Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Dragon Mountain Provincial Park rises in a forested hump above the farmland just south of Quesnel, with a gravel road to its summit and 600 metres of descending mountain bike trails through rocks, chutes and mature forest. The local builders of the trails did such a good job that Quesnel is now a mountain bike destination, with Dragon Mountain its star attraction. But where mountain bikers see a playground, wildfire experts see the makings of a disaster waiting to happen: a tangle of dead and dying Douglas firs and lodgepole pines; a forest floor littered with deadfall; west-facing slopes that dry out quickly; steep, uneven terrain; and a nest of communication towers essential to emergency services. “If there’s a forest fire on Dragon Mountain it would burn the whole thing” ... CLICK HERE for the full story

A new federal program designed to finance reconstruction after disaster will now offer money to individuals and municipalities looking to protect — or even buy out entirely — properties before wildfire or floods strike.  For individuals, that could mean getting money for new siding to protect a home from wildfire, or changes to a house’s foundations to fortify it against flooding.  For municipalities, it might mean money to build up dikes or buy out at-risk homes from their owners. But the measures don’t kick in until this spring, and some British Columbians still coping with fallout from disaster years later say they have been left behind ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The most urgent takeaway? Neither BC nor LA has enough firefighters to meet the demands of increasingly extreme wildfire seasons ... ... with close to 2,000 firefighters stretched thin in LA, including personnel from across the state and even out-of-state teams, José Martí, a professor of computer and electrical engineering at UBC, warns that a similar crisis could unfold in BC unless the province strengthens its wildfire management strategy. “We do not have enough firefighters, and we’re seeing larger and larger fires, going uncontrolled in BC and now LA" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

On warm summer afternoons in southern British Columbia, thunderclouds bloom over high plateaus and towering mountain peaks. A flash of light. A sharp crack. And a blast of electricity is delivered to another remote hillside. A new wildfire has started. It won’t be detected for hours or days. But when it is finally discovered, a pivotal decision will have to be made. Should the fire be immediately put out? Or can it be allowed to clear away brush on the forest floor, potentially reducing the intensity of a future blaze while making room for wildlife? The question, which lies at the heart of BC’s wildfire crisis, isn’t new. But the answer has never been muddier ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  Thomas Leblanc spent 35 years fighting wildfires in Montana, Alberta, British Columbia and his home province of Ontario, but when he developed a cancer linked to firefighting, he was repeatedly denied workplace coverage ... ... In 2009, Leblanc found a lump in his neck and was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, one of more than a dozen cancers considered a presumptive work-related illness in most parts of Canada for structural firefighters. That means the illness is automatically accepted as likely being caused by occupational exposure — making it easier to access workplace compensation and supports. Leblanc applied to Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) for compensation but was rejected. In all but four jurisdictions in Canada, wildland firefighters are excluded in legislation from the presumptions granted to structural firefighters, who respond to fires inside buildings, fire alarms, chemical spills and accidents ... CLICK HERE ...

California has set goal of reducing the wildfire risk on 4,000 square kilometres each year by 2025, an area 1,000 times the size of Stanley Park.    The B.C. government doesn’t have a comprehensive wildfire and forest resilience plan unlike California and Washington state, whose plans have helped produce faster and more significant results.   B.C. has set no goals on how much land it wants to reduce wildfire risk on each year or larger timelines, and it doesn’t track and report publicly on progress, as do the two U.S. states, shows a review by Postmedia News of publicly available plans ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  BC says controlled burns can save communities; but bureaucracy and inaction has hobbled efforts to clear forests of fuel Of all the ways to protect BC communities from increasingly furious wildfire seasons, few have been as widely endorsed as the tactical, controlled use of fire.   Both experts and provincial officials say fire is one of the best ways to clear forested areas of dangerous (and unnaturally large) amounts of dead underbrush and dry vegetation. But by all measures, BC’s governments are failing to meet the moment, leaving the province’s forests increasingly vulnerable not just to fire—but to intense, quick-moving firestorms that can overwhelm firefighters and destroy hundreds of homes ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Citizens deserve to have the most up-to-date information to make informed decisions. Last week, Kelowna Fire Chief Travis Whiting announced that he and his department hoped to lift all evacuation orders within the City of Kelowna by Thursday of that week. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all our firefighters and first responders for their incredible work in saving so many homes. I would also like to thank the many volunteers working behind the scenes to assist those who have been evacuated or lost their homes. For example, the Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR) volunteer members have put in many hours of service during the past few weeks. All these incredible efforts are greatly appreciated by all of us. Regarding the announcement from Kelowna Fire Chief Travis Whiting, it should be noted that the situation was not certain due to the rapidly changing weather and wind conditions in the Okanagan. Nevertheless, the Chief and his department shared ...

  On thePodcast, host Bob Mackin welcomes Conservative Party of B.C. leader John Rustad, who was a forests minister and aboriginal relations minister in the previous BC Liberal government. He said the NDP government needs to rethink the way it fights fires and rethink the way it manages forests in an era with longer, hotter, drier summers.     “I don’t want to take away from the fact that there are tens of thousands of people that have been significantly impacted by these fires, right?” Rustad said. “I mean, it’s just, it’s tragic, when you think about it. We need to make sure we get everything we can in there to support these people to get them so they can get their lives back together, to be able to rebuild. But long term, yes, we need to think about changing how we manage on the landscape" ... CLICK HERE for the full interview

UBC expert says traumatic events can lead people to conspiracies to try and make sense of what’s happening   As B.C. is seeing the worst wildfire season on record, officials have now had to start battling other issues beyond fires threatening homes and communities: conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation.   And it’s a whole section on TikTok, “B.C. wildfire conspiracy,” with more than 11 million views.   Conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation have been running rampant on social media. In North Shuswap, videos were posted claiming fire hydrants had no water another claimed there was a company mining lithium in Scotch Creek ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government needs to reexamine the way it funds infrastructure projects as Canada's worst wildfire season on record continues.   Wildfires have forced thousands of people in B.C. and the Northwest Territories to leave their homes in recent weeks.   Trudeau was in B.C.'s Central Okanagan region on Friday to meet with firefighters and local leaders ... during their conversation with Trudeau, the mayors asked for permanent and sustained federal investments in disaster-resilient infrastructure ...   CLICK HERE for the full story