The Inconvenient Facts Carney and the Premiers Ignore
Prime Minister Mark Carney wants Canada to be an energy superpower, including in “conventional energy” (read fossil fuels). Far from being the climate-action champion we expected him to be, he seems to have swallowed his principles…
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Suing Canada’s Largest Pension Investment Manager Over Alleged Climate Risk Mismanagement
Ecojustice announces the first case of its kind… they are representing four young Canadians taking on the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), one of Canada’s largest financial institutions, for putting our pensions at risk. Learn more about this... Read more
Vast Tree Removals Set For Victoria, and Victoria’s OCP Update Means Significantly Fewer Big Trees
The following was posted on the Friends of Vancouver Island Facebook page: Friends of Vancouver Island | Tree Removal Notices Appearing Across Victoria | Facebook “Tree Removal Notices Appearing Across Victoria If you’ve been walking around Victoria lately, you... Read more
Let’s Have a Conversation About the Future We Want for this Region
Last week I suggested we need a national People’s Well-being Commission to craft a new vision for Canada, one focused on how we become a society committed to equitable health now and for future generations while living within planetary boundaries.
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Can Charred Wood Help Nova Scotia Farmers — and the Climate?
In a rolling field in the Annapolis Valley, the soil in one row of grapevines is littered with charred fragments of wood. Those unassuming bits of charred material don’t look like much, but the charcoal-like substance…
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We Can’t Grow Our Way Out of Problems Created by Browth
Mark Carney may not have called his Bill C-5 — now the Building Canada Act — a big, beautiful bill, but it does come out of much the same mould as Trump’s bill. Essentially, it says we can and must grow our way…
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Save Our Saanich Isn’t Saving Money
I wish I could take credit for the term “Dysfunction-by-the-Sea,” but longtime readers of this newspaper will recognize it was Jack Knox’s acerbic term for Greater Victoria. But while Jack has retired — and is much missed…
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As the Cliff Edge Looms, Governments Hit the Accelerator
Some may consider Prime Minister Mark Carney to be an economic guru, but he is either ignorant of or chooses to ignore two fundamental truths in his rush to build the nation by growing the economy.
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Good News For Long-Term Management of Toxic Biosolids
The Peninsula Biosolids Coalition and Biosolids Free BC, with whom Creatively United for the Planet Society has been actively collaborating, congratulates the CRD Board for making a historic decision to thermally convert biosolids into biochar employing the latest... Read more
Improving Victoria’s Well-Being
This presentation highlights gaps in Victorian wellbeing that a group of Victoria youth have decided could be improved. The 3 suggestions aim to improve nature, transportation, and healthcare. Our group consists of 4 people, Ethan Lin, Beatrice Sharpe, Sebastien... Read more
Biosolids in the CRD Update
In April 2025, the Province of BC approved in principle the CRD’s preferred option for thermal conversion of biosolids into a biochar and non-fossil fuel gas. Until the CRD received this approval, it was reluctant to proceed with adjudicating the Request for Proposals... Read more
B.C.’s Environmental Laws Are Key Public Infrastructure, Not Mere Red Tape
Courtesy of Vancouver Sun Photo: The powers in Bill 15 are akin to a blank cheque for current and future cabinets to rewrite publicly debated and enacted environmental laws in the name of removing so-called red tape, write Andhra Azevedo and Deborah Curran. Photo by... Read more
Gene Miller: Turn Centennial Square Into A World-class Park With Sequoia, Fountain
Gene Miller is the only person we can think of who could write such a biting, funny and true article about what it would mean to Victorians if the city goes ahead with cutting down this beloved tree. “It’s worth wondering how our electeds and our urban design... Read more
Climate Crisis on Track to Destroy Capitalism, Warns Top Insurer
‘Fossil Fuels Are Killing Us’: Scientists Publish Sweeping Review of Industry Harms From Common Dreams: “We’ve got to work fast to end fossil fuel operations near our homes, schools, and hospitals and trade fossil fuel infrastructure for... Read more
Fossil Fuel Nationalism Not a Solution to Tariffs
In response to threats from the Trump regime, Canadians from coast-to-coast have been seized by a fit of nationalism. The fossil fuel industry, bankers, and politicians have swiftly manipulated this to foster a pro-oil and gas narrative in an attempt to resurrect... Read more
Synagro Leaves Texas Town Amid a Toxic Crisis
Dear CRD Board Chair, members of the CRD Board, and senior CRD staff members, Below you’ll find a recent story from the New York Times on Fort Worth Texas, a city of just under 1 million residents, terminating their contract with Synagro following evidence the... Read more
New Thermal Imaging Camera Kits Available at Local Libraries
Thermal Imaging Camera Kits are now available at local libraries throughout Victoria, BC. These kits provide residents with tools and activities to test and improve the efficiency and resiliency of their home. Discover air leaks, measure appliance electricity use,... Read more
Can This ‘Burnt Toast’-like Substance be a Key Tool in the Fight Against Climate Change?
