If the Doug Ford government has any credibility left (a big IF), it has taken yet another hit, thanks to a Star investigation. Uncovered is yet another example of the cronyism that should be anathema in any healthy democracy: the weighting of The Species at Risk Program Advisory Committee with Ford’s
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Environmental Law Alert Blog: Day 3: Environmental and labour organizations challenge Enbridge approval
Monday, October 5, 2015 Another day down at the Federal Court of Appeal in Vancouver and just like that we are half way through the six day Enbridge hearing. Today we heard arguments from four environmental organizations and one labour union – all challenging the legal basis for the Enbridge
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC Hydro breaks promises in logging eagle’s nest for Site C Dam; May have lacked permits
As the fog lifted on the Peace River Monday morning, it revealed this clearcut island (Donald Hoffmann) BC Hydro’s clearcut logging this past weekend at the location of the proposed Site C Dam appears to have broken a promise about care for active eagles’ nests and may have lacked federal permits,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe: What Tom Mulcair must do to become Prime Minister
Can Tom Mulcair become the next prime minister of Canada? Barely 6 months ago that question would have brought loud guffaws but the Alberta election and recent polls showing the NDP slightly ahead of its two main rivals have reduced the guffaws to nervous coughs. I think Mulcair can do
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Suzuki: Time to end grisly trophy hunt
NHL hockey player Clayton Stoner posing with dead grizzly (Coastal Guardian Watchmen) Watching grizzly bears catch and eat salmon as they swim upstream to spawn is an unforgettable experience. Many people love to view the wild drama. Some record it with photos or video. But a few want to kill
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Suzuki: Bees matter, so restricting neonics is the right thing to do
No matter how you feel about Ontario’s proposal to restrict use of neonicotinoid insecticides on corn and soybean crops, we can all agree: bees matter. But as important as bees are, there’s more at stake. Neonics are poisoning our soil and water. This problematic class of pesticides needs to be
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Photographer to share stunning images of Great Bear Rainforest
Photo by Ian McAllister – from new book Great Bear Wild This Friday in Vancouver, groundbreaking wilderness photographer Ian McAllister will discuss his new book, Great Bear Wild – Dispatches from a Northern Rainforest, through a multi-media presentation that leads audiences into one of the world’s most spectacular landscapes, now threatened by proposed oil
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Ontario beekeepers sue neonicotinoid pesticide makers for $450 million
Ontario beekeepers suspect neonicotinoid pesticides in the death of many of their bees Read this Sept. 3 story from CTV News on the class action lawsuit being launched against two major pesticide makers by Ontario beekeepers over suspected damages from their product, known as neonicotinoids: A $450-million proposed class-action lawsuit
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mount Polley highlights risk of Red Chris, KSM tailings dam failures
Flannigan Slough, just downstream from proposed Tulsequah Chief Mine (Chris Miller) By any measure, the giant tailings dam rupture at Imperial Metal’s Mount Polley Copper Mine is a disaster for downstream communities and wild salmon. The massive dam breach released a raging torrent of slurry mine waste into Hazeltine Creek
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Vancouver Aquarium can keep cetaceans, with breeding restrictions
Beluga whales in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium Read this August 1 story from CBC.ca on the Vancouver Parks Board decision allowing the Aquarium to keep cetaceans in captivity, with restrictions on breeding. The Vancouver Park Board voted unanimously to allow the aquarium to keep cetaceans in captivity at a
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Healthy Newfoundland bees may help solve mystery of global collapse
Honeybees are in free fall just about everywhere – except Newfoundland By Sue Bailey, The Canadian Press PARADISE, N.L. – Newfoundland’s healthy honeybees are an increasing draw for researchers in the race to understand why colonies across much of the globe are struggling or dying off. “There is definitely interest in
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Orcas face triple threat: Vessel noise, pollution, lack of food
Photo: NOAA By Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press VICTORIA – Triple threats of pollution, vessel noise and the availability of food are making it hard for a group of orcas that live along the continent’s West Coast to increase beyond an estimated population of 80, says a decade-long U.S. study. Southern
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: David Suzuki: Time to save bees and ban neonic pesticides
Neonic pesticides “pose a serious risk of harm to honey bees and other pollinators,” a new study warns. Bees may be small, but they play a big role in human health and survival. Some experts say one of every three bites of food we eat depends on them. The insects
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Farley Mowat’s last words
Captain Paul Watson (left) with Farley Mowat, on the ship named after the author (Photo: Sea Shepherd) When Farley Mowat died on May 6, 2014, at age 92, his incessant flow of writing stopped, words about him shifted from the present to the past tense, and an examination of his life
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Australia torpedoes illegal Japanese whaling at international court
Read this March 31 story from news.com.au on Australia’s victory over Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean, as the Hague ruled the program does not constitue “research” – as the Japanese have long claimed – and is therefore illegal under a longstanding international whaling ban. AUSTRALIA has won an international
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Disappearing Monarch butterflies need citizen scientists’ help
From the age of five, Fred Urquhart was fascinated by monarch butterflies in his Toronto neighbourhood. Born in 1911, he spent hours watching the orange and black insects flutter about, wondering: Where did they go in winter? At school, he read voraciously about nature, especially monarchs and other insects. He
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC’s wolf management remains a poisonous secret
(Photo: Ian McAllister, Pacific Wild) Read this March 10th article from the Tyee about the BC Government’s unanswered questions on whether it plans to use poison to manage the province’s wolf population: The British Columbia government is publicly claiming to be totally transparent on how it manages wolves, but at
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Alberta’s wild horse round up tramples on cowboy culture
Photo: animaljusticeparty.org Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press CALGARY – Alberta’s decision to cull its wild horse population is at odds with the province’s western heritage, say critics who want the plan cancelled immediately. One licence has already been issued by Alberta Environment to capture up to 200 feral horses in
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Legal errors could send Enbridge review back to drawing board
The 3-member Joint Review Panel for the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline Not even a month has pass since the federally-appointed Joint Review Panel (JRP) released its official report recommending approval of the Northern Gateway Pipeline, pending the fulfillment of 209 conditions. Yet already two separate suits have been filed against
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Conservation is good business, new trophy hunting study reminds us
Photo courtesy of Trish Boyum / Ocean Adventures A new study on trophy hunting in BC’s Great Bear Rainforest found that bear-related ecotourism generates “12 times more in visitor spending than bear hunting and over 11 times in direct revenue for BC’s provincial government.” The study, from the Centre for Responsible Travel (CREST),
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