B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton dead following prison attack
Convicted B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, who preyed on women he lured from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to his rural pig farm, has died.
Canadian exports of thermal coal increased another seven per cent last year, reaching the highest level in almost a decade.
The boom in exports of the kind of coal burned to make electricity comes as Canada leads a charge to end the use of coal as a source of power worldwide, including at home.
The Liberals also promised three years ago that all thermal coal exports will stop from Canada by 2030, but exports have risen almost 20 per cent since that promise was made.
Statistics published this month by the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert show 19.5 million tonnes of thermal coal were exported through their terminals last year.
That's up from a little more than 18 million tonnes in 2022 and is almost twice the amount Canada exported in 2015 when the Liberals took power.
In 2022 more than half Canada's exports were coal produced in the United States, mainly Wyoming and Montana, that is shipped by rail to Vancouver and then across the Pacific. Most U.S. west coast ports won't allow thermal coal exports anymore, said Fraser Thomson, a staff lawyer at Ecojustice.
Thomson said the Canadian government has to step in and live up to its promise to stop both Canadian-made exports and the coal coming through Canada from the U.S.
"There's really no time to waste," he said.
"They promised this in 2021 and we've seen the cost of inaction. Coal exports keep going up, this issue is getting worse and it's not going to resolve itself. It requires definitive action, and the federal government is the government that can do it."
Coal is considered the dirtiest fuel for making electricity when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. It produces almost twice the amount of carbon dioxide when burned as natural gas to make the same amount of energy.
Global coal use expanded in 2022, partly as the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a spike in gas prices. The International Energy Agency said in its most recent forecast that it believes thermal coal demand may have peaked in 2023.
China accounts for more than half the world's use of thermal coal, and India almost 15 per cent.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said last month he expects to announce a plan to phase out coal exports later this year.
NDP MP Laurel Collins got tired of waiting for Guilbeault to act and in February introduced a private member's bill to force the end of coal exports. The bill has not yet been debated.
She said Friday she is exasperated by the continued increase in coal exports.
"Even after I tabled my motion they simply repeated the same thing that they've been saying for years now, which is that they intend on phasing out thermal coal exports and yet the facts refute their claims. There has been no action."
Collins said there are workers whose jobs depend on coal, who need a transition plan and time to adjust to different industries. If the government doesn't move soon there won't be enough time for that adjustment and workers will be harmed.
She also said Canada has been lauded as a leader in ending coal power, and yet it is still exporting the problem.
Canada and the United Kingdom also launched the global Powering Past Coal Alliance seven years ago to encourage all countries to cut back on the use of coal as a source of power.
Canada's domestic use of coal power has fallen dramatically, helped by Ontario's decision to close all its coal power plants. The last one in that province closed in 2014.
Alberta's last two coal plants are transitioning to natural gas this year.
Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are the only other provinces with significant reliance on coal, but regulations require them to close them, transition them to gas, or equip them with emissions capture technology by 2030.
Despite all that, Thomson said Canada continues to ship coal overseas.
"What happened when the Liberals brought in the effective ban on burning coal domestically, the idea was that the coal mines that were supplying those plants would be shuttered and eventually that industry would transition," he said.
"What we've seen since that time is domestic production of coal has skyrocketed threefold, and the government seems to not be doing anything about it despite promises to tackle it."
Almost all of the thermal coal Canada produces comes from coal mines in Alberta and is exported, mainly to Asia, from ports in B.C.
Convicted B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, who preyed on women he lured from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to his rural pig farm, has died.
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
The ex-husband of Tatjana Stefanski – the woman whose disappearance and death set the small town of Lumby, B.C., on edge last month – has been charged with her murder.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored two power-play goals as Edmonton smothered the Dallas Stars 3-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the NHL's Western Conference final on Friday.
A newborn is dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to a woman in police custody.
Jennifer Lopez has cancelled her 2024 North American tour, representatives for Live Nation confirmed to The Associated Press.
There's a luxury 'tree home' for sale in Calgary.
The Department of National Defence is moving approximately 1,000 employees out of an office building in Ottawa's Lowertown neighbourhood, citing safety concerns for its employees.
A man convicted of murdering a Toronto police officer more than four decades ago has been granted day parole for six months.
A hefty donation by a renowned local activist to the University of Winnipeg has created what is believed to be the most comprehensive two-spirit archives in all of Canada.
Leanne Van Bergen discovered a skulk of 10 baby foxes, and two mothers, had made themselves at home on her property in Beausejour.
An 81-year-old Waterloo, Ont. woman thought she’d never ride a horse again after a brain bleed led to severe physical complications.
A CP24 camera caught the moment a driver frantically got out of her car as it was being dragged by a truck on Avenue Road Wednesday afternoon.
Prince Edward Island is celebrating its first-ever International Day of Potato on Thursday.
The president of Covered Bridge Chips in New Brunswick is hoping to have his factory rebuilt for late 2025 following a devastating fire last year.
Students and staff at Winnipeg’s Westwood Collegiate had a unique problem to solve this month; how do you lead ducks to water from the school’s courtyard when 12 of them can’t fly yet?
Debby Lorinczy remembers her father as an amazing person and as a man who also made an amazing discovery.
Abigail Strate is a member of the Canadian national ski jumping team and an Olympic bronze medallist. She's also a certified beekeeper.