Wars: Suite for Orchestra I. Main Title - Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, No. 1 - Élan: Sesquie for Canada’s 150th - Concerto, Piccolo, C Major, RV443 III. Allegro molto - Samson and Delila: Danse Bacchanle - Lawerence of Arabia Overture - Godfather: Love Theme - Hook: The Flight to Neverland - Star Trek - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - E.T.: Adventures on Earth - Superman March

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 96%

thetyee.ca

Hurried pursuit of a liquefied natural gas windfall in B.C. and Alberta will squander a key component of Canada’s long-term energy security while causing environmental devastation, according to a new report. Scaling up LNG exports from fracking in the Montney basin that straddles the two provinces almost certainly will jeopardize local water resources, species habitat and the country’s struggling effort to meet climate targets. And there could be another cost down the road: “The current policy of exploiting the Montney as fast as possible for LNG exports may create risks that gas will be unavailable for other uses in the future.” This, according to energy analyst David Hughes, author of a comprehensive report called “Drilling into the Montney,” released June 24 by the David Suzuki Foundation. “The Montney represents Canada’s largest remaining accessible gas resource and is forecast to provide a significant portion of future gas production with or without LNG,” Hughes told The Tyee. “Conventional production from mature gas fields in Canada has declined sharply over the past couple of decades.” “Production has been made up by unconventional plays like the Montney which can only be accessed with the technology of hydraulic fracking and horizontal drilling. And those technologies come with significant environmental impacts in terms of climate change, water consumption, biodiversity loss and land disturbance.” The Montney basin is an oval-shaped, 96,000-square-kilometre geological formation that stretches on a southeast diagonal from Fort Nelson, B.C., at its top and includes the territories of Treaty 8 First Nations. The Montney currently produces 10 billion cubic feet of methane per day or roughly half of Canada’s total.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

thenarwhal.ca

When you think of B.C.’s central interior forests, you probably picture swaths of trees stretching over hills and up mountains, punctuated by rivers and the occasional lake. You probably don’t think of sand. But if a proposal working its way through the B.C. environmental assessment process is approved, a special type of sand used in hydraulic fracturing for gas — commonly known as fracking — will be extracted from a forest near Bear Lake, north of Prince George. The sand would be trucked to B.C.’s northeast, where a fracking boom is poised to begin to supply the province’s new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry. Vitreo Minerals, a sand and gravel supplier based in Golden, B.C., proposes to build an open-pit mine and two processing facilities that could produce two million tonnes of frac sand per year for up to 20 years. The Angus mine, which has the potential to supply up to 400 fracking wells per year, would be B.C.’s only operating frac sand mine. The project will involve building new access roads through the forest, clearing land for the mine and its crushing and drying facilities and constructing a new transmission line and natural gas pipeline to power the operation, according to a project description submitted to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office. “We propose to essentially mine — by drilling and blasting in a very conventional-looking quarry — a rock known as quartz arenite, a very high-purity silica-rich rock,” Vitreo Minerals CEO Scott Broughton explained during a recent project information session hosted by the assessment office. “It actually has the perfect-size sand grains that we’re looking for to produce proppant [frac sand] for the oil and gas industry.” But environmental groups say the mine, which would be located in the Fraser River watershed, poses risks to nearby communities, water, local wildlife and the environment. Sven Biggs, the Canadian oil and gas programs director for Stand.Earth, said the non-profit group will be keeping tabs on any long-term expansion plans for the frac sand industry in B.C. “If the plan really is to produce enough silica in British Columbia to support the LNG industry here in B.C. and Alberta, those would be very large operations and could have a much larger footprint than this initial project,” he told The Narwhal.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 95%

