Photo: BCWS
BC Wildfire Service said 11 ‘zombie’ wildfires in the Fort Nelson zone have become more visible in recent days
BC Wildfire Service said 11 overwintering wildfires in the Fort Nelson zone have become more visible in recent days, due to warm, dry conditions.
Blazes that burn over winter are also known as holdover or zombie fires, and they burn deep underground into the organic matter of the forest floor through the winter months.
BCWS shared in a post on Friday that these fires have smouldered and were waiting for warmer temperatures to reignite.
Hard-to-access regions, like the fires in Fort Nelson, occur in boreal forest landscapes, primarily made up of mixed wood stands and muskeg, making it challenging for fire crews to use traditional fire suppression efforts with the saturated ground conditions.
Response has been underway since February, BCWS said, using remote sensing and infrared scans to find hotspots.
From there, crews were able to use the winter conditions to their advantage to avoid causing ecological damage.
“More than 15 pieces of heavy equipment—including dozers, feller-bunchers, skidders, excavators, and low beds—have been active in the area. Together, they’ve constructed over 87 kilometres of access trails, fuel-free lines, helipads, and machine guards,” BCWS said in an April update.
In one case, an ice bridge was built to allow low beds and vehicles to cross a waterway where the bridge deck had been damaged by fire before.
“The team minimized environmental impact by routing work along existing features such as seismic lines and resource roads,” BCWS added.
“Rehabilitation specialists supported this effort, guiding operations to reduce long-term land disturbance and ensure post-operation restoration.”
BCWS thanked residents for their patience and support as wildfire response continues in the Fort Nelson Zone.
Photo: BCWS
An illustration of an overwintering fire that’s initiated by flames at the surface.
Valerie Leung / Richmond News – May 9, 2025 / 5:04 pm | Story: 549575
Photo: Richmond News
Athens Cheung, the wife of Tom Cheung, speaks on the “injustice” after charges were dropped for the driver involved in a crash that killed her late husband on May 2, 2019.
A Richmond family wants answers from B.C. and Canada’s judicial system after charges were dismissed against the driver involved in a fiery vehicle collision at the Peace Arch border in 2019 that resulted in the death of their husband and father.
The family of Rev. Tom Cheung, a Richmond resident and former Abbotsford pastor, held a press conference in Richmond on Friday (May 9) at Continental Seafood Restaurant, sharing their concerns and “injustice” of Canada’s legal system that has had the family jumping hurdles for answers these past six years.
Athens Cheung, the victim’s widow, was joined by her two sons, Benjamin and Solomon Cheung, BC Conservative MLAs Steve Kooner for Richmond-Queensborough and Hon Chan for Richmond Centre, and newly elected Conservative member of Parliament Chak Au.
On May 2, 2019, Tom Cheung was the victim of a fatal road crash at the Peace Arch border, where his minivan was struck by a Porsche SUV going 120 km/h in a 30 km/h zone, driven by then 34-year-old Washington State resident Gurbinder Singh.
In 2020, charges of “dangerous driving causing death” were recommended against Singh.
However, six years later, on April 17, 2025, the charges were dismissed by Justice Daniel Weatherly in Surrey Provincial Court, ruling that Singh “suffered a psychotic episode” at the time of the crash, according to the Cheung family.
As of May 9, Cheung’s surviving family members hadn’t received a reasoning for the judgment, a written court transcription, an RCMP report, nor an explanation of why an appeal will not be filed.
“Such treatment completely lacks explanation and transparency to both the victim’s family and the general public,” said Athens.
“Is this fair? Is it just? Does the public really have no right to be informed?”
She added they attempted to obtain documentation from the ruling, but neither victim services nor the prosecutor was able to obtain the “basic legal document.”
What was most shocking to Athens was that they were “allowed only 30 days” for the appeal period. The prosecutor, she added, emailed them on the morning of April 30, without a written verdict, “that no appeal would be filed.”
The Cheung family added they only received the autopsy report two years and 10 months after the incident, leading them to question the “efficiency of the B.C. government and the judicial system.”
An online petition was started by the family on Change.org, which garnered more than 5,000 signatures in 30 hours, to gain the prosecutor’s attention about the family’s frustration over what they believe was an “unfair verdict.”
“We hope that by speaking out this time, we can prompt the judicial system to make necessary reviews and reforms, and at the same time draw public attention to the psychiatric medical system, especially issues such as the driver’s licence issuance system for mentally ill patients,” Athens said.
Speaking to the media and community, Athens expressed her hope that by sharing her family’s frustrating journey for answers since 2019, future families and victims could avoid “this difficult and sad predicament.”
Mental Health Act a ‘giant façade’
Solomon described the day of his father’s passing to be “by far the worst day” in his life.
He was the last one to say goodbye to his father before he left the house to cross the border.
“The day after was just torturous,” Soloman said of learning the driver had been “released from detainment unconditionally.”
The identity or the reason for the driver’s release at the time, Solomon added, was unknown to the family.
“Still, we held on to hope, and we foolishly placed our faith in the Canadian legal system.”
