Redeye

If