www.nelsonstar.com

A transgender teacher who taught at Pitt Meadows Secondary School has filed a human rights complaint against a woman whom they believe launched an online campaign of hatred against them. Wilson Wilson filed the complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal on Friday, June 22, with support from Lawyers Against Transphobia. "I'm standing up because as much as this has robbed me of my privacy and like my dignity as a person, I haven't been robbed of my power or responsibility," Wilson told Black Press Media. Wilson is currently on leave from the school because of the incident and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The incident started in December of last year when Wilson became the target of online threats after a far-right social media account, called Libs of TikTok, shared photos of Wilson, an artist who identifies as trans non-binary, that were from an art portfolio. One image showed Wilson topless and in the other in a netted shirt – both appearing to show a double mastectomy. A person claiming to be a parent of at least one student at the school, who goes by the name Blonde Bigot on X, made allegations of student abuse and accused the school district as having child grooming and “pedophilic” activities and accused the teacher of glorifying their self-mutilation. The mother has since been identified as Joanna Evenson. Thousands of people commented on X, a majority of them harassing Wilson and calling them names. At the time Martin Dmitrieff, head of the Maple Ridge Teachers’ Association, said the images were in the public sphere because it was important for the teacher to interact as an artist through community art programs, where their work is being showcased. "This could be anybody," said Wilson about the online harassment. "This could be any trans teacher. So, what I can do is stand up. And, if I don't stand up now the right has a successful strategy to silence trans teachers."

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

www.nelsonstar.com

B.C. Premier David Eby chose Jinkerson Park in the growing community of Chilliwack on Monday (June 24), to announce a sizable increase to the BC Family Benefit starting next month. "With global inflation and high interest rates driving up daily costs, we know families are being hit hard right now," said Eby. The boosted BC Family Benefit will be going to more low- and middle-income families, and on average they'll receive $445 more than last year. Eby also used the press conference to announce he'll be stepping away for a few weeks from his duties as premier for family reasons. "Getting a little extra money to families for the basics is one of the ways we're helping people who are feeling squeezed right now," Eby said. Chilliwack parent Katie Bartel was on-hand with her niece Maggie, to attest to the struggle local families are facing with skyrocketing costs of food, clothes, gas, childcare and housing. "Life is expensive, especially for those of us raising a child with a disability, and raising any family right now comes with unique challenges," Bartel said. The extra money will help her family pay for a support worker for her daughter, as an example, and she said families like hers are increasingly looking to their communities and their government for help. "We can't do this alone," Bartel said.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

The word “woke” — which has now lost any real or useful meaning since its origins in African American vernacular English — has become commonplace in right-wing campaigns and is being applied (seemingly quite effectively) to target anything and everything. In B.C., the leader of the insurgent Conservative Party of BC, John Rustad, has raged against “woke ideology,” targeting trans people and sexuality and gender orientation education resources in schools (also known as SOGI 123). When Rustad made comparisons between SOGI and residential schools last year, he was criticized and asked to apologize by politicians across the spectrum. MLA Ravi Parmar, from the governing BC NDP, called Rustad’s comparisons “disgraceful” in a now-deleted tweet. On a CBC Early Edition panel, Green MLA Adam Olsen denounced Rustad’s comments as “astonishing” and “inappropriate.” And Elenore Sturko, then MLA for the Opposition party BC United who recently joined the B.C. Conservatives, called Rustad’s comments “incredibly insulting” at the time. And then Bruce Banman, the B.C. Conservative MLA for Abbotsford South, summed up the criticism of Rustad’s comments as symptoms of a “hypersensitive, woke, far-left cancel culture” that he and his colleagues are trying to correct. On a separate occasion, it appears that Paul Ratchford, a Conservative Party of BC candidate for Vancouver-Point Grey, referred to his now party member colleague Sturko as a “woke lesbian, social justice warrior.”

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

Old-growth forests that were environmental and Indigenous rights battlegrounds over clearcut logging in the 1980s and 1990s during British Columbia’s “war in the woods” are set to receive permanent protections in a land and forest management agreement. The B.C. government says an agreement Tuesday with two Vancouver Island First Nations will protect about 760 square kilometres of Crown land in Clayoquot Sound by establishing 10 new conservancies in areas that include old-growth forests and unique ecosystems. The partnership involves reconfiguring the tree farm licence in the Clayoquot Sound area to protect the old-growth zones while supporting other forest industry tenures held by area First Nations, said Forests Minister Bruce Ralston in a statement. Statements from the Clayoquot Sound’s Ahoushat and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations say the conservancies will preserve old-growth forests on Meares Island and the Kennedy Lake area, sites of protests that led to hundreds of arrests. “We have successfully reached a first phase implementation of the land-use vision,” Tyson Atleo, Ahousaht First Nation hereditary representative, said in an interview. “We will see (Tree Farm Licence 54) on Meares Island actively become real legislated protected areas for the first time in history.” Plans for clearcut logging on Meares Island, about one kilometre northeast of Tofino and the site of some of the world’s largest western red cedars, touched off environmental and Indigenous protests in the 1980s. They eventually resulted in a court injunction that halted logging, saying Indigenous land claim issues should be resolved. About a decade later, more than 800 people were arrested in the Clayoquot Sound area of Kennedy Lake near Ucluelet as protesters descended to demonstrate against more logging activities. The forest company eventually left the area after losing an estimated $200 million in contracts related to timber sales.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