Solomon said his family waited six years, hoping this was enough time for the Canadian justice system to “gather sufficient evidence and build a case,” even though Tom Cheung’s death occurred in “one of the most surveilled areas in Greater Vancouver.”
The family has been left with unanswered questions about why the process took so long.
Solomon said his father’s file saw two changes to the RCMP officers handling the case as well as a change in the Crown prosecutor.
“This signalled to me that, in the eyes of the government, my father’s death and my family’s suffering is all just a minor inconvenience to them.
“In their eyes, we are the metaphorical can that is being kicked down the road.”
Solomon claims the Mental Health Act is a “giant façade” that, instead of helping victims suffering from mental health issues, “it’s used as a shield for criminals.”
“Whether through advocacy, awareness or legal reform, I want to ensure that my father’s story is not forgotten. And to anyone else who has endured a similar pain—you are not alone.”
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Jami Makan / Business in Vancouver – May 9, 2025 / 5:04 pm | Story: 549573
Photo: Rob Kruyt, BIV.
Conference speakers warn B.C. policies are deterring global capital just as housing demand is set to soar.
Vancouver real estate is being pulled in different directions by an interplay of economic, political and technological forces, a recent conference was told.
More than 1,400 industry leaders gathered in Vancouver late last month to hear a series of speakers and panels discuss delved the whirlwind of factors affecting the region’s real estate markets — from the impact of trade action and tariffs led by U.S. President Donald Trump, to changing demographics and capital flows, to the industry’s uptake of artificial intelligence tools.
According to Milos Dajic, head of Canadian investments with Oxford Properties Group, the outcome of Canada’s recent federal election matters less than the country’s “critical policies” regarding immigration, taxation and the cost of doing business.
“I’m not sure the world really cares about our election all that much,” he said. “We’ve got to get our ducks in a row, figure out who’s going to lead and then what kind of legislative changes are going to come from that, and then we can go out and sell that to the world.”
Canada rejects foreign capital to quench thirst
With Canada-U.S. relations at a nadir, private wealth in both countries may now lose out on opportunities for diversification across the Cascadia region, with capital receding on both sides of the border, says Jim Costello, head of real estate economics with MSCI Inc.
A retreat of global capital from the U.S. could also have repercussions in Canada and locally, such as by potentially creating pockets of hot air amid a flight to safety, he said.
“If global investors are sidelining the U.S., where does that money go? It has to go someplace,” Costello said.
“The thing I’m really worried about: Does that money find its way into other asset classes in search of safety?”
B.C. may not necessarily benefit from pent-up capital. Capital from American investors, sovereign wealth funds and other sources is being turned away at the doorstep, said Avi Tesciuba, senior managing director, country head, Hines Group.
Tesciuba said that in addition to the federal ban on foreign investment in residential real estate in Canada, there is a B.C. tax of 20 per cent on investing in development land.
“That essentially means they can’t be competitive, and it essentially means that they cannot invest here, so it writes off foreign capital altogether,” he said.
On one hand, he noted, the City of Vancouver and the province have pushed for greater densification, particularly around rapid transit. On the other, they have pushed back against foreign capital.
“The net result of that is that … housing will get more expensive,” Tesciuba said.
Tech and AI disrupting real estate
Ebbing capital flows are not the only way real estate markets are changing. Technology and AI are also responsible for tectonic shifts, speakers told the recent Vancouver Real Estate Forum.
In his remarks, author and futurist Dror Poleg said AI is contributing to a larger transition toward intangible assets, whose performance can be highly volatile, akin to box office revenues varying widely for very similar Hollywood films.
With technology demanding more flexible and distributed networks, “maybe it means the whole world will become one big WeWork,” he said.
“We’ll see lower total demand for office business. The centrality of offices and cities will gradually go away, and the demand for almost everything else will be much less stable than it has been historically, so our ability to plan ahead is diminished,” he said.
In this context, Poleg said commercial real estate is evolving.
“Commercial real estate is no longer a bond-like asset, and institutional investors will increasingly not look at it as a bond-like asset when they decide how to allocate to it,” he said.
The sector will instead be treated more like an operating business. Over time, the market will have less of a concentrated centre and fewer big winners, he predicted.
On a more hopeful note, Poleg said building owners can use software and AI tools to improve and monetize the user experience.
“Any asset, anywhere, can now become more valuable than it has ever been,” he said.
“You can attract people with stories and software. You can extract more value with all sorts of new tools. Out of every interaction you can put a price on it, you can add layers to it and make it more experiential.”
Demand driven by changing demographics
The province is also facing “unprecedented” population trends, according to Andrew Ramlo, vice-president of advisory with Rennie & Associates Realty Ltd.
Due to the previous federal government’s decision to limit immigration, the B.C. Ministry of Finance is forecasting two years of population decline, he said.
“Not during the Second World War and the onslaught of the Spanish Flu pandemic, not during the Great Depression, not during COVID-19 pandemic, have we ever, ever seen our population decline on an annualized basis in Canada, let alone being engineered from the policy side of things. This is unprecedented,” Ramlo said.
