Tootfinder

…oooohhhhh this s____t FINALLY might start hitting the fan! I, and many others, have been pointing out the monopoly that BC company ConAir has over firefighting contracts for Canadian governments for years.
Coulson Aviation has been doing firefighting aircraft for decades and has never been picked by its own home province on a long term contract.
The bias has been glaring.
Looks like they're going to fight it out in Court in Saskatchewan!
#BCWildfire #BCPoli
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/government-overpaid-firefighting-planes-manufacturer-says-1.7630608

Isn't it weird how when a Federal Crown Corporation - Marine Atlantic - buys a new ship... there is nary a mention that it was built in China (#BCPoli #BCFerries

The BC Green Party has a new leader! 25 year old @…
This youtube link should be cued up to the 21m50s mark when she starts her inaugural speech as leader!
Big Congrats to her!
#BCGreens #BCPoli #CanPoli #GreenParty
https://www.youtube.com/live/psZhiP6JsaQ?si=72Nvlyy-buUh07TD&t=1310

Fascinating that BC's population dropped marginally (2154 people) last quarter ... but it still had the second highest inter-provincial migration of any province!
If we're anything like Alberta, then it's a good bet the biggest source of decline was in temporary international residents.
#CanPoli #Immigration #Population #CdnPoli #BCPoli #ABPoli

One of the main reasons I got into municipal politics in 2014 was because it seemed all city business in #portAlberni city council was happening “in-camera" (which means a meeting, not in public).
I'm glad the integrity commissioner has ruled against Ken Sim and his ABC Party councillors. It's not complicated. The Vancouver Charter is not different from the Community Charter used by every other municipality in BC. You can't have quorum and discuss business outside a public meeting. Period.
""If Council Members meet with quorum outside of an open meeting, discuss City business, and do so in a way that moves that business along the spectrum of decision making in a material way, there is a problem — they are depriving the public of participation in the policy development and decision-making processes that serve to build public trust and
confidence in local government," Southern wrote.
"Democracy is undermined.””
#BCPoli #BCMuni #CanPoli #Integrity #PublicMeetings #Democracy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ken-sim-integrity-commissioner-1.7617152

Buried the actual lede of the story... so here it is:
""Seeing these salmon runs exceeding estimated pre-season numbers by four and five times is truly a reflection of the hard work we have done to remove fish farms on the approach to the Fraser River," Werk pointed out. "
As a former deckhand on a family commercial salmon troller in 1990s, before the explosion of fish farms on the coast, I think there are more factors than just the closing of open net fish farms that has supported the return of this year's huge run of sockeye. It could be ocean temperatures in the North Pacific rebounding (down), it could be conditions on the Fraser River and the spawning streams... many things.
But do i think fish farms were decimating the health of fish migrating to and from the Fraser River and contributing to low return runs?
You're damn right I do.
#bcPoli #FishFarms #Salmon #Sockeye

Given the chance, I think her words could resonate in a Provincial election against both the David Eby #BCNDP and the Rustad #BCConservatives (and whatever other parties happen to pop into existence).
It was nice to see a leader actually genuinely congratulate and lift up her rivals in the contest. A rarity these days in too many party leadership races!
Key lines from her speech:
"take on this province's billionaires, largest corporations, and big oil... who take far more than they give.
"democracy is in retreat around the globe, but I am encouraged to see young people in BC fighting back.”
"the BC Green Party has solutions”
"the BC NDP.. are making decisions based on scarcity and fear”
"David Eby... rolling out the red carpet for Donald Trump's inner circle of oligarchs to buy and control even more of our province”.
"The NDP's big idea… to double down on raw resource exports.... no manufacturing, no innovation, no vision for a future beyond more foreign billionaires ripping and shipping our resources while families wait for the wealth to trickle down.”
“while workers wait for fair wages and homes we can afford, the BC NDP doubles down on MAGA backed fossil fuel projects, ignores the need to obtain consent, and refuses to care for our community members”
”The horrors that we are witnessing now are the death rattle of the old world.”
"it is up to us force a new world through”
"We can build a plan to take back the public wealth that has been looted with real taxation on the ultra wealthy”
"Build on our massive advantage of renewable energy… create thousands of jobs”
"will reclaim BC's economy for working people… together we can build a resilient thriving province that respects indigenous sovereignty and our planetary boundaries.”
“we are worthy of better, and worthy of hope. When we learn to believe that again, we can win.”
@…
#BCPoli #BCGreens #CanPoli #CdnPoli #RenewableEnergy

