Stefan Labbé

B.C. cities left in limbo as province quietly abandons Bear Smart oversight Internal documents show B.C.’s premier urban wildlife safety program has halted its oversight role and is no longer accepting applications

BC’s gold standard for urban wildlife safety has fallen into a bureaucratic void, with lead roles unstaffed, applications piling up, and oversight quietly halted

The province’s absence comes as two Bear Smart communities that failed audits in 2024 face threats of expulsion in the coming months

In failing to disclose his role in the massacre, judge found Sosa obtained his Canadian citizenship by “false representation or fraud.”

The court declared him inadmissible to Canada on the basis he committed crimes against humanity.

“After the grenade exploded, the screams of the persons in the well went silent,” the judge wrote.

“I find that by this act, Mr Sosa committed the act of murder of those persons.”

When the well was almost full, people still alive tried to climb out.

At one point, Sosa fired his gun into the well. Later, the man, who was supervising the killings, threw a grenade into the well while people were still alive inside.

“What followed was the methodical and horrendous murder of civilians. The first victim was a two- or three-month-old baby who was thrown alive into the well. Young children were held by their feet and bashed against walls or trees,” wrote the judge.

Villagers were still sleeping when the soldiers kicked in their doors, dragging residents from their home. Children and women were first locked in a church. Men were interrogated and tortured. In the afternoon, orders came down for the unit to kill everyone in the village.

The decision cites “uncontradicted documentary and oral evidence” that Sosa was one of the officers in command the day his platoon of 40 soldiers came into the small village disguised as guerrilla fighters.

Sosa had been granted citizenship in 1992 after seeking asylum in Canada in the 1980s.

In a ruling released Feb. 5, Federal Justice Roger R. Lafrenière found the man had clearly lied about his role in the 1982 Las Dos Erres Massacre in Guetemala’s El Petén region.

Yesterday, a judge stripped Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes of Canadian citizenship after it was found the man had lied about his role in a high-profile massacre during the Guatemalan civil war.

This is not my currently beat but something from Federal court that needs to be part of the public record.

Be warned, it involves horrific details of a notorious case involving crimes against humanity.

Leaked report claims B.C. timber harvest is vastly overestimated An undisclosed report obtained by BIV estimates the province is likely approving twice as much logging than can be sustainably harvested

Wow, bombshell report by @stefanlabbe.bsky.social about how the BC Ministry of Forests may be overestimating the annual harvest rates by more than double, using unscientific methods and extremely optimistic assumptions to set rates. People should lose their jobs for this.
www.biv.com/news/resourc...

B.C. logging deal sparks clash over Indigenous rights and endangered owl A B.C. Supreme Court judge has approved Teal-Jones' interim sale of a Fraser Valley forest licence, leaving endangered spotted owl habitat open to logging before the province consults First Nations

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has approved Teal-Jones' interim sale of a Fraser Valley forest licence before the province could consult First Nations.

Some worry the deal leaves endangered spotted owl habitat open to logging.

Others claim the deal represents an “end run” around Indigenous rights.

Failed B.C.-Alberta transmission line holds lessons for a national grid The cross-border intertie has never met capacity, offering lessons on what stands in the way of the Prime Minister Mark Carney's plan for an east-to-west grid

B.C. and Alberta have shared a major electricity intertie for almost 40 years.

It has chronically failed to meet capacity — offering lessons on what stands in the way of the Prime Minister Mark Carney's plan for an east-to-west grid

Port of Vancouver seeks to dredge Burrard Inlet for oil tankers The project raises environmental concerns and questions over Indigenous rights

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority says it is in the early stages of a plan to dredge Burrard Inlet to allow more oil to be shipped through the harbour.

The project raises environmental concerns and questions over Indigenous rights

via @brentrichter.bsky.social

BC Timber Sales pauses logging in threatened caribou habitat The pause applies to new logging investments in the Revelstoke-Shuswap region, where the Columbia North caribou herd is losing habitat faster than it's replaced

"The B.C. government-run corporation responsible for administering a fifth of the province’s annual logging quota says it will pause new operations that overlap with habitat of a threatened caribou herd north of Revelstoke" via @stefanlabbe.bsky.social #bcpoli
www.biv.com/news/bc-timb...

Canada’s failure to monitor Fraser sands threatens region's future Ottawa stopped measuring sediment years ago, throwing the future of flood defences, farmland, cities and delta health into question

At least 260 ha. of tidal marsh that protect Metro Vancouver's dikes have disappeared in recent decades.

Some worry the 9 million tonnes of sand dredged out of the Fraser River annually is playing a role.

But unlike other jurisdictions, Canada stopped measuring the problem years ago.