Still, the next two decades are expected to bring significant population growth to B.C., even with lower immigration targets and greater interprovincial migration to more-affordable Alberta, Ramlo said.
The result will be significant housing demand locally.
“We’re well below where we should be in terms of adding supply, even with these wacky immigration targets that we saw from the federal government,” he said.
In the Lower Mainland, Ramlo said he expects the population to grow by 20 to 30 per cent — or 700,000 to 1.1 million people — over the next 17 years. In real estate terms, this growth would require 500,000 to 600,000 net new homes — the equivalent of adding one City of Surrey’s worth of people at the low end, or the population of present-day Surrey and Richmond, in the middle of the range.
“Really significant population and housing growth [are] required to come alongside that to accommodate folks,” said Ramlo.
Daniel Wagner / Vancouver is Awesome – May 9, 2025 / 4:24 pm | Story: 549552
Photo: Daniel Wagner / Vancouver Is Awesome
As the Vancouver Canucks install new seats at Rogers Arena, they’re offering season ticket holders a chance to buy their old seats.
Over the past 30 years, thousands upon thousands of butts have sat in the seats at Rogers Arena for various sporting events, concerts, and awards shows. Now, after three decades, those seats are finally being replaced.
The new seats are black and feature higher backrests, as well as, for the first time ever, cupholders. Yes, for the past thirty years, the seats at Rogers Arena, much like the Vancouver Canucks, have never held a cup.
While the Canucks replaced some of the seats ahead of this past season in a special VIP section in the lower bowl, the plan is to replace all of the seats in time for the start of the 2025-26 season, with a large section of seats already swapped out this past week. The question is, what will happen to the old seats?
The Canucks provided an answer in the form of an email to season-ticket holders: they’re selling them. Or, at least, some of them.
An image from the email was shared on the Canucks subreddit on Friday, with the Canucks offering up specifically the seats belonging to full season-ticket holders, with the money going to charity.
“As a valued Full Season Ticket Member, we want to offer you the opportunity to take home your current seats from Rogers Arena by making a $50 per seat donation to the Canucks For Kids Fund,” reads the email.
As memorabilia goes, $50 doesn’t break the bank, especially for those who can afford full season tickets. For fans who might have a sentimental attachment to those seats, owning them forever with a $50 donation is a decent deal.
By comparison, the Cleveland Guardians sold pairs of seats from their stadium renovation for $300 a pair. One Toronto Blue Jays fan said he bought a pair of their used stadium seats for $750. One pair of Blue Jays seats went for $1,600 in a charity auction.
Whether the Canucks will open up seat sales to those without season tickets is unknown at this time.
Stefan Labbé / Glacier Media – May 9, 2025 / 4:23 pm | Story: 549551
Photo: Clayoquot Action.
A Cermaq semi-closed containment fish farm in Clayoquot Sound is designed to minimize interaction between farmed and wild fish. But a recent incident suggests otherwise, says one biologist.
Critics are raising concerns over an experimental fish farm off Vancouver Island after government inspections showed vast quantities of feed and feces covering the ocean floor.
In late 2024, a semi-enclosed salmon farm operated by Cermaq in Clayoquot Sound’s Millar Channel began to release a strong odour that hung around for months.
Clayoquot Action, a local environmental group that monitors fish farms off Vancouver Island, contacted an official at Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Jan. 31, 2025, according to communications released through an Access to Information and Privacy request.
“We’ve never smelled this during normal feeding operations; only during die-offs,” the partially redacted email reads.
“Whatever is happening here, the fact that there has been sludge and oil all around the site for two months now clearly signals some type of failure of the system.”
DFO biologists inspected the farm in February 2025. When they arrived, the inspectors said they had trouble getting records from Cermaq staff, according to the emails.
When the biologists launched an underwater remote-controlled vehicle below the farm, they found a trench dug into the muddy bottom filled with feces and feed.
In one direction, the DFO operators flew the vehicle down the trench for five to six minutes “with no end observed.”
They then turned around and sent the remote vehicle in the opposite direction, where they found a “massive area” below the farm “covered 100% with feces and fish feed.”
When they finally flew the vehicle up to the semi-contained farm, they found a “significant amount of feed and feces coming out of the outflow ports.”
DFO blames incident on ‘bad batch’ of feed
A day later, one of the federal biologists wrote an email to Krista Sandberg, DFO’s regional manager of aquaculture environmental operations, telling her his team got a lot of detail from Cermaq but not a lot of answers. He added: “we may not be getting the whole story.”
A DFO spokesperson said in an email to BIV the smell and oily residue observed around the farm was determined to come from a bad batch of fish feed that led to incomplete digestion by the fish.
“DFO investigated and did not identify non-compliance at this time, including with respect to regulatory sampling limits,” a spokesperson acknowledged several weeks later. “If non-compliance is identified, DFO will take appropriate steps to assess further possible compliance-related actions.”
Cermaq has been operating the Millar Channel facility for several years now, advancing its semi-closed technology to provide a barrier between farmed fish and the wild salmon, according to the company.
A company spokesperson said the technology has been working “exceptionally well” and is an important tool to reduce transfer of pathogens.