thetyee.ca

It was a heated day in Canada’s House of Commons when elected Speaker Greg Fergus ejected Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre from the chamber on April 30. Fergus removed Poilievre after he repeatedly refused to withdraw his remark that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pushing “wacko” drug policies. That day Conservative MP Rachael Thomas posted on the social media site X in support of her boss. “Drug use in parks, hospitals and public spaces is whacko. Drug deaths are up by 380 per cent in B.C. Pierre Poilievre called out Trudeau for his dangerous drug policies today in the House of Commons,” Thomas wrote. “How did partisan hack Greg Fergus respond?! He kicked Pierre Poilievre out of the chamber.” THE CLAIM: Drug deaths are up by 380 per cent in B.C. The Tyee is supported by readers like you Join us and grow independent media in Canada Thomas’s 380 per cent increase compares the number of B.C. drug deaths in 2015 with the 2023 total. FACT CHECK: Over a similar period, drug deaths are up by 198 per cent in Alberta.* **What Thomas neglected to mention is that overdose deaths have risen by 588 per cent in her home riding of Lethbridge, Alberta, over a similar period (2016 compared with 2023).**

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 96%

www.nelsonstar.com

Donald Sutherland, the prolific film and television actor whose long career stretched from “M.A.S.H.” to “The Hunger Games,” has died. He was 88. Kiefer Sutherland, the actor’s son, confirmed his father’s death Thursday. No further details were immediately available. “I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film,” Kiefer Sutherland said on X. “Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that.” The tall and gaunt Canadian actor with a grin that could be sweet or diabolical was known for offbeat characters like Hawkeye Piece in Robert Altman’s “M.A.S.H.,” the hippie tank commander in “Kelly’s Heroes” and the stoned professor in “Animal House.” Before transitioning into a long career as a respected character actor, Sutherland epitomized the unpredictable, antiestablishment cinema of the 1970s . Over the decades, Sutherland showed his range in more buttoned-down — but still eccentric — parts in Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People” and Oliver Stone’s “JFK.” More, recently, he starred in the “Hunger Games” films and the HBO limited series “The Undoing.” He never retired and worked regularly up until his death. “I love to work. I passionately love to work,” Sutherland told Charlie Rose in 1998. “I love to feel my hand fit into the glove of some other character. I feel a huge freedom — time stops for me. I’m not as crazy as I used to be, but I’m still a little crazy.”

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

www.nelsonstar.com

A Kelowna mom is speaking out and hoping to engage parents after she found out her child had been a target of racism and bullying at a local middle school. Ashley, whose last name has been left out to protect the privacy of her child, said the issue first came to light when her kid acted out at home by ripping up her Mother's Day card in a burst of anger. Questioning the outburst, Ashley who has a child of colour, soon learned that they had been called racial slurs such as 'monkey' by classmates. She added that her child said they've heard other students also being called racial slurs. The concerned mom took the issue to the school's principal to address the situation where she was offered an apology and told the school has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to bullying and racism.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

There’s so much to love about summer in British Columbia: greenery, beaches, fresh produce. And most notably, peaches, the best fruit there is. Admittedly, the stone fruit is widely available all through the year nowadays, thanks to imports from places as far-flung as Chile, Argentina, California and New Zealand. But it’s only irresistible from mid-July to early September, when B.C.’s 600-odd growers gift us with 4.6 million kilograms of velvety, sun-softened, fragrant and fully superior peaches. Give me a peach in October, and I turn into J. Alfred Prufrock, who famously asked, “Do I dare to eat a peach?” Give me a peach in July, when I know it’s a fresh Okanagan Redhaven, Glohaven or Cresthaven, picked in Penticton and bursting with flavour? I’ll eat the whole thing before asking myself if I’m hungry. As I’ve written previously, B.C. fruit is not only downright delicious; it’s practically overabundant most summers. Blink, and a bucket of blueberries seems to materialize in your house; the same goes for peaches, piled high in their biodegradable, pulp berry baskets and bought for a pittance wherever fresh produce is sold. Not this summer, though.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

www.straight.com

Vancouver’s oldest board game shop is closing on July 31. Kitsilano’s Drexoll Games shared the news with its community via Facebook at the end of May, stating: “The sole reason for our closure is that although we survived the pandemic, and renewed our five-year lease in 2021 with enthusiasm, the building was subsequently sold, and the new owners of our building at 2880 West 4th served us an eviction notice under the Demolition Clause in our lease. It has not been a very fun plot twist. We have sought other options over the last 10 months, but are unable to find a similar space and location at rates that would allow us to continue our business.”