‘Bot-like’ network attacked Carney over ‘net zero agenda,’ says analysis Social media bot network suspected of using climate change disinformation campaign against Liberal leader

A network of “bot-like” social media accounts targeted Liberal Leader Mark Carney in the lead-up to the federal election, a new analysis says

The accounts claimed Carney's old firm would benefit from the party’s “net zero agenda” in what experts say is a familiar climate disinformation tactic

B.C. company to seek U.S. approval for deep sea mining in international waters Head of United Nations seabed authority warns move would be 'violation of international law' and undermine multilateral efforts to govern the world's oceans.

Vancouver-based The Metals Company says it is now seeking U.S. approval for deep sea mining in international waters.

The head of the United Nations seabed authority warned the move would be “violation of international law” and undermine multilateral efforts to govern the world's oceans.

Nearly half of B.C. landslides linked to logging, wildfires, study finds Study finds nearly half of 1,300 landslides that occurred during B.C.'s November 2021 atmospheric river event started in areas burned by wildfire or disturbed by logging.

Nearly half of 1,300 landslides that occurred during B.C.'s November 2021 atmospheric river event started in areas burned by wildfire or disturbed by logging.

The study raises questions over the long-term safety of B.C.’s highways and communities downstream of disturbed hillsides.

B.C. company plans to ignite fusion within three years General Fusion says its new fusion reactor will produce more power than it consumes by 2027 — a breakthrough that could eventually help scale the technology into a power plant.

B.C. company says its fusion reactor will produce more power than it consumes by 2027 — a breakthrough that could eventually help scale the technology into a power plant without risks of emissions, a runaway reaction, nuclear waste or weaponization.

I visited the new test reactor to learn more

Rising temperatures could transform B.C. wine sector Climate change could improve grape-growing conditions for the province—at a cost

Climate change could improve grape-growing conditions in British Columbia -- at a cost

Nearly 40 fossil fuel companies shaping Canadian K-12 curriculums, report finds Report found more than 50 oil and gas companies and industry groups influenced 34 educational institutions across Canada, who, in turn, provided education to K-12 students

Across Canada, more than 50 oil and gas companies and their industry groups have influenced K-12 education on climate change, a new report has found.

Among them is the FortisBC-funded “Energy Champions”program that sends BC Lions football players into schools

'Slap in the face': B.C. communities frustrated with new federal disaster funding A new financing program will help protect communities from future floods and wildfires, but it won't help municipalities still vulnerable from the last strike.

A new financing program will help protect communities from disaster, but it won't help those still vulnerable from the last strike

Merritt's Sean Strang said the city has been left behind

“It’s frankly a slap in the face.”

www.biv.com/news/economy...

Drax power station didn't properly disclose burning forest wood - BBC News The Drax facility, which burns wood pellets, is required to report where it sources its wood from.

Logging records show Drax still sources whole trees from primary forests felled by other companies in B.C. despite its own sustainability criteria saying the company will "avoid damage or disturbance to high carbon forests" including “primary forest"

www.bbc.com/news/article...

B.C. orders changes at slaughterhouse following animal welfare investigation Animal welfare group calls for more oversight after province sanctions B.C. slaughterhouse.

The B.C. government has sanctioned a Chilliwack slaughterhouse and is “re-focusing the role of inspectors” at all slaughter facilities across the province.

Their new mandate, said the ministry — focus on both food safety and the humane treatment of animals.

www.nsnews.com/resources-ag...

Big trees crucial to migrate B.C. forests under climate change, finds study The B.C. study could help planners ramp up 'assisted migration' of forests under stress from climate change.

Big trees crucial to migrate B.C. forests under climate change, finds study

The goal of the experiment was:

- find out how Douglas fir trees handle human-assisted migration

- if they would do better in forests left partially intact after logging

www.nsnews.com/environment/...

Court upholds approval of B.C. port expansion despite risks to whales Both Canada's environment minister and Cabinet acted reasonably in approving the expansion of a shipping terminal near Vancouver, B.C., estimated to add $3 billion to the country's GDP.

A legal challenge claiming the planned expansion of Canada’s largest port would threaten the survival of endangered southern resident killer whales has been struck down by a federal judge.

Underwater volcano off B.C. coast primed to erupt The Axial Seamount is not expected to threaten human population centres but it could help scientists forecast the eruption of more dangerous volcanoes.

Underwater volcano off B.C. coast is primed to erupt.

The Axial Seamount is not expected to threaten human population centres but it could help scientists forecast the eruption of more dangerous volcanoes.

B.C. researchers aim to make the perfect T-shirt — from lumber The bid to locally produce a sustainable high-end textile is still in its early stages, but researchers hope to have enough material to create prototypes within a year.

“We’re going to spin it. And we’re going to knit it. And we’re going to see what happens.”

www.biv.com/news/bc-rese...

B.C. tree planting to plummet 23% amid wildfire boom British Columbia's government expects to plant nearly 60 million fewer trees next year — a 23 per cent drop from this year's planting season.

British Columbia's government expects to plant nearly 60 million fewer trees next year — a 23 per cent drop from this year's planting season.

The steep decline is the biggest in years and comes after two massive wildfire seasons.