“Cermaq Canada believes in innovating in a responsible and practical manner,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
New technology tested as feds move to phase out open-net salmon farms
The federal government is currently in the process of phasing out B.C.’s open-net salmon farming industry in what has become a heated debate over how to safeguard the future of wild salmon while providing jobs and food security for the province.
On one side, industry groups say Ottawa is threatening a viable industry important to coastal communities.
The salmon farm industry has adjusted its posture since the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, claiming now is not the time to stifle economic activity.
At the same time, several major salmon farming companies continue to pursue legal action in B.C.’s Supreme Court over past closures in the Discovery Islands.
Critics of the industry say operating salmon farms in the ocean risks exposing already vulnerable wild fish populations to multiple pathogens.
Three conservation groups published an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday, calling on him to appoint a fisheries minister from British Columbia who understands several major disagreements over the future of wild salmon in the province.
The letter — signed by Watershed Watch Salmon Society, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust and Raincoast Conservation Foundation — points to data showing Alaskan fisheries are intercepting vast quantities of B.C.-bound fish, something they say requires a renegotiation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty with the United States.
Another major stumbling block: how to transition B.C.’s foreign-owned salmon farming industry away from open-net pens.
Incident fuels debate over future of B.C. salmon farming
In the past, DFO risk assessments have concluded the transfer of pathogens from farmed salmon to wild salmon posed a minimal threat wild populations. But those and later DFO findings have been disputed by several independent scientists.
In 2022, Canada’s then-fisheries minister Joyce Murray said the government was initiating a process to phase out open-net pen salmon farms off B.C.’s coast to avoid a spillover of pathogens into wild populations.
At the time, Murray said in an interview that she was concerned DFO had not carried out assessments on the cumulative effects of fish farms on wild salmon. Asked what a phase-out would mean, Murray said she was focused on technology that would cut off interaction between wild and farmed fish.
“Could be outside of the ocean, could be in the ocean,” she said.
The federal government has since granted companies operating fish farms in B.C. temporary licences to operate. A federal multi-agency committee is currently assessing what kind of technology could be used in a transition plan.
Stan Proboszcz, a biologist with Watershed Watch Salmon Society, said the incident at Cermaq’s Millar Channel farm raises questions around the effectiveness of experimental farming technology being considered as a solution.
Current DFO guidance describes semi-closed fish farm technology as capable of reducing interactions between farmed and wild fish populations. But Proboszcz said the incident suggests such technology is not providing an effective barrier.
“It’s being marketed as a solution but it’s clearly failing and they don’t want people to know,” Proboszcz said.
Photo: The Canadian Press
Firefighters are seen at the airport in Flin Flon, Man. in May 2024.
Firefighters from British Columbia are heading to Manitoba to help fight a massive fire burning in that province.
In a social media post Friday, the BC Wildfire Service said 42 personnel are travelling to Manitoba this weekend to help with their wildfire response. While the post didn’t specify where in Manitoba the firefighters are headed, the most serious fire that province is dealing with is near The Pas.
That fire is burning an area of more than 20,000 hectares, and continues to burn out of control.
On Thursday, the Rural Municipality of Kelsey said homes in Rocky Lake East Shore, Rocky Lake North Shore, Wanless and the Carrot Valley along Highway 283 were evacuated.
Friday afternoon, the Town of The Pas declared a state of local emergency, although “there are no immediate threats to the Town of The Pas.”
Officials from The Pas say high winds and dry conditions are creating challenging work to bring the fire under control.
“We are pleased to assist our partners whenever possible by way of long-standing mutual aid agreements facilitated by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre,” the BC Wildfire Service said.
“Deployments typically last 14 days, but personnel may be recalled anytime to their home province if needed. We wish our staff a safe, successful deployment!”
– with files from The Canadian Press
Glen Korstrom / Business in Vancouver – May 9, 2025 / 4:05 pm | Story: 549542
Photo: Rob Kruyt, BIV.
Vancity is mired in mediation with union BCGEU, which has already voted to be able to go on strike.
Executives at the British Columbia General Employees Union say they are frustrated with what they describe as shifting values at one of B.C.’s largest financial institutions, Vancouver City Savings Credit Union.
The BCGEU is mired in mediated contract negotiations with Vancity, and its members voted in March to be able to go on strike in order to get what they consider a fair deal. The union can issue a 72-hour strike notice but no threat to go on strike has been issued.
This comes about a year after Vancity laid off about 200 workers with what the BCGEU says was little notice or ability to prepare. Vancity said in a statement at the time that it needed “to align Vancity’s business with our current market conditions.”
The BCGEU told BIV its members have said they are concerned Vancity’s strategic direction represents a shift away from the credit union model and toward one of a corporate bank.
Vancity has built its brand in advertising around being a socially progressive, community-focused financial institution.
About 700 Vancity workers in a range of jobs have been without a contract since the end of 2023. Vancity said last year, after the layoffs, that it would have a total of more than 2,300 employees.
BCGEU president Paul Finch told BIV in an interview that sticking points for a new contract are “fair compensation” and getting Vancity to agree to create a defined-benefit pension plan that would involve worker-elected trustees to co-manage the pension fund’s capital.
