Author: Carol Linnitt

The continuous flow of dangerous pollution from B.C.’s Elk Valley coal mines into a Montana watershed is a top discussion item for Canadian and U.S. delegates convening at a bilateral meeting in Washington, D.C., Thursday. Selenium from five metallurgical coal mines owned and operated by Teck Resources has been leaching into

A pipeline owned by Paramount Resources Ltd. released an estimated 100,000 litres of crude oil and 190,000 litres of produced water near Zama City, in northwest Alberta, according to an April 11 incident report filed with the Alberta Energy Regulator. The release was discovered after company personnel looked into a

When the B.C. government announced its promised review of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, earlier this month, it came as a shock to many that it wouldn’t examine human health impacts. The announcement coincided with the release in the U.S. of the most authoritative study of fracking’s threats to human health ever

The B.C. government unveiled a new natural gas development plan Thursday in an attempt to trigger a final investment deal with LNG Canada, the proponents of B.C.’s largest proposed liquefied natural gas export terminal, located in Kitimat. The NDP’s new framework offers LNG Canada and other companies tax reprieves and exemptions

B.C.’s scientific inquiry into fracking won’t address risks to public health, the government quietly assured the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) nearly six weeks before government publicly announced the inquiry on Thursday. B.C. also assured CAPP the inquiry would not address industry’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, according to documents

Fish farm opponents and proponents alike are waiting with bated breath as a bill to phase out open net pen aquaculture farms in Washington State sits on Governor Jay Inslee’s desk for final approval. If Governor Inslee signs the bill, it would mean the end of farmed Atlantic salmon reared in

From the historic agreement that created the Great Bear Rainforest to B.C.’s Dasiqox Tribal Park to uniquely co-managed forest resources in Labrador, Indigenous-led conservation efforts are transforming the way Canadians understand and practice conservation. Far from the colonial idea of preserving natural landscapes from human incursion, Indigenous land use plans put

The Trudeau government committed an unprecedented $1.3 billion in Tuesday’s Budget 2018 to protect land and water in Canada over the next five years. The funds will help Canada meet its target to protect 17 per cent of land and 10 per cent of oceans by 2020 under the United

Remember that whole fiasco in 2012 when Stephen Harper basically, you know, eviscerated most of Canada’s environmental laws in one ginormous budget bill? People actually called it the ‘Environmental Destruction Act.’ People took to the streets. People, aka our members of parliament, pulled all-nighters proposing amendments to the bill, but Harper

Laboratory testing by the B.C. government has confirmed tens of thousands of litres of bloody effluent released into the ocean from two fish processing plants contained a dangerous virus prevalent in farmed Atlantic salmon in B.C. Two fish processing facilities that service the farmed fish industry, the Brown’s Bay Packing

When it seemed clear the newly minted B.C. NDP government would not pursue charges against Imperial Metals, owner and operator of the Mount Polley mine, for a 2014 tailings pond collapse, one woman decided to take matters into her own hands. Bev Sellars, former chief of the Xat’sull (Soda Creek) First

British Columbia won’t allow any increase in shipments of diluted bitumen through the province until the results of a scientific inquiry into the risks of oil spills in marine environments is completed, according to an announcement from the B.C. government on Tuesday.   “We are proposing we restrict the transport of

Premier John Horgan said the province will not intervene in a private prosecution brought by former Xat’sull chief Bev Sellars against the Mount Polley Mining Corporation for violations of B.C.’s environmental laws in the 2014 tailings pond collapse that released 24 million cubic metres of mining waste into Hazeltine Creek

The West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations filed a civil suit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia Tuesday claiming the Site C dam, along with two other hydroelectric projects on the Peace River, unjustifiably infringe on their constitutionally protected rights under Treaty 8. The two nations, whose traditional territory

B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver went from being B.C.’s solitary Green MLA in 2013 to holding the balance of power in the province’s current minority government. While the transition has had its ups and downs for the climate scientist, public scrutiny of Weaver’s position and what he ought to do

The B.C. Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) was “unreasonable” and “intransigent” in its dealings with the Fort Nelson First Nation as the regulator considered and eventually approved a 39-kilometre natural gas pipeline in endangered boreal caribou habitat, according to the B.C. Supreme Court. The natural gas pipeline, proposed by Calgary-based Rockyview

The proposed Ajax mine, a 1,700-hectare open-pit gold and copper mine near Kamloops, B.C., was denied a provincial environmental certificate from the B.C. government Thursday. Environment Minister George Heyman and Minister of Energy and Mines, Michelle Mungall, found the benefits of the 18-year project, which has received vocal opposition from local

The West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations will seek an injunction against the Site C dam, which received a green-light from the B.C. government Monday. The project, which will now cost an estimated $10.7 billion, has been vigorously fought by both nations, whose traditional territory will be flooded by the

This week DeSmog Canada received a 5-star ranking from the international watchdog initiative Transparify for our commitment to donor transparency.   We’re excited about our Transparify ranking but even moreso about the importance of promoting transparency among media-makers. The production of fearless public-interest journalism in Canada is a rarity. And in our

Footage of bloody discharge being released into B.C.’s coastal waters from farmed-fish processing plants by photographer Tavish Campbell has made international headlines and prompted the promise of further investigation from both provincial and federal governments. But critics say that while governments are eager to stem a wave of concerns arising from