Features

83 Articles

Ten thousand-year old Indigenous libraries are society's best hope for environmental vitality

Have you ever been in a library that's ten thousand years old? La'goot Spencer Greening has spent years in his peoples' library, Tsimshian territory, as a student of its culture, laws and oral history, learning what environmental conservation means from an Indigenous perspective.

First Nations Forward

By Emilee Gilpin in Features, Politics, Culture | April 26th 2019

Want to save millions of migratory birds? Turn off your outdoor lights in spring and fall

Billions of migratory birds pass through the night sky each spring and fall. Birds use stars to orient their journey between summer breeding grounds and winter feeding grounds. The artificial lights produced by humans disrupt the migration of birds, often with fatal consequences.

By Dan Mennill in Features | April 24th 2019

A tragedy on the island

For months, the scuttlebutt around the Island had been that the Green Party could form government. As election day approached, anticipation gave way to sorrow.

By Justin Ling in Features, Politics | April 22nd 2019

Sea, styrofoam and sustainability: the art of Joyce Majiski

In the UBC Beaty Biodiversity Museum, Vancouver's only natural history museum, an artist works on creating a styrofoam replica of a whale skeleton.

By Joanie McEwen in Features | April 18th 2019

The art of the positive women

Women living with HIV often still feel fear of being discovered. Art gives them a chance to tell their stories.

By Stephanie Wood in Features, Culture | April 18th 2019

United Church's Mardi Tindal speaks to the heart

“And so now, it is a profoundly pastoral task to acknowledge the worry, the confusion, the paralysis, the fear that congregants carry as they come to realize what we are losing. This is our work,” Mardi reasons. “To not do this work, to not talk about it, is an abdication of pastoral leadership.”

Race Against Climate Change

By Beatrice Ekoko in Features | April 18th 2019

Chief Arthur Patrick in front of the Stellat'en First Nation band office in Stellako, B.C. on March 5, 2019. Photo by Brandi Morin

Stellat'en First Nation's traditional culture 'pretty much gone,' but LNG agreement offered relief from 'enforced poverty'

“At the end it was easy because we negotiated the best deal we could,” said Stellat’an Chief Arthur Patrick. “Natural gas is more benign to the environment than oil and coal. Natural gas will replace coal in other parts of the world, like China. If we can be a part of that replacement, then I think we’re doing the world some good.”

First Nations Forward

By Brandi Morin in Features | April 10th 2019

A street on the Nakazdli First Nation reserve located 160 kilometres northwest of Prince George, B.C., on territory where the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline will cross. March 3, 2019. Photo by Brandi Morin

Here's what happens when an energy pipeline company comes calling

What happens when an energy pipeline developer comes to town? Brandi Morin examines the pressure on a First Nations community in central interior B.C. when Enbridge, with an oil pipeline proposal, and then TransCanada, with the Coastal GasLink project, came calling. Elected Nak’azdli Whut’en Chief Alexander McKinnon relives one of the most difficult decisions of his life.

First Nations Forward

By Brandi Morin in Features, Energy, Politics | April 9th 2019

Barbara Norton, shown at home on Nov. 17, 2018, has lived on Big Rideau Lake for more than 30 years. Photo by Matt Gergyek

On Big Rideau Lake, the clock ticks

As more people retire and move to cottage country, residents along Big Rideau Lake worry that development may cripple the natural shorelines needed to ensure safe water, while organizations protecting the lake struggle with a jurisdictional jigsaw puzzle.

By Ash Abraham, Stephen Cook, Matt Gergyek, Alicia Kalmanovitch & Raisa Patel in Features | April 9th 2019

The proposed home of a permanent nuclear waste site at Chalk River Laboratories sits near the shoreline of the Ottawa River, seen here on Nov. 25, 2018 about 30 kilometres upstream. Photo by Dana Hatherly

How safe is the Ottawa River from nuclear waste?

A proposed permanent radioactive waste dump at Chalk River Laboratories on the Ottawa River raises questions about the future safety of the water used by hundreds of thousands of people. While some local authorities seem relaxed as the proposal winds its way through an environmental assessment process, Ottawa Riverkeeper, for one, remains vigilant about the health of the watershed.

By Lauren Hicks, Dana Hatherly, Christian Paas-Lang, Mateo Peralta & Adam van der Zwan in Features | April 8th 2019

National Observer

Features

Ten thousand-year old Indigenous libraries are society's best hope for environmental vitality

Want to save millions of migratory birds? Turn off your outdoor lights in spring and fall

A tragedy on the island

Sea, styrofoam and sustainability: the art of Joyce Majiski

The art of the positive women

United Church's Mardi Tindal speaks to the heart

Stellat'en First Nation's traditional culture 'pretty much gone,' but LNG agreement offered relief from 'enforced poverty'

Here's what happens when an energy pipeline company comes calling

On Big Rideau Lake, the clock ticks

How safe is the Ottawa River from nuclear waste?

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