He said that in the last round of bargaining for the contract that officially took effect in January 2020, Vancity agreed to create such a pension plan. Vancity then only allowed non-union members to take part in that plan, Finch said.
BIV asked Vancity about the union’s concern that any pension plan would not involve worker-elected trustees. Those trustees are needed to represent worker interests because it is their money, the union told BIV.
“Vancity put forward an offer through the bargaining process that included annual wage increases that would keep Vancity in the top quartile of similar employers, full retroactive back pay, and the option of a defined benefit pension plan that would provide our union members with a reliable retirement income for life,” Vancity said in a statement to BIV.
It did not address worker-elected trustees.
Vancity added that “we are currently in mediation with the BCGEU — a collaborative process where both sides work to reach an agreement through facilitated dialogue. We’re hopeful for progress and won’t be commenting out of respect for that process.”
Finch called it “egregious” that Vancity would take a pension plan design that the union created and only offer it to non-union workers.
“We think it’s completely contradictory to Vancity’s stated values, and we really think the credit union has lost their way,” he said.
“Vancity’s actions aren’t in alignment with their stated values, with the brand that they have promoted as being their values, because we’ve seen their actions, particularly around the denial of retirement security, as particularly egregious.”
Mediation is ongoing with both sides hopeful for a deal.
“We think that we’re close on wages,” Finch said. “We’re not close enough to get a deal right now.”
But he said the BCGEU is optimistic a deal can be made if there’s movement on retirement security.
Stefan Labbé / Business in Vancouver – May 9, 2025 / 3:54 pm | Story: 549538
Photo: Submitted.
Based in North Vancouver, heat pump installer Jetson is a one of seven companies Active Impact Investments has so far backed under its latest $110-million fund. Jetson is working to incentivize mass adoption by reducing costs and using software to optimize performance and save customers money.
A Vancouver-based venture capital firm says it is “doubling down” on investments in Canadian enterprises after closing a $110-million fund built to back clean technology.
In closing its third fund, Active Impact Investments has raised its total assets under management to $180 million, more than double its previous total. Founder and managing partner Mike Winterfield said the firm’s success has come at a tough time for green financing.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has been openly hostile against environmental and climate policies. The president’s move to upend trade agreements through sweeping and inconsistent tariff policies has hobbled companies’ capacity to plan and raise money.
Winterfield said his firm’s response has been to focus even more on backing Canadian companies.
“It is noisy and there are a lot of people that have been scared off,” he said. “We wanted to do Canadian deals. We’re Canadian-based. We’re patriotic.”
The green technology investor appears to be going against the current trend.
Jonathan Arnold, director of sustainable finance at the Canadian Climate Institute, said so far this year his group’s internal data suggest private equity and seed capital for climate technology have dipped.
Arnold said it’s not clear if the “Trump effect” is impacting climate investments more than other sectors of the economy, or if the decline is a result of anxious investors across the board.
“If you zoom out, private capital and equity are down overall,” he said.
Backing Canadian companies not a question of charity
In the past, Active Impact has backed a number of companies across North America — from Ontario-based end-to-end installers of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to a firm in Victoria that helps building owners retrofit and decarbonize buildings while saving money.
For any of the companies in the group’s portfolio, Winterfield said you could remove the world “climate” from their sales or funding pitch and still sell it to a customer. After all, he added, even customers who don’t think about the environment will benefit from saving 10 per cent on electricity or fuel, or 50 per cent on a new electric bicycle.
“We love companies that are already better, faster, cheaper,” said Winterfield. “And so the business or the consumer are making a choice based on progress, on innovation, and where the knock-on benefit happens to be climate.”
In its first $10-million fund, nearly two-thirds of the companies Active Impact invested in were Canadian-based. At the time, the investors tended to be local people, mostly high net-worth individuals, family offices, or foundations.
The second $70-million fund saw the investor base expand. But after backing 17 companies, only around half of them turned out to be Canadian, said Winterfield.
At $110 million, Active Impact’s latest and largest fund to date has attracted major corporate, institutional, and government investors. Some of the largest include Deloitte, the Cooperators, the Québécois workers’ pension fund Fondaction, the B.C. government’s InBC strategic investment fund, and the University of Victoria.
Winterfield and his colleagues have so far chosen to back seven companies with the latest tranche of money, including four based in Canada. Over the coming years, the VC will expand those investments to another 18 companies, raising the total to 25. Of those, 60 per cent will be Canadian, said the founder.
“Canada has already shown by the numbers that on a a per capita basis, we have had more clean tech wins than countries like the U.S.,” he said. “We punch above our weight class.”
In Vancouver fund, investors seek long-term green bets
The Active Impact team receives and screens hundreds of pitches a week. Only after backgrounding a company do they consider investing. The progress is tedious and typically leads the firm to invest in one or two companies a quarter, said Winterfield.
Once it’s made a minority investment, Active Impact helps early stage companies with improving operations by identifying gaps in their leadership team, and introducing them to talented people to help them grow faster, get money, or scale up sales.