Danielle Smith, Alberta Premier, goes full “why aren’t you grateful”.
Why can’t any of these horrible people ever show humility.
I guess they wouldn’t be horrible then….
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith demanded Friday the fire-stricken town of Jasper apologize and retract a report criticizing her government for its role in last summer's devastating blaze.”
Maybe Jasper should become part of BC.
#bcpoli #abpoli #climateemergency #wildfire #jasper https://apple.news/Adfo5AU6BRJGI0H1vYFmsWA

OH YES THEY DID! Unionize Amazon! #BCPoli #Labour #Unions #Unionization
https://mstdn.ca/@thetyee/114836683702163397

IMO: It just goes to show how needed this was and how many people were putting off or simply not getting dental work done because of the cost.
Dental Care should be included in our Public Healthcare system. No separate system.. just part of healthcare.
Period.
#CanPoli #Healthcare #BCPoli #CdnPoli #Dentalcare
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/dental-care-expansion-growing-pains-1.7583230

Spread the word Canada and #Fediverse citizens everywhere! One of Trump's power grabs is through social media and big tech. The best way to take that power away is to take away power from the likes of Meta, Google and Apple who have far too much control and far too little social responsibility.
The Fediverse is the antidote to some of this. Talk to your MLA, MP, Representative, local politicians, and media. Get them talking about the alternative to platforms run by multinational corporations and foreign entities
#Mastodon #BCPoli #BC
https://socialbc.ca/@chris/114835376077242544

Spousal conflit of interest issues aside for a moment... I may actually vomit if Danielle Smith's Alberta government introduces a “15-year master plan for introducing passenger trains across the province.“ when I have been advocating for this in BC for decades to absolute crickets (if not active denial) from all political parties in power.
#BCpoli #CanPoli #CdnPoli #Rail #Transportation #Sustainability
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-premier-s-husband-invited-to-passenger-rail-meetings-as-province-mulls-expansion-plan-1.7583358

Here is the BC Federation of Labour's 10 year plan released before the election last year which includes a provincial rail strategy.
#BCpoli #CanPoli #CdnPoli #Rail #Transportation #Sustainability

a huge moment for sovereign Aboriginal title in Canada.
How it will impact private property owned by non-Indigenous is unclear at least to me right now. But the Conservatives are freaking out insisting people will be evicted from their land.
Which is... of course.... VERY IRONIC
#bcpoli #haidagwaii #haidanation #canpoli #indigenousRights
https://www.albernivalleynews.com/news/bc-supreme-court-rules-haida-nation-has-sovereignty-over-haida-gwaii-8240806

Long post! #immigration #TFW #BC #CanPoli #CdnPoli #BCPoli #University #ForeignWorkers
I’ve been looking for hard numbers on foreign workers/international student workers. This story on cuts at Coast Mountain College in Prince Rupert surprisingly included examples!
As of March 28, 2025 (presumably in Prince Rupert):
McDonald's: 50 of 80 employees on temporary visas
Safeway: 50% of its 78 staff
Save On Foods: 35%
Tim Hortons: 30%
Skeena Taxi: 60%
Chances Casino: 55%
Crest Hotel: 35%
Three other local restaurants were 100% per cent reliant on temporary foreign workers.
— I want to make clear — I am not 'anti-immigrant’ — I am anti-business using cheap, exploitative, labour.
I am also against public universities/colleges (and thus government) relying on exorbitant tuitions to fund domestic programs, also admitted by a former President of CMC here!
"“Pursuing international students was a strategy developed when I chaired the board at Coast Mountain College," Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said. "It wasn't a money grab, but rather a tactic to build out a broader offering of courses for the sake of local students. Pond added that he suspects the restrictions on foreign students will limit what the college is able to offer to Prince Rupert students.””
Governments and public institutions thave gotten drunk on international tuition to pad education budgets just like businesses have got drunk on high profit margins from hiring low-cost TFWs and raising consumer prices!
It's a money grab on both ends and in the middle are exploited immigrants and young Canadians looking for work.
"Many businesses struggle to recruit residents or convince Canadians from other regions…resulting in heavy reliance on international students and temporary foreign workers to pick up the slack."
This is a Business-Industry lie! Try applying for a minimum wage job! It's damn near impossible.
Con/Lib Government did this!
https://www.albernivalleynews.com/news/college-struggles-worker-supply-fades-as-immigration-changes-hammer-bcs-northwest-8247783

literally as I finished this post I got an email from my own employer on more cuts to the International student unit.
It's happening everywhere. The chickens have come home to roost.
There is a reckoning happening in government policy on immigration, education, health care, and the purpose of government to fund services and support workers.
Do we choose the door to the right: shut-the-borders-and-do-austerity
Or the door to the left: Reform immigration and labour laws, eliminate exploitation, encourage education and fund it through taxation of corporations and the rich.
I know which one I would prefer.
#immigration #TFW #BC #CanPoli #CdnPoli #BCPoli #University #ForeignWorkers