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

www.nelsonstar.com

The Pride flag won’t fly at Mission city hall again this year. A motion from Coun. Ken Herar on Monday (June 17) to amend the city’s flag policy didn’t have a seconder, meaning there was no discussion or vote on the matter. Coun. Jag Gill was absent from the meeting. The amendment would allow the Pride flag to fly at city hall during the annual Fraser Valley Pride Celebration. The matter was raised by Herar before, but this time he was optimistic. Herar says he initially wasn't going to bring the motion back but checked with the Fraser Valley Youth Society (FVYS), which organizes the annual Pride event. The society supported bringing the motion forward. “I was really hopeful that there would at least be a discussion on this matter,” Herar said. Mission Mayor Paul Horn says he didn’t second the motion because it was already discussed exhaustively in the past. “There really isn't anything new to discuss,” Horn said. Horn says the city has been supporting Pride in other ways, including hosting the Fraser Valley Pride Festival, creating space for the Fraser Valley Youth Society, and flying the flag where more people go. “I think that the whole idea of supporting Pride has been to increase diversity in our community – to expect people to leave space for others,” Horn said. According to Horn, raising the flag on government flagpoles tends to create polarization, not increase understanding. Earlier this month, the City of Mission changed its logo on social media for Pride month to reflect the Progress Pride Flag. The city also had a Pride-themed social media logo last June. Horn says it wasn’t a council decision. “That's a different thing than the flag policy … the logo is not our official coat of arms or official flag,” Horn said.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

Nineteen people this year have been forced to transfer out of Providence Health Care facilities to access medical assistance in dying (MAID), a scenario advocates say proves the attempted fix by the province isn't good enough. Nine of those patients were transferred out of Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital, four from Mount Saint Joseph Hospital, four from May's Place Hospice and two from St. John Hospice. Those figures were provided by Providence Health to CBC News Tuesday. The Catholic health-care provider that oversees St. Paul's Hospital is being sued by the family of a Vancouver woman over its policy banning MAID in its facilities. If a patient requests MAID, they must be transferred to a different health facility, typically run by Vancouver Coastal Health.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

thetyee.ca

Influencers with the extremist racist group Diagolon spend hours making livestreams, trying to spread their message of hatred against immigrants and minorities through the online world on sites like Rumble and X. Some prominent members have become fixated on hatred of South Asian people, celebrating violent videos showing people in India being hit by trains and complaining about the number of South Asian members of Parliament. Now they’re planning a real-life foray, including stops in Vancouver and Kamloops, part of a venture they’ve named the “road rage terror tour” according to an ad on X.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 91%

www.nelsonstar.com

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association says it will be filing a complaint with the Vancouver Police Department over its officers' treatment and arrest of pro-Palestinian demonstrators last month. Around 100 of those demonstrators gathered at a section of railway lines in East Vancouver on May 31 to lay 303 sets of children's clothing on the tracks. The group says it was holding vigil for the thousands of Palestinian children who have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its retaliation to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. The Vancouver Police Department says it moved in to clear the group that afternoon because they had been obstructing the Canadian National Railway lines for several hours. Video posted to social media from scene shows how chaos soon broke out between the two groups, with officers taking numerous people to the ground to handcuff them. In the end, police arrested 14 people for mischief and obstruction. VPD Media Relations Officer Tania Visintin told Black Press Media they gave the demonstrators ample time to leave and that "no force would have been required had the protesters just complied." She said the demonstrators were "pushing and shoving" and that their "hostile dynamics " dictated the level of force used by police. The demonstrators, on the other hand, say the officers were unnecessarily violent and that community members were punched, kicked, pepper-sprayed, choked and strangled. The group says dozens of them left with injuries, including a pregnant woman. “While all we did was stand, officers did not use any de-escalation," community member Sukhi Gill recalled at a press conference outside the VPD headquarters on Tuesday (June 18).