Investors who put money in the firm tend to be looking for long-term bets and get paid out as the overall performance of a fund improves or a company ends up getting sold off, said Winterfield.
After spending years in leadership roles at recruitment companies like Ranstad and digital services firms like Traction on Demand, the VC’s founder says he’s in it for more than the money.
“I left my career eight years ago and devoted the rest of my life to climate. That’s why I do what I do,” he said.
“I’m basically trying to find ways to help more climate companies succeed. And the way that you can do that is ensure they have oxygen, which is money.”
Large banks pull back climate promises but pension funds remain invested
Questions over big firms’ commitments to financing climate change have grown over the last year.
Earlier this year, Canada’s big banks followed their U.S. peers and dropped out of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance — part of a wider retreat from climate commitments in North America’s banking sector following the election of Donald Trump.
More recently, Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest bank, dropped its sustainable finance commitments, prompting speculation others might follow.
But so far, no other Canadian banks have signalled they would follow in RBC’s footsteps. And pension funds — which ultimately own most of the financial risk and opportunity — have continued to invest in emerging green industries, said Arnold.
The sustainable finance expert said investors are sharpening their vision on what climate investments make sense.
“It’s changed the ceiling of ambition but I don’t think it’s changed the floor — and that floor is the day-to-day management of risk and opportunity,” said Arnold.
Canada’s green competitive advantage
Canada maintains many advantages when it comes to an emerging clean technology sector, Arnold and Winterfield agreed.
While there are still gaps in taking ideas all the way to commercialization, both agreed that the country has a strong university system where original research thrives.
Government-led policies that reduce risk in green finance — like the industrial price on carbon — have made the country an attractive place to invest at a time the cost of many green technologies are coming down.
Consider Texas, a red state that is among the top adopters of new renewable energy in the U.S., according to the country’s Energy Information Administration.
“Why? Is it because they love renewable energy and they want to be known as a green state? Absolutely not. It’s because it’s cheaper,” Winterfield said.
Some investors might be scared of investing in climate with Trump in the White House. But Winterfield says there’s no reason to be if you focus on economics and support companies that are not reliant on grants, subsidies and regulation.
Backing profitable companies that inevitably help cushion the impacts of climate change is an idea that has guided Active Impact since its inception and helped see it through turbulent times, said Winterfield.
“We believe very strongly in that thesis, because that is what has saved us from all of the political headwinds and tailwinds,” he said. “Those are going to be constantly changing.”
Will clean tech be the next ‘engine of growth’?
Outside of the U.S., many of Canada’s trading partners are forging ahead with climate policies that would restrict laggards from trade opportunities.
The European Union and United Kingdom, for example, are both preparing to introduce carbon border adjustments over the next two years. The policies essentially place a tariff on goods based on the greenhouse gas emissions produced during their manufacturing.
Arnold said he’s confident there will come a moment soon when the physical and economic realities of climate change will make investing in green technologies “an engine of growth.”
At the moment, however, he said governments are starting to realize, that at a time of economic uncertainty, climate policies need to both make money and create a more livable world.
“It does need to be profitable,” Arnold said. “I think that’s just the reality.”
Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press – May 9, 2025 / 1:03 pm | Story: 549481
Photo: Contributed
Crtist’s rendering of the floating Cedar LNG project in Kitimat,
The chief executive of Pembina Pipeline Corp. says he believes there will be enough demand to support an expansion to the Cedar LNG project on the B.C. coast as it looks to sign on more shippers for the first phase now in early construction.
Pembina has shortlisted the preferred counterparties, and has begun negotiating definitive agreements, Scott Burrows told analysts on a conference call Friday to discuss his company’s first-quarter results.
“They’re big, complicated agreements. We’ll do the right deal for Pembina, not the fastest deal for Pembina,” he said.
The US$4-billion floating liquefied natural gas export terminal in Kitimat, B.C., is a partnership between Pembina and the Haisla Nation. The first phase of the project was given the green light almost a year ago and is on track to come into service in late 2028. The cargoes of LNG — gas that has been chilled into a liquid state so it can be transported overseas on specialized tankers — will be bound for high-demand Asian markets.
ARC Resources Ltd. is to supply gas for about half of the plant’s capacity from the Montney shale in northeastern B.C. and northwestern Alberta.
Pembina has been looking to contract out its 1.5-millon-tonne-per-year share of capacity, and Burrows said talks are going well.
Based on conversations around bringing more producers into the first phase, Burrows said it appears a second phase would be welcome.
“Certainly the gas demand is there,” he said. “Based on early-stage negotiations on Cedar capacity, we believe there is demand for a Cedar 2.”
A question mark, however, would be whether there would be enough pipeline capacity to get the gas from inland to the coast, he added.
There are two other B.C. LNG projects in the works. Also in Kitimat, LNG Canada, a partnership between Shell and four Asian partners, is slated to start delivering shipments in the next few months. Meanwhile, Woodfibre LNG, owned by Pacific Energy Corp. and Enbridge Inc., is being built near Squamish, B.C., and is on track to be complete in 2027.