Wildfire Rankings:
#BCWildfire #BCWildfire #endfossilfuels #BCPoli #CanPoli #ClimateChange

no ____ sherlock: “Evidence of drought”
In 2015 we had a long drought and that was the first year *ever* #BCWildfire saw Rank 5 fires in the Coastal Fire Centre of BC. It was a fire near Squamish. I was in a municipal meeting with BC Wildfire folks at UBCM.
Climate Change is happening, has happened, and will continue until we stop forcing it. Our natural landscapes have no way to adapt.
END FOSSIL FUELS
#BCWildfire #endfossilfuels #BCPoli #CanPoli #ClimateChange
https://www.albernivalleynews.com/local-news/evidence-of-drought-wesley-ridge-wildfire-burns-through-dry-conditions-8175809

I found this in the back as I was cleaning up in case we need to evacuate.
Am I being too subtle?
cc: @…
#EndFossilFuels #bclng #underwoodfire #portalberni #canpoli #bcpoli #cdnpoli #climatedisaster #bcwildfire #ourWorldOnFire

And just to emphasize the point, we don’t use our car lightly.
We have gone on numerous road trips including from the Pacific to the Atlantic cross Canada in 2022. We have a hitch on the Kona that I use to pull a trailer for everthing from camping, to road trips, to hauling a yard of soil or rock.
We have certainly had some maintenance costs for the Kona. Some regular (brakes, after 150,000), checkups, 12V battery twice, etc. and some self inflicted (alignment and back shocks due to trailering). Visits to the dealer are your standard $500 to $2000 affair once a year. We have a second set of rims for the winter tires. We have bought 2 new sets of tires, one winter, one all season. The all seasons will be replaced after this summer.
The main battery was replaced under recall in February 2022 (before our road trip) at about 50,000km so we have a slightly newer battery than the car but not significantly, and we have not noticed any degradation in charge life.
On this day in 2022 we were visiting Wanuskewin, Saskatchewan just outside Saskatoon on our way back. We stopped to charge in Saskatoon, North Battleford, Lloydminster and Vegreville on the way to the West Edmonton Mall that day :)
#EV #ElectricCar #cost #electricity #bchydro #bcpoli #endfossilfuels

EV Charging Cost by the Numbers.
I charge my car at home almost nightly wirh a Level 2 Flo 30A/240V charger.
I noticed today that they have added an "estimated rate" for my address based on my utility (BC Hydro) charge so that it can estimate the cost of the charging.
Their estimate is $0.11400/kWh. I drive alot. 160km a day when I am commuting to work and then 50-100km in the evening 4-5 days a week Dashing. Thanks to dashing I have a solid record of odometer readings.
We have both tiered and time of day pricing so it's complicated to do this manually. I do most of my charging during the lowest rate overnight. I have the Flo charger set to only charge at full 30A power between 11PM and 7AM to match the overnight rate, then 15A in "off peak" (standard rate) and to turn off completely during on-peak 4PM to 9PM times.
I think their estimate is quite accurate considering the overnight rate is usually $0.14 - $0.05/kWh. Ill include my latest electrical bill. (we are billed monthly)
Here are the numbers.
A "full tank" of battery is 65kWh
Monthly: eg. March (full time commuting plus dashing) 4668km
30 charging sessions
853.4kWh
$97 ($2.07/100km)
Last 12 months: 56,107km
8793kWh
$1,002 ($1.78/100km)
There are a few free charges at work in there (15 in the year?) but any saving is eaten up by $6/day parking cost.
As a comparison if I drove our 2014 Prius C hybrid 56,000km at its general fuel mileage of 5L/100km and an average price of $1.60/L that would be $2,800. So I am saving by more than half, and probably more than that, compared to one of the best mileage hybrids out there.
It makes less and less sense to buy a gas car.
(We have 222,607km on the 2019 Hyundai Kona and about 250,000 on the Prius)
#EV #ElectricCar #cost #electricity #bchydro #bcpoli #endfossilfuels