Ottawa Insider

Natasha Bulowski reports from Ottawa with a slant on how federal policy is impacting British Columbians.

Canada's National Observer is a proud participant of the Local Journalism Initiative, which supports the creation of original civic journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada.

829 Articles

Use pandemic to 'future-proof' against climate crisis, academic group urges

"You’re taking a population that’s been suffering this year, and then you don’t want to put that population more at risk," says a biology professor who organized initiative.

Coronavirus in Canada

Carl Meyer

May 7th 2020

B.C. hopeful COVID-19 restrictions will mean fewer human-caused wildfires

“Definitely this year, with a possible change in human activity, we might have a possible change in fire numbers and area burned," says one federal fire research analyst.

Coronavirus in Canada

Carl Meyer

May 6th 2020

Feds vow to fix gap in commercial rent-relief program

The gap in the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program was highlighted on Tuesday by two members of Parliament during a meeting of the House of Commons government operations committee.

Coronavirus in Canada

Carl Meyer

May 5th 2020

B.C. groups divided by Trudeau’s ‘assault-style’ firearms ban

Trudeau's move is being praised by a Vancouver-based anti-violence group as a “long overdue” step but denounced by hunting and fishing clubs as a wrong-headed approach to public safety.

Carl Meyer

May 2nd 2020

Energy regulator calls Coldwater's TMX hearing concerns ‘premature’

Coldwater Chief Lee Spahan has asked the federal government to intervene with an aquifer study, saying Trans Mountain was moving ahead despite the reserve being on lockdown due to COVID-19.

Trans Mountain

Carl Meyer

May 1st 2020

B.C. says firms can cut down whole trees for pellet fuel if they are ‘inferior’

Two environmental groups say that’s a disturbing change from how the provincial government has portrayed the wood pellet industry in the past.

Race Against Climate Change

Carl Meyer

April 30th 2020

Coldwater warns Trans Mountain hearings are unfair

The legal counsel for Coldwater, part of the Nlaka'pamux Nation in British Columbia, is taking issue with a key shift in the federal energy regulator's approach to Trans Mountain pipeline hearings that abandons oral cross-examination in favour of written questions.

Trans Mountain

Carl Meyer

April 29th 2020

Toronto and Vancouver are in a financial freefall, and Ottawa has noticed

The prime minister’s comments follow a push by mayors across the country for emergency federal funding to make up for billions of dollars in lost revenue from things like transit and parking, as people stay home and avoid public places to slow the spread of the virus.

Coronavirus in Canada

Carl Meyer

April 27th 2020

Concerns raised over landlord participation in rent-relief program

NDP, CFIB say the program is a good first step, but have raised concerns about the program’s viability, including the fact that it relies on landlords to participate.

Coronavirus in Canada

Carl Meyer

April 24th 2020

MPs won't be voting remotely any time soon, Speaker says

Allowing individual members to vote is at the “heart” of Canada’s parliamentary system, House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota argued, and he expressed concern about any virtual configuration where only one or a handful of MPs speak for their colleagues.

Coronavirus in Canada

Carl Meyer

April 21st 2020

B.C. MPs say they don't need in-person meetings to hold Ottawa to account

“No one knew on March 13 what living with a pandemic meant. We knew nothing of flattening the curve. Now we do," said Green MP Paul Manly.

Coronavirus in Canada

Carl Meyer

April 20th 2020

Trudeau pumps $1.7 billion into cleaning orphan and inactive wells

Environmental advocates who spoke with National Observer on Friday said they were relieved Trudeau — at least for now — has avoided a much larger bailout of the industry.

Race Against Climate Change

Carl Meyer

April 17th 2020

Migrant and undocumented workers plead for help during coronavirus pandemic

Many workers without proper paperwork cannot access income supports, despite continuing to help Canada during the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus in Canada

Carl Meyer

April 17th 2020

B.C. carbon pollution climbed in 2018, ministry calls it 'unfortunate' but dated

Canada’s oil and gas sector was responsible for the largest portion of the country's carbon pollution in 2018, at 193 megatonnes (Mt), or 26 per cent.

Race Against Climate Change

Carl Meyer

April 15th 2020

Will out-of-work Canadians want labour-intensive farm jobs?

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada want to see farmers hire unemployed Canadians to fill jobs that migrant workers usually take. But the reality is that most Canadians don’t want to work in orchards, says the BC Fruit Growers' Association.

Coronavirus in Canada

Carl Meyer

April 15th 2020