Also Friday, Pembina said it is not seeing a significant near-term financial impact related to Dow Inc.’s delay of a net-zero petrochemical project northeast of Edmonton.
Dow said last month it is still committed to the nearly $9-billion Path2Zero project in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., but that it has decided to push back the timeline due to weak market conditions.
Pembina was to supply and transport ethane to the project.
“To date, Pembina has not spent material capital to support the ethane supply agreement and will continue to progress these projects, but may now have more time available to execute them,” Burrows said.
On Thursday, Pembina reported earnings of $502 million for the three months ended March 31, up from $438 million during the same period of 2024.
That amounted to 80 cents per diluted share versus 73 cents a year earlier.
Revenue was $2.28 billion, an increase from $1.54 billion.
The Calgary-based company says it doesn’t expect any impact from U.S. tariffs on energy imports this year given much of its business is under contract.
It says it has also not seen any significant decline in activity from producers in Western Canada who use Pembina’s system to get their oil and gas to market.
Canadian Press Staff, The Canadian Press – May 9, 2025 / 12:04 pm | Story: 549467
Photo: The Canadian Press
A member of the public leaves flowers a memorial site close to the location where a car drove through a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival, killing multiple people in Vancouver, B.C., Monday, April 28, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rich Lam
The group that organized the Lapu Lapu Day festival where 11 people were killed last month has released the names of the dead. Filipino BC says in a social media post that its members honour the lives lost in the tragedy and hold their families close in their thoughts.
“May their memory live on in the hearts of those who knew and loved them,” its statement says.
Here is what we know about the 11 victims:
Jendhel Sico
Filipino BC and the Lapu Lapu Day festival said on Instagram that 27-year-old Sico was among the victims of the attack.
A fundraising page organized by Sico’s sister, Maydhel Sico, on the GoFundMe platform, described her as “kind-hearted with a beautiful soul.”
It said Jendhel Sico “lived her life to the fullest” and always had a smile on her face, bringing positivity to everyone she met.
Nerissa Pagkanlungan
Filipino BC and the Lapu Lapu Day festival confirmed that Nerissa Pagkanlungan, 46, was killed when a vehicle rammed into a crowd at the event.
A GoFundMe fundraising page organized by a family member describes her as a loving wife and devoted sister who was cherished by many.
Pagkanlungan also went by the nickname Rizza. “To know Rizza was to truly love her. She was the sweetest soul, kind-hearted, humble, and hardworking person,” the fundraising page said.
It said she immigrated from the Philippines to Winnipeg with her husband in search of a better life before moving to Vancouver to be closer to family.
Maria Victoria Bjarnason
Maria Victoria Bjarnason’s family said she was visiting from the Philippines to see her sons when she was killed at the Lapu Lapu Day festival.
Rhona Doria, a member of Bjarnason’s extended family who spoke on behalf of them at a memorial mass on Monday, said relatives back in the Philippines had been looking forward to her return last week.
“They’re so lost and they’re grieving,” Doria said in an interview.
Doria said Bjarnason, 55, known as Vicky, was “the life of the party. She’s very bubbly. She’s a happy person.”
The family was raising funds to send her body back to the Philippines and support her adult sons, Helgi and Thor, and has received more than $110,000 on the GoFundMe platform.
A message on the fundraiser organized by Vicky Bjarnason’s stepson, Kristjan Bjarnason, said Helgi was holding his mother’s hand and tried to pull her out of the path of the SUV that drove through the festival crowd.
But both were struck by the vehicle, Helgi Bjarnason suffering injuries including a broken leg, the fundraiser said.
It said her sons, who live in British Columbia, are suffering an “unimaginable loss” and they “no longer have any parents in their lives.”
Kristjan Bjarnason later said on GoFundMe that his stepbrother had been released from hospital.
Jenifer Darbellay
Jenifer Darbellay, 50, was an artist and mother of two children, ages seven and 15. Her husband, Noel Johansen, described Darbellay as selfless, creative and empathetic.
Johansen said he was in search of dessert at the festival when the SUV drove through the crowd. He likened the crash to a “tidal wave.”
“It hit us before we knew. I was falling in slow motion trying to save my head from smashing in the pavement,” Johansen said.
Darbellay was killed, while the rest of the family survived.
Johansen said that the day before, the couple was talking about politics and situations in which people seek revenge toward the person who hurt them.
He said she told him, “We need to forgive the perpetrators of the crimes that are committed against us.”
Johansen said he’s now trying to honour that philosophy.
Daniel Samper, Glitza Maria Caicedo and their daughter Glitza Daniela Samper
Daniel Samper, 65, his wife Glitza Maria Caicedo, 60, and their daughter Glitza Daniela Samper, 30, were among 11 people killed at the Filipino festival. The family immigrated along with their son, Alejandro, from Colombia to Vancouver in the early 2000s to start a new life.
Alejandro Samper said in an interview that his family was his whole world, and his parents sacrificed everything to move them to Canada, in part to escape violence in their native Colombia.
Samper said his parents were the “nicest people” who helped many others, and the family was “very, very close.”
