News Articles
Class Action Lawsuit Against Indian Hospitals May Eventually Involve 150,000 or More Claimants
A member of the legal team handling a class action lawsuit against the Canadian government over the Indian Hospital System is urging more former patients to come forward and tell their stories. Lawyer Steven Cooper says this will provide as many victims of the hospitals as possible an opportunity to join the lawsuit and also help the legal team determine the full scope of the Indigenous hospital system that once operated in Canada, including temporary facilities that may have existed briefly, but have been forgotten or were never acknowledged as part of that system. Cooper says their initial estimate of people covered by the class action was eighty-to-ninety thousand, but it now appears that number could be double. Read the article:
Heatwave Causes Temperature Spike in World Class Salmon and Trout River
The record breaking heatwave that cooked British Columbia and the western United States in early July unexpectedly raised the temperature of the Cowichan River on southern Vancouver Island to levels not normally seen until later in the summer. Such warm water can effect the health of salmon fry and trout, which are cold water fish. Fortunately, there are pockets of cooler water, if they can find them, that the fish can take refuge. The earlier than normal spike in water temperature raises concern because climate change is created hotter and drier summers that may forever alter the conditions that made Cowichan River such and important part of the life cycle for salmon. Read the article:
Thousands of Overdose Deaths Underline Need for Safe Opioid Supply
The the latest statistics on fatal illicit drug overdose deaths for May of 2021 have advocates for a safer supply of opioid calling for faster action to save lives. The province of British Columbia declared opioid use a health emergency in April of 2016 and in the fives following that move the BC Coroners Service says more than seven thousand user had died of overdoses. With high amounts of fentanyl regularly found in toxicology tests after the deaths, there are calls for a safe supply of opioids and more mental health treatment. Read the article:
Canada Remains a Peaceful Place to Live
Canada remained largely free of the violent clashes and civil unrest experienced in the United States and elsewhere in 2020 and into 2021, and it remains in the top ten most peaceful countries, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace in its 2021 Global Peace Index. Globally, the IEP report says the decline of its GPI was, to some extent, driven by the number of violent public demonstrations, but largely by a considerable expansion of military spending as a portion of GDP in many countries. While terrorism declined and deaths in regional conflicts were lower, there was a rise in weapons imports. Regionally, North America recorded the largest decline on the 2021 GPI, but Canada remained in the top ten for peacefulness, making it a tale of two countries when compared to its regional partner, the United States. Unfortunately, in Canada hate crimes against Asians skyrocketed in the city of Vancouver as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, and there was the recent murder of four members of a Muslim family in a hate crime in London, Ontario. Read the article:
International Biological Diversity Day Marred by Arrests in the Forests of British Columbia
International Biological Diversity Day arrived on May 22, 2021, to cap off a week of arrests by the RCMP as it enforces a court injunction against logging blockades in the Caycuse Valley on southern Vancouver Island. Canada's minister of environment issued a statement to say that biological diversity is both a victim of climate change and our ally in our fight against climate change. The government of BC released no statement as it faced mounting criticism over letting logging continue in ancient old-growth forests. The BC Green Party leader says it's unfortunate that people could arrested for simply trying to demonstrate opposition to the government's decision to not follow through on a promise to defer logging of old-growth. Read the article:
Logging in British Columbia's Old-growth Forests Speeds Up
The year following the release of a government sponsored report into forestry practices in British Columbia's old-growth forests the pace of approvals for logging increased over the previous 12 months. The Wilderness Committee examined publicly available data from the province of BC to map the cutbacks approved for harvesting, and says logging companies target the most at-risk forests and the BC government does nothing to stop them. Read the article:
Is an Invader Now Populating the Salish Sea?
A surprise catch for a Ladysmith man who was heading out to harvest oysters. He spotted a European Green Crab and quickly scooped it up and turned it over to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans who have been tracking the movement of the invasive crabs, that can now thrive in the region because of warmer oceans temperatures. While there is a large population of European Green Crabs on the western coast of Vancouver Island, only a few mature crabs have ever been found in the Salish Sea, which sits to the east. A DFO invasive species expert says they continue watching to see whether they are taking up residence here. Read the article:
Perservance Makes Oxygen - the Stuff of Rocket Fuel
It takes a lot of puff to get a rocket off the ground, even if its the sandy red mantle of Mars. One of the key components of propellent for rockets is oxygen. Using a small unit about the size of a toaster, NASA's Mars rover Perseverance proved it is possible to convert the carbon-dioxide atmosphere of Mars into oxygen. If the process can be done in large enough quantities, it could mean future manned Mars' missions could be planned without the need to carry large amounts of oxygen along for the return journey. Read the article:
Giving Nature a Check-up
The Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region is a UNESCO biosphere reserve on Central Vancouver Island the extends from the Salish Sea to the top of Mount Arrowsmith in the West. Every year the biosphere region does a check of the health of species within a small area of the bio-reserve. For 2021, the event was transformed from one that focused on selected areas of study to a 'Bioblitz," a biosphere wide check on flora and fauna which encouraged anyone interested to participate by downloading the iNaturalist app on their smartphones and heading outdoors to help create the annual snapshot. Read the article:
Your data? Your choice!
The corporate owner of major retail shopping centres across the country collected biometric data on mall users via information kiosks. It says the images obtained were deleted after being analyzed, but an investigation by the privacy commissioners of British Columbia, Alberta, and Canada found that a third party had stored the data collected. People had not been properly informed of what was happening and never had the opportunity to deny consent. Read the article:
Global Warming Could Causse an Unwelcome Change for Open Salmon Farming
As the temperature of the Pacific Ocean along Canada's west coast rises, the conditions for open pen Atlantic salmon farming are expected to deteriorate. Researchers at the University of British Columbia predict that aquaculture will be forced to shift away from farmed Atlantic salmon. The upside to this story is that conditions will be much improved for raising oysters. It appears that climate change ultimately means salmon farms on Canada's west coast may face the same fate as the dinosaurs: climate change induced extinction. Read the article:
Victory Rolls and Anti-aircraft Fire on VE Day
Imagine the thrill of doing a victory roll in a spitfire. That's exactly what George Brewster was asked to do on the evening of May 5, 1945, over an air force base in Holland. Now 97 years old, Brewster remembers that request from the control tower at the base, and also dodging the anti-aircraft fire that erupted soon after from the batteries nearby. Read the article:
Selling You - Biometric Datal Provides a Big Haul for Data Brokers
Data Privacy Day highlights the insidious theft of personal information collected by seemingly innocuous apps and social media websites. Age, income, personal preference, links you click on, a history of your daily movements, and virtually everything else that can be collected to create data points is gathered and cross referenced by data brokers and big corporations. Unfortunately, this valuable commodity is unknowingly and freely given away by social media users. Caitlin Lemisky of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of BC says there are ways of controlling and preventing this collection of personal data. Read the article:
A Passion for New Parks
What's on your bucket list? For Andy Day, the C-E-O of the BC Parks Foundation, it's creating new parks to preserve the province's wild spaces for people to enjoy for generations to come. The foundation recently raised money to buy tiny West Ballenas Island in the Salish Sea. Thousands of people in British Columbia and around the world donated money for the purchase. Among the most passionate were grade nine students from a school that shares the name of the Island. Read the article: