BC Business
Mayor Derek Corrigan on Burnaby Mountain
Delays in the pipeline? Seven B.C. mayors want the federal and provincial governments to postpone the Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal and improve the public hearing and review process. The mayors of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, the City of North Vancouver, Victoria, Squamish and Bowen Island have signed a declaration of non-confidence in the current NEB process, saying, “We have serious concerns that the current NEB panel is neither independent from the oil industry proponents nor ready or able to assess the ‘public interest’ of British Columbians. It is no longer a credible process from either a scientific evidentiary basis, nor from a public policy and public interest perspective.”
Musseling in on water pipes Speaking of pipelines, water intake pipes can be clogged by invasive aquatic species like zebra and quagga mussels, which also threaten native species and fisheries. So far no quagga or zebra mussels have actually been spotted in B.C.’s lakes or rivers, and the provincial government wants to keep it that way. Starting in April, a $1.3-million invasive mussel defence program will involve inspecting and, if necessary, decontaminating boats coming into B.C. from Alberta as well as ones from the U.S. flagged as a concern by Canadian Border Services.
Slowdowns in traffic When it comes to traffic congestion in cities with populations over 800,000, Vancouver is No. 1 in Canada and No. 20 in the world (No. 1 overall is Istanbul), according to the latest TomTom traffic index based on data from drivers’ TomTom GPS devices. And it’s going to get worse from April 5 to 18 when the Georgia Viaduct is closed to traffic during shooting of the Ryan Reynolds-starring Deadpool. The production expects to spend more than $37.5 million directly and hire more than 1,100 people. For traffic closing details, click here.