Bill 4 – The Park Amendment Act – What Next?
Tens of thousands of people in BC have voiced their opposition to the recent passing of Bill 4 – the Park Amendment Act. They are demanding its repeal because of fears around industrial development taking priority over the protection of our most significant areas of ecological diversity and natural beauty. I share many of their concerns.
The Problem with Bill 4 – the Park Amendment Act.
The Park Amendment Act is a controversial piece of legislation that now allows the BC Government to issue park use permits for activities that are not necessarily related to the mandate and purpose of our BC parks. The Act allows for permits to be issued for two general categories: film production and research. Read more at Andrew Weaver's Community Website
Food security threatened by Bill 24
The government of BC has introduced Bill 24, The Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) Amendment Act. Despite the lack of formal public consultation, we have an opportunity to make our voices heard before this Bill gets passed.
Changes to the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) have been nervously anticipated since last July when Hon. Bill Bennett, the Minister responsible for the core review, braced British Columbians for change. Now the Bill is on the table we see the changes are substantive, and in my opinion are not in the interests of our food security.
Galviston spill a tip of the hat to Exxon Valdez and a warning to Vancouver
Days before the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the west coast’s signature oil spill, a barge carrying “heavy oil” collided with another ship spilling approximately nearly 650,000 litres into the water around Galviston and Texas City, south of Houston, Texas.
What are the proposed BC Ferries cuts costing British Columbians?
Following the Defend our Marine Highways rally at the BC Legislature on March 11th, Transportation Minister Todd Stone was quick to publicly react. Among other things, the Minister suggested the government knows more than they are letting on. He admitted:
“We certainly know there will be some impact from a tourism perspective.”
Based on Minister Stone’s certainty, it begs the question, what does the government know that they are not telling us? What is the impact and how big? Will the cost to coastal business communities be greater than the $19 million dollars they are seeking to save through ferry schedule reductions? What about the long-term impact?
