Community Stories
An Open Letter from Elder Bill Jones
As the NDP government and the forest industry continue to clear cut on unceded Pacheedaht lands and wildfires rage throughout BC and Canada, Elder Bill Jones calls again for the protection of the old-growth forests he calls his cathedral.
Towards a Drought-Ready British Columbia
Drought Ready analyzes the last decade of droughts and drought management in B.C. and offers practical guidance to move away from reactive crisis response and toward proactive drought planning. The authors focus on the provincial government’s foundational role in…
Petition Launched: That the CRD be Fully Transparent in Regard to Its Felling of Trees by Elk/Beaver Lake:
Readers of CRD Watch or the Creatively United for the Planet blog, will likely be familiar with recent articles about the felling of trees by the CRD in Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park. Like Wooden Tombstones: The Latest Tree Decimation in Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park…
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Speak Up For Wildlife!
It may still be chilly outside, but February is heating up with several opportunities to voice your support for wild lives and wild places. Below, we list 7 ways you can take action: from submitting public comments on wolf, bear, and caribou hunting, to signing…
We Are in This Together: Shifting from Me to We
One of the most beloved teachings of the Vietnamese monk and Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, is his reflection on a simple piece of paper. If we look deeply, he says, we can see the clouds in the paper. Without clouds, there would be no rain; without rain, there…
144 Names for a New Economy
Compiled by Guy Dauncey, author of The Economics of Kindness: The End of Capitalism, the Birth of a New Ecological Civilization Palgrave/Macmillan, Spring 2026 This list illustrates the deep, persistent desire by so many people to create a new kind of economy, one in…
What is The Finkelstein Formula? – And How is it Destroying Democracy
Worth reading if you care about democracy! This info helps us see where politicians may be coming from. Good to know, and good to share with others. “You’ve noticed the pattern: politicians who never discuss their own policies but spend every breath demonizing…
12 Powers Meditation – Meditation for Health
Meditation for Health – meditation reduces stress by lowering cortisol levels and physically shrinking the amygdala, the brain’s fight-or-flight centre. It consistently improves focus, emotional regulation and sleep quality while lowering blood pressure.
Electoral Reform Opportunity
The best chance of having a citizens’ assembly focused on how to make the system more proportional is if it is written into the BC NDP and BC Green Party agreement for 2026. They are negotiating it right now. Let your MLA know that constituents care about…
Did You Know? Bill C-15
The government is pushing through Bill C-15, the 600-page Budget Implementation Act. Buried inside it is something called the Red Tape Reduction Act. It lets any cabinet minister exempt any company from any federal law (environmental protections, public safety…
Reclaim the Economy for People and the Planet
As readers of this column know, I often refer to a piece of wisdom put forth by the World Wide Fund for Nature in 2014: “Ecosystems sustain societies that create economies. It does not work any other way round.”
Modernizing Industrial Water Rates in BC: Ending the Great Water Giveaway
Your voice is a key part of making water rates fair and protecting BC’s watersheds. Tell decision-makers that British Columbians care about clean water and strong, sustainable funding for our watersheds. Budget day is Feb. 17th. Talking points appear after you click…
Science Alliance for Forestry Transformation Update
“SAFT is group of leading forest ecologists/forest practitioners advocating for both legislative/policy and forest practices changes in B.C. The forest industry to date has largely been one of unsustainable resource extraction and conversion of primary forests…
Vancouver Island Duo Provides Free Pet Care for Owners in Treatment
The call would come in, a treatment bed ready, motivation high, everything lined up. Then the same answer, again and again. “I don’t have anywhere for my dog to go.” For Priya Sharma and Kayleigh Busch, it was one of the hardest…
Twenty-Five Ways to Make Life Affordable for All
Robert Reich is right. In a recent Substack post he laid out how tariffs, monopolies, and corporate power are driving up the cost of living for ordinary people. Much of what we call “inflation” is not an economic inevitability, but the result of policy choices that…