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

Police say they have identified a suspect in a recent violent assault of a sex worker in the Downtown Eastside. After midnight on June 10, a man picked up a woman near East Hastings Street and Campbell Avenue before assaulting her with a weapon, according to a news release from the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). Police say he later pushed her out of the car — an older-model, dark-coloured sedan — near Oppenheimer Park, and she's currently recovering from her injuries. The VPD said Friday that they had located the man the night before and seized his vehicle. Police previously described the suspect as white, 40 to 50 years old, 300 pounds, with a receding hairline. They say he was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants. The VPD didn't name the suspect, as charges have not been laid. Police say the investigation is continuing and are encouraging sex workers in the area to remain vigilant.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

www.nelsonstar.com

Weather alerts are in place for the Coquihalla, Trans Canada Highway, the Okanagan Connector and Highway 3 today, June 16. All four highways are expected to see up to two centimetres of snowfall. Environment Canada states a cool air mass is sitting over the interior and snow is expected to fall through to Monday morning (June 17). Drivers are urged to use caution as weather in the mountains can change suddenly.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

www.nelsonstar.com

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have launched a new website devoted to men's mental health, with the hope that it helps guys to connect with each other and build out support networks. John Oliffe, a registered nurse and the founder and lead of UBC’s Men’s Health Research program, has been exploring the unique barriers men face in accessing mental health supports since 2005. At the beginning of his research, Oliffe says he was mostly interested in the clinical side of things. Why, he asked, are men four times more likely to die by suicide than women when they are diagnosed with depression at about half the rate? Part of the answer, Oliffe found, lies in how depression is screened for. He said it is common for men who are going through a difficult time to be more irritable, angry or impulsive and to lean on drinking and substance use. These aren't symptoms clinicians typically check for though, Oliffe said, so many men go undiagnosed and untreated. Creating change on that front is important, but more recently Oliffe has refocused some of his attention towards implementing more preventative measures. The launch of his program's website, InGoodCompany, is an effort to get men talking about mental health with their friends and make sure they have supports in place before they reach a crisis point.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 97%

www.nelsonstar.com

B.C. Premier David Eby says app-based companies employing ride-hail and food-delivery workers can "suck it up" as new, first-in-Canada rules come into effect this fall. The provincial government Wednesday announced news regulations protecting gig workers. Starting Sept. 3 companies like Uber and DoorDash will have to pay 120 per cent of the provincial minimum wage to their employees while working — $20.88 per hour. Ride-hail and food-delivery workers will also see their tips protected and they will become eligible for workers compensation benefits as part of other measures designed to create safe working environments. The broad coordinates of the legislation became public in the fall, but yesterday's announcement prompted another round of concerns from the companies themselves and business leaders at large. Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said in a statement that B.C. companies already contend with some of the highest costs and strictest regulatory and tax environments in North America. "We are concerned that the new regulations will impose additional burdens and reduce flexibility, inevitably leading to even higher costs for transportation and food delivery services," Anderson said. She also fears that companies will hand out fewer assignments to workers to cut their costs. But Eby does not buy it. "These companies can suck it up. They will be alright, they will be fine," he said Thursday (June 13 during an unrelated event with Newfoundland Premier Andrew Furey." The companies that employ these ride-hail and food-delivery workers make billions while the workers themselves often live right at the edge, (British Columbians) don't want a scenario where their food is delivered on the backs of someone, who is looking at homelessness and using a food bank to subsidize the delivery charge," he said.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

thenarwhal.ca

“Someone is coming up behind you,” species-at-risk biologist Scott Gillingwater says. We lower our voices and change the subject. The two of us look conspicuous; we’re wearing chest waders and sun hats and are standing on the edge of a potholed road beside a grassy path near a marshy wetland. I turn to see a man with binoculars and a large camera approaching. He is either a birder or a turtle poacher posing as a birder. “Anything good?” Gillingwater asks him, gesturing skyward. “No, not yet,” he replies. We wait for the man to disappear down the road and step onto the path to begin our clandestine operation. Gillingwater, who works for the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority in southwestern Ontario, has agreed to show me the top-secret area where he studies spotted turtles. It is one of Canada’s last natural strongholds for the endangered reptile, he says, home to “an exceptionally important population.”

