Cortes Cruiser: A New Way To Get Around Cortes Island

Eric Denis grew up in Quebec and is the technical operator of machines at Island Sea Farms. Melissa Steblyk comes from Alberta, is a substitute teacher at the Cortes Island School, and also manages the Gorge Marina. Last May, they launched a moped rental business called Cortes Cruiser in the Gorge.

It didn’t start out that way.

Melissa Steblyk: “Eric’s got three kids, and his oldest is almost 16. We were thinking a scooter would be a great option for him when he gets his license.”

Eric Denis: “In March, we bought that first bike. It was one of those Yamaha BWS—just a little bit of a beater. It was for my kids, so it was like, ‘We’ll fix it up.’”

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First Nation says federal government is absent after major spill settlement

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Nearly a decade after a tug spilled diesel into the territorial waters of a BC First Nation and shut down key harvesting grounds, the Heiltsuk Nation says a new settlement is only one step toward recovery.

The Heiltsuk have reached a settlement with Kirby Corporation, the Texas-based marine transportation company that owns the Nathan E. Stewart tug. The tug hit a reef near Bella Bella, BC in 2016 and spilled 110,000 litres of diesel and lubricants, fouling more than 350 kilometres of shoreline and shutting down a key clam harvesting area. 

But Heiltsuk leaders say the federal government — and Canada’s compensation fund for ship spills — are still “nowhere to be found.” 

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Alberta’s First Carbon Capture Facility Operational

Alberta’s first operational carbon capture facility, the Meadowbrook Carbon Storage Hub, quietly commenced operations in December. Bison Low Carbon Ventures Inc. (Bison), the developer, issued a press release stating: 

“The Phase 1 facility is licensed for up to 500 kilotonnes per annum of CO2 injection and we expect the project, once scaled, to be able to safely handle a minimum of 3 million tonnes per annum of CO2 injection for permanent sequestration.”  

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The Quadra Project – The Democracy of Nature

Humanity’s attempted dominance over nature is becoming a
problem—attempted because we think that we are in control whereas, in
fact, we are disturbing natural ecologies to such an extent that we
are creating biological and biophysical systems that will be hostile
to our survival as a civilization and as a species.

This illusion of control and its consequences have been the concern of
Daniel Lim, the principal of a consulting firm that specializes in the
“advance of social justice through nature-based whole systems change.”
Lim is not worried so much about biological systems as sociological
ones, and how some cultures rise to such power that they dominate and
obliterate smaller ones. History is replete with examples of these
“supremacy cultures” and the social injustices that they create as a
result of exercising their power and influence. But what is the
alternative?

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What Will Canada’s AI Strategy Mean for Jobs and Safety?

By Isaac Phan Nay, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada’s long-awaited and much-delayed artificial intelligence strategy on Thursday, outlining how his government plans to adopt and control the powerful technology.

The strategy signals the government’s support for large-scale AI adoption. The plan includes a $500-million fund to invest in Canadian AI companies and a commitment to support construction of data centres that will bring at least a combined 850 megawatts of compute capacity by 2030.

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