Biochar is a charcoal – like substance derived from thermally processing woody material, sewage sludge and biosolids. Bio-char can be used for a range of uses such a adding nutrients to soil, strengthening asphalt and concrete and storing large amounts of... Read more
Fossil Fuel Companies Funding and Supplying Misleading Climate Education to Canadian Schools
Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat | February 18, 2025 — Amid concerns about rising misinformation, disinformation and corporate influence, a new report by the Canadian Association... Read more
Seeking Volunteers for Air Quality Study
As part of a research project on wildfire smoke infiltration in residential buildings, the University of Victoria’s Clean Air Lab (cleanairlab.ca), led by Dr. Minet, is seeking volunteers to host air quality sensors in their homes next summer. The goal of this study... Read more
CRD Biosolids Update
On Wednesday, February 19, the CRD Environmental Services Committee reviewed an academic literature review of toxic chemicals embedded in biosolids produced by the Greater Victoria sewage Treatment plant and processed at the Hartland landfill. The review was ordered... Read more
BCCIC’s 2025 Booklist: Pathways to Planetary & Collective Healing
A microscope reveals what was always there. As more people become personally affected by crises, they are looking at issues once seen as distant and distinct now coming into sharp focus as deeply interconnected. With rising food insecurity, femicide, wildfires,... Read more
There Is Only One Earth — Deal With It
I have spent much of my life working as an educator, whether as a professor teaching graduate students or as an in international consultant working with communities, organizations and governments around the world. Over the years…
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Let’s Force the City to Re-Examine Retrofitting the Crystal Pool
Replacing the Crystal Pool is a wasteful, uncreative solution to problems that could be addressed through a less costly retrofit. FINALLY, on New Year’s Eve I was able to do my one-kilometre swim again at the Crystal Pool after its 6 weeks of maintenance. I miss the... Read more
“Clean Energy” Comes at a Cost
In my local area in Courtenay BC, ozone damage is very severe because we live near the BC Hydro power station on the Puntledge River. I have spoken with the local authorities about the tree deaths along the river which is exacerbating the soil erosion caused by high... Read more
City Needs to Rethink Priorities
Two death knells for any city are the loss of urban trees/green space and the arts. People are attracted to Victoria, BC’s downtown area because of its inherent natural and architectural beauty and the vibrancy of the wide variety of art-based programming... Read moreSue Big Oil Sooner!
Let’s lobby municipalities to sue Big Oil. We are more than 3/5ths there to reach the half million residents involved needed to support a suit fought all the way to the Supreme Court. Read more
Save Our Neighbourhoods in Central Saanich
Hovey Road development in Central Saanich that violates the Official Community Plan Zoning. Do you live in Central Saanich and are concerned about uncontrolled development?
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Towards A Well-Being Society and a Healthy One Planet Community
Throughout my career I have focused on the well-being of people in our communities and around the world, and on the state of the Earth’s ecological systems, which are the bedrock of our well-being.
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The Little Town That Could
It is the year 2019. The skies are clear with white low clouds. A climate emergency has been declared in the small town of View Royal, but little did the town know that it would lead the way for climate actions across British Columbia in the years to come.