Paola Murillo, executive director of community group Latincouver, a group that helps Latin Americans make B.C. their home, is also from Colombia and said there were few Colombians living in Vancouver when Glitza Maria Caicedo — known as Bachita — volunteered with the group in 2013 and 2015.
“She was always with that huge smile and giving, always coming to the festival even if they were not volunteers,” Murillo said.
“If I think about Glitza when I saw her, she always had this beautiful big smile, caring about animals, caring about people.”
Richard Le, Linh Hoang and their daughter Katie Le
Richard Le, 47, was a Realtor who had been attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival with his wife and daughter.
Toan Le said his older brother was always there when he needed help. “I remember when I was a kid, I was bullied, and he stepped in, and he ended up getting beat up,” Le said in an interview.
A statement from Royal Pacific Realty said Richard Le had been with the company for more than 15 years, and he was also a “passionate badminton and tennis coach” who spent countless hours mentoring young people.
David Choi, president of Royal Pacific Realty, said “Richard’s legacy of kindness, mentorship, and professional excellence will live on in the many lives he touched.”
Toan Le said Linh Hoang, 30, was a lovely person and “a dedicated mother” to Katie and 16-year-old stepson Andy, who did not attend the festival and instead stayed home to finish his homework.
Five-year-old Katie Le “was super energetic,” Le said. “She had a very lovable personality, and she really loved just being around people.’
Kira Salim
Kira Salim, 34, was a teacher-counsellor at Fraser River Middle School and New Westminster Secondary School. A statement from the superintendent of the school district said Salim’s wisdom and care for students had a powerful impact.
“Their work, and the great spirit they brought to it, changed lives,” the statement said of Salim.
LGBTQ+ advocacy group New West Pride posted a tribute, saying Salim was “an epic drag king, a wonderful exuberant contributor to our local community, volunteer, activist, local educator, mental health worker.”
The School of Music at the University of B.C. said in a statement on Facebook that Salim worked at the school’s front desk in 2023. They were a “much-loved member of our community,” the post said, noting their roles as an activist and educator.
Murillo said Salim, originally from Brazil, volunteered with Latincouver for the 2022 Latin American Heritage Month celebration and was in charge of the art section.
“Kira was curating a lot of that portion of the activity,” Murillo said, adding Salim also curated for their Day of the Dead — Dia de los Muertos — festival.
Murillo said Salim’s death along with the Samper family has shaken Vancouver’s Latin American community to the core.
“For us, it was one of those moments that we said, ‘Why?’ (They were) somebody who has this open heart to help, to give.”
Photo: Daniel Schifer
Highway 97 in West Kelowna
Stretches of Highway 97 in the Okanagan are among the 630 kilometres of roads being resurfaced in the B.C. Southern Interior this year.
As part of these projects, 88 kilometres of lanes (lane kilometres) on Highway 97 and nearby side roads between Vernon and Oyama will be resurfaced. The $11-million contract to complete the work has been awarded to Okanagan Aggregates, with completion expected in summer 2025.
Several other resurfacing projects are also planned across the region, including:
- Highway 97, Trout Creek to Summerland and surrounding side roads (80.5 lane km): conventional asphalt resurfacing
- Highway 97 in West Kelowna & Highway 33 at Rutland (73 lane km): conventional asphalt resurfacing
- Highway 23, Nakusp to Galena Bay (103 lane km): seal coat resurfacing
- Highway 1, Malakwa Four Lanes and nearby side roads (46 lane km): conventional asphalt resurfacing
- Highway 3, Sunday Summit to Princeton (101 lane km): hot in-place recycling
- Highway 5, Cedarside to Tête Jaune and nearby side roads (60 lane km): conventional asphalt resurfacing
- Columbia Valley side roads (73 lane km): conventional asphalt resurfacing
Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press – May 9, 2025 / 11:42 am | Story: 549460
Photo: The Canadian Press
Contents from a tailings pond is pictured going into Quesnel Lake near the town of Likely, B.C., on August, 5, 2014. It’s been about a decade since millions of cubic metres of mine waste gushed from a tailings pond at the Mount Polley mine in British Columbia’s Interior. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
\The Supreme Court in British Columbia has ordered a pause of operations at a wastewater storage facility at the Mount Polley mine as an addition to the dam is challenged by a local First Nation.
The court’s decision issued Thursday orders the Mount Polley Mining Corp. not deposit mine tailings into a storage dam that is being raised before July 1.
A similar storage site at the mine in B.C.’s Cariboo region collapsed in August 2014, spilling about 25 million cubic metres of water and tailings into nearby waterways in one of the worst environmental disasters in B.C.
The ruling comes after the Xatsull First Nation applied for an emergency injunction to stop a four-metre addition on the tailings dam while the court hears a judicial review of the construction’s approval by the provincial government.
The Xatsull First Nation says it welcomes the court’s decision, and will argue during a hearing in June that the pause of tailing deposits should remain in place until the judicial review has been decided.
The B.C. government said it approved the addition on the dam to safely manage the spring runoff, adding that the project was reviewed by technical reviews experts and in consultation with First Nations.