The native population of British Columbia, collectively known today as the First Nations battled many of the same challenges we face today as communities in this great wilderness. The mountains, rivers, snow and spring freshet all made travel and transportation a challenge, and in many communities, still do. It is not uncommon to hear of commuities cut off by rock slides, avalanches, ice jams or flood waters in the late winter, early spring months. We don’t often think about what life was like before roads and cars, and we especially can’t imagine life without horses, carts and farm animals. But life as a native before the arrival of white man was not as simplistic as many of us would believe.
Tag Archives: Society and Culture
Castlegar Caught in the Middle
To catch everyone up on the story, Celgar, a subsidiary of Mercer International, runs the pulp mill locoated way out on the north western extremity of the City’s boundary, alongside the now closed Interfor lumber mill on the banks of the Columbia River at Hugh Keenlyside Dam.
The Missing Number – Peak Oil
There is a sizable community of energy pundits who, after reviewing oil production records, believe that world oil production peaked last year (2008) at 81.73 million barrels of oil per day. Many in this community follow the discussion at a site called The Oil Drum, where no topic is off limits – as long as it relates to energy future, which if you haven’t worked out yet, just about everything we do or touch exists because of cheap abundant energy. Unfortunately, this number and the impacts on society, culture, the economy and development are being ignored by the media and the general population.
Canada’s Sub-Prime Situation and Peak Oil
While the following article represents some of the least investigative of all investigative journalism that I’ve had the pleasure of reading in recent months, it does raise a question – how much risk is Canada’s real estate market really at in this global crisis? globeandmail.com: Canada’s dirty subprime secret Since the subprime mortgage meltdown in […]
BSC2009 – Conference Wrapup
Over the past couple of days, I’ve attended the Building Sustainable Communities Conference held in Kelowna with a couple of hundred other people, predominantly from around British Columbia, but also from as far away as Sweden. I covered the contents of many of the sessions in posts that can be found here. These were my […]
Utility Bill Deaths
I read a lot of news stories, but this would be one of the most troubling signs of our times, and a warning of things to come…
US Recovery Plans
Image via Wikipedia The New York Times has an excellent rundown of Obama’s Financial Recovery plans… Several hundred billion dollars could go to states and cities to finance public works and subsidize their health and education programs so that local governments do not have to raise taxes and cut essential programs, steps that would be […]
Development Opposition
The process by which development applications are heard is important – and this case in Ontario has the potential to change the playing field in Canada for those who oppose developments… canadianconsultingengineer.com – Liability chill might freeze out opponents to development A controversial hearing at the Ontario Municipal Board that could set a major precedent […]