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Good News from Dogwood
It’s a WIN! Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission line is officially dead. It was one of several pipelines previously slated for northern B.C., but was hotly contested by Indigenous communities and allies along the route. The WCGT is the first project in... Read moreCorporations Out In Force at Biodiversity, Climate Conferences
It’s global conference season, and once again the corporate sector is spending huge amounts of money — money that comes from us when we purchase their products and services — to lobby for their own…
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Langford Adopts Plans for Increased Tree Protection
Thanks to Mary Wagner and citizen support, Langford Council supported Wagner’s five part motion based on the Urban Forest Management Plan to help preserve and protect more of Langford’s urban canopy. Staff had a recommendation for part 1 and 2, and points... Read moreWhat a Trump Presidency Might Mean for the Planet
Thanks to tens of millions of Americans who just voted to turn the American Dream into the American Nightmare, we now have to deal with the consequences of a second Trump presidency. Let’s be clear: Donald Trump is not only a fascist who is a threat to democracy in America, as two former generals…
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November Concatenations
This month of November has witnessed an especially abundant series of worrisome events, from local to global. These include billions of dollars of catastrophic damages from newly emerging wildfires, flooding, and storms. Warfare is on the increase, not only in the... Read more
Why Eat Regeneratively, Locally, and In Season
I do not want to overwhelm you, with more information yet I feel that this information is some of what we need to know, so we will have the knowledge to be motivated to do everything possible to secure a future on earth not just for humans but for the whole... Read more
CRD Biosolids Update
On October 30, 2024, the CRD approved a provisional budget for 2025, which included the establishment of an Innovative Project Work Unit. This decision indicates that the CRD is turning the corner from a focus on waste dumping to a growing emphasis on green... Read more
Have Your Say on the City of Victoria’s 2025 Draft Budget
Each year, the City of Victoria’s financial planning process provides an opportunity for Council to set service levels and approve an annual budget. You are invited to provide feedback on the City’s 2025 Draft Budget to help inform Council’s budget decisions. The... Read more
Loss of Nature Has Huge Impact, but Doesn’t Get Attention it Deserves
There was a lot of attention paid in the recent election campaign to the provincial deficit, by which various politicians and commentators meant the budgetary deficit. But important though that might be, there is another deficit that is much more concerning, and yet largely ignored…
Read moreWe Need a Government That Cares About the Well-Being of the Planet
Last month, Planetary Boundaries Science, an international partnership of Earth scientists based out of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, published the first of what will be an annual Planetary Health Check. It makes for grim, if unsurprising, reading.
Read moreEnvironmental Costs of Growing Food Aren’t Reflected in the Price We Pay
Carbon pricing is a form of pollution pricing. But air pollutants from fossil-fuel combustion and greenhouse-gas emissions from a variety of sources are not the only forms of pollution we face. And pollution pricing itself is just one aspect of the broader field of full cost accounting.
Read moreEsquimalt-Colwood All Candidates Meeting
Thank you to everyone who attended the online and live All Candidates Debate for the Esquimalt-Colwood riding (includes Vic West and View Royal) co-sponsored this past Wednesday evening at Esquimalt United Church, 500 Admirals Rd., by Creatively United for the Planet,... Read more
National Seniors Day Rally for Climate Action
Despite the drizzle and dampness of the day, a great afternoon was had by all who attended the national Day of Climate Action organized by citizens throughout Canada on October 1st. In Victoria, people of all ages attended this fabulous event featuring numerous... Read more
BC Assessment Denied that it is a Paying Member of the UDI, a Lobbying Org – Evidence Shows Otherwise
In November of 2023, the Urban Development Institute (UDI), a registered organization on the BC Lobbyists Registry, that offers political influence to its paying corporate member companies that profit from development and real estate – took to hiding its members... Read more
Why Carbon Pricing is Good for Your Health
It is very clear that pollution causes harm. Oxford Reference defines it as “contamination or undesirable modification of soil, food, water, clothing, or the atmosphere by a noxious or toxic substance,” adding that “any form of pollution can have adverse effects on health.”
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Update on Biosolids Management in the CRD
Currently, 80% of the biosolids produced by the Residuals Treatment Facility located at Hartland are being used as a fuel at the LaFarge cement facility in Richmond. The balance of the biosolids are mixed with sand and land applied at a quarry located at Cassidy near... Read more
Forget ‘Axe the Tax.’ Try ‘Pay the Price’
By proclaiming that the carbon tax “is an existential threat to our economy and our way of life” and that it threatens a “nuclear winter” for the economy, Pierre Poilievre has entered the world of full-on craziness and inverted logic. The reality is exactly the opposite. The “carbon tax” — actually…
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Seniors Demand Action on Climate Change
I was born in 1948, when the average annual atmospheric CO2 level was about 311 ppm. When I started writing this column in December 2014, average annual CO2 was 399 ppm. Today, it is 422 ppm. The impacts of these heightened CO2 levels, as well as increased levels of methane…
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