British Columbia

British Columbia


‘Hard to believe it’s real’: B.C.’s energy regulator repeatedly gave Coastal GasLink a pass on alleged environmental infractions

When officials from the BC Energy Regulator travelled to Wet’suwet’en territory in September 2022, they were planning a routine inspection of a fish-bearing stream. Two years had passed since Coastal GasLink completed installation of a section of pipeline through the stream, a tributary of Tchesinkut Creek, near the community of Burns Lake in northwest B.C. […]

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Coronation Park development approved following contentious public hearing

Port Moody’s Coronation Park development has passed the final reading of council after more than four years of negotiations with the city. The public hearing ahead of council’s vote on Oct. 3 lasted close to three hours, and brought out 38 speakers, along with 15 letters, voicing support, concerns or opposition to the proposal. Around […]

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15 ‘potential’ gravesites found near former Yukon residential school

CARCROSS, Yukon — Yukon First Nation elder Sandra Johnson says the discovery of 15 potential graves near the site of a former residential school has “uncovered long-buried wounds.” Johnson spoke Tuesday at the release of an investigation into unmarked graves and the deaths of children who attended the former Chooutla Residential School in Carcross, south […]

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B.C. First Nation research finds 158 child deaths at four facilities

MISSION, BRITISH COLUMBIA — An investigation into unmarked graves and missing children by British Columbia’s Sto:lo Nation has revealed at least 158 deaths, most of them at a hospital. But representatives from the Sto:lo Nation Chiefs’ Council and Sto:l? Research and Resource Management Centre said Thursday that their work has only just begun, and is […]

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B.C. aware of dike problems before destructive flooding in 2021, documents show

Officials with the British Columbia government and the City of Merritt were aware of significant problems with dikes for several years before a series of atmospheric rivers flooded the community, documents released through a freedom of information request show. The documents obtained by the B.C. office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives show a […]

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Cyberattack on B.C. health websites may have taken workers’ personal information

VANCOUVER — A cyberattack in British Columbia may have compromised the personal information of thousands of health-care workers, including those the province is trying to recruit to fill much-needed jobs. The Health Employers Association of British Columbia said Tuesday that the attack was on three websites it hosts, and personal information associated with 240,000 email […]

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Judge orders MCFD to reveal redacted records in birth alerts case

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has sided with IndigiNews in a case involving birth alert records held by the province’s Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD).  In a decision released Tuesday, Justice Nitya Iyer ruled that the MCFD must disclose records that it was trying to keep under wraps to the privacy commissioner’s office for review. […]

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Airbnb wins Vancouver privacy ruling, as court quashes order to release host data

Vancouver housing activist Rohana Rezel has had a beef with Airbnb and the City of Vancouver for years, and a B.C. Supreme Court ruling this week means there’s no end in sight. Rezel had made Freedom of Information requests to the city in 2019, seeking information about the hosts of short-term rentals. But the city […]

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Manitoba government set to run more advertising in lead up to October election

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is taking out more advertising in the lead-up to the Oct. 3 provincial election and has more leeway to do so under recent changes to provincial law. The Progressive Conservative government has budgeted $375,500 for the latest phase of advertising promoting its recent agreement with the federal government to offer […]

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B.C. government fights to keep birth alerts records from public eye

A dispute over birth alerts records involving the province, IndigiNews and B.C.’s privacy commissioner is heading for the B.C. Supreme Court.  B.C.’s Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) is fighting to keep records about birth alerts under wraps — records that could have important implications for parents in “B.C.” who were subjected to birth alerts. […]

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B.C. creates anti racism data committee, releases research priorities

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia government has released 12 priorities for anti-racism research in its first update since the Anti-Racism Data Act came into effect last June. The province says the focus will be in areas such as racial diversity within the public service, interactions with the justice system and how health care and education […]

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Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec join Ottawa in investigating ChatGPT

EDMONTON _ The governments of Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec are joining the federal privacy commissioner in investigating the company behind the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, ChatGPT. Alberta’s privacy authority says the joint investigation would see if OpenAI, which is the parent company of ChatGPT, obtained valid consent from Canadians to collect, use and disclose their personal information via its chatbot. ChatGPT, which […]

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