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

www.nelsonstar.com

British Columbia has finalized regulations to provide a minimum-wage and basic protections for ride-hailing and delivery workers using app-based platforms such as Uber, DoorDash and SkipTheDishes. The Ministry of Labour says in a statement the regulations that will take effect on Sept. 3 are a first in Canada. It says the changes are the result of years of engagement with various stakeholders, and they address workers’ top concerns, including low and unpredictable pay, tip protection and lack of workers’ compensation. The new rules set the minimum wage for the time a worker is engaged in a job at $20.88 per hour, 20 per cent higher than B.C.’s general minimum wage. The province says the rationale for adding the premium is that the minimum wage does not apply to the workers’ time spent waiting between assignments. The rules will also ensure 100 per cent of customers’ tips go to the worker and establish a 35- to 45-cent minimum per-kilometre vehicle allowance to help workers cover their expenses, as well as coverage through B.C.’s workers’ compensation agency. The regulations will also require platforms to show workers the locations and estimated pay for a particular job before they accept it, and the companies must provide a reason if a worker is suspended or terminated from their position.

Alberta TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

Phillips, first elected in 2015 and environment minister in Rachel Notley’s NDP government, made her bombshell announcement Saturday in an interview with the Globe and Mail, citing the disinformation and viciousness characteristic of politics today, especially as experienced by female politicians, particularly if they are on the left. It would be fair to add “especially in Alberta,” as well, but the Globe did not quote Phillips saying that. “I’m the next in a line of woman politicians who are taking a pass,” she told the Globe. “These conditions are not improving,” Phillips said. “The right is only getting more crazy and more bonkers, and disinformation is just getting worse.” It is impossible to disagree with that part of her analysis, and not just in Alberta. It’s also hard not to blame her for giving the scoop about her decision to leave politics to a Toronto-based media organization. Throughout her political career Phillips has not been treated particularly well by local media here in Alberta. But then, as a general rule, nor have most politicians on the left, especially if they are confident, sometimes bluntly spoken women like Phillips. That the harassment to which Phillips was subjected included being illegally spied upon and photographed by members of the Lethbridge Police Service, and her inability to do anything about it despite her position as an MLA, undoubtedly influenced her decision. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, Alberta’s toothless police watchdog, found that the officers acted in violation of the provincial Police Act, yet the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service refused to lay charges. The Speaker of the Alberta legislature was silent.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 95%

thetyee.ca

Lawyers for Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, the founders of a compassion club supplying tested heroin, meth and cocaine to users, say they were shocked prosecutors laid drug trafficking charges against the two while a related case is before the courts. At Emily Carr University, the User Experience Design Certificate program equips students to tackle the dynamic demands of a fast-developing industry. DULF — the Drug Users Liberation Front — had applied to Health Canada for an exemption from Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in order to run the compassion club. The request was denied and DULF is challenging the decision in Federal Court. “We also were surprised that, given our clients’ life-saving efforts, there would be a public interest in prosecuting such efforts,” said Stephanie Dickson, lawyer for Nyx and Kalicum. Since 2020, Nyx and Kalicum have held protest events and supplied tested heroin, cocaine and meth to drug users, despite the risk of arrest for breaking Canada’s controlled substances laws. The pair ordered the drugs from sellers on the dark web, then tested them before distributing them to a small group of people who are addicted and at high risk of death from illicit toxic drugs. Nyx and Kalicum previously told The Tyee they were driven to start the compassion club after losing friends and neighbours, and after responding to dozens of overdoses. They said they bought drugs from suppliers on the dark web because there was no legal source for prescription-grade heroin in Canada.

British Columbia TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

Two people have been hospitalized after a seaplane collided with a boat in Vancouver's Coal Harbour near Stanley Park on Saturday, officials confirmed. A CBC reporter on the scene, near Canada Place, confirmed that rescue boats were circling a small plane in the water near Brockton Point in Stanley Park. The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said in a statement that a Harbour Air seaplane collided with a pleasure boat in the water around 1 p.m. PT. "A number of people were on board both the plane and boat," the VPD said. "Several passengers have been treated for injuries and taken to hospital." The VPD did not confirm exactly how many people were injured, but said more details would come as the investigation progresses. On Sunday morning, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services assistant chief Jarret Gray confirmed that two people on the boat were hospitalized with their injuries.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

thenarwhal.ca

On Aug. 3, 2023, the Alberta government announced a surprise seven-month moratorium on all new renewable energy projects, much to the surprise of the industry. The government initially said its announcement was a response to requests from independent agencies that oversee the electricity system in Alberta, but successive revelations have proved that is untrue. “The Alberta Electric System Operator asked for us to do a pause, to make sure that we could address issues of stability of the grid,” Smith said in August 2023 when pressed by reporters asking why the government made the decision. Smith added that the grid’s regulator, the Alberta Utilities Commission, also asked for the pause. But behind the scenes, the government had spent months considering the moratorium and a related inquiry into renewable energy regulations in the province. Hundreds of pages of documents, obtained by The Narwhal through freedom of information requests, show the government expressed its desire to halt projects only one month into its mandate. They show the government was behind the push, and not independent agencies as Premier Danielle Smith repeatedly claimed. Internal emails obtained by The Narwhal also revealed that the top official at the Alberta Electric System Operator found the pause “very troubling” and was “not comfortable” with the decision. He was told to “support the minister without reservation.” Here, then, is a timeline of what we know happened and when.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 95%

thetyee.ca

In late summer 2023, the RCMP made headlines with the arrests of two men in Ottawa and Kingsey Falls, Quebec, on terrorism and hate propaganda charges. The arrests marked a significant victory in a three-year investigation by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team targeting the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division. This Indigenous History Month, Read Local BC is showcasing nine new books and an educational board game to touch your heart and engage your mind. One of the men arrested was Patrick Gordon Macdonald, 26, on charges of participating in and facilitating terrorist activities and the wilful promotion of hatred tied to his alleged involvement with the Atomwaffen Division. His apprehension followed the previous year’s arrest of a teenager in Windsor, Ontario, similarly charged with terrorism for his involvement with the same extremist group. Macdonald is out on bail after his parents posted $40,000 in sureties and must stay at their home under strict conditions. The case against Macdonald is unprecedented in Canada, marking the first time an alleged far-right extremist was prosecuted for both terrorism and hate propaganda.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

After a major feeder water main break plunged Calgary's water supply into a critical state, city officials are now asking Calgarians to use 25 per cent less than they did yesterday, sounding the alarm that the city is at risk of running out. The Bearspaw south water main — which is 11 kilometres long and as wide as two metres in parts — suffered a break Wednesday night that left hundreds of homes and businesses in the city's northwest without water. Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, the break caused streets to suddenly flood in the Montgomery area around Home Road, forcing the closure of several roads and intersections, including 16th Avenue in both directions.

Canada TSG_Asmodeus • 3 months ago • 100%

thetyee.ca

It’s been almost two months since the federal budget, and anguished cries about the horror of capital gains tax changes are still coming. Other measures in the $535-billion budget are forgotten. But a change that would increase taxes on a small number of mostly very well-off people is still in the news. The capital gains tax debate is the latest front in the battle to keep taxes low — especially taxes on the wealthy, who have the greatest ability to wage public and political campaigns to protect their interests. This demonstrates, again, one of the reasons we can’t have nice things such as a comprehensive health-care system or an effective climate response. And how decades of anti-tax rhetoric — from politicians, interest groups and lobbyists, often amplified by media — have made it almost impossible to have a rational debate on a topic that’s critical to society. The budget failed to do much to increase tax fairness. But it took one notable step by increasing capital gains taxes. Those are paid when someone — or some company — sells assets that have increased in value since they bought them. If your childhood collection of hockey cards happens to include a mint Gretzky rookie card, valued at some $3 million, and you sell it, you’ll pay more tax on the profits. If you’re lucky enough to have a cottage and you decide it’s time to sell, you’ll be taxed on more of the gain. The change is significant, and long overdue. Formerly, individuals had to include 50 per cent of capital gains over $250,000 on their tax returns. The budget increased that to 66.7 per cent. (The capital gains tax does not apply to the sale of your principal residence.) So if you bought $500,000 worth of shares in the Misplaced Trust Company and sold them for $1 million, before the change you would have declared $125,000 in income and paid tax on that amount. Now you’ll declare $166,750. That change does not seem punitive — especially as most of us do not make $250,000 in capital gains in a year. The federal budget documents say about one in 1,000 individual tax filers will be affected by the change, and the average income of those tax filers is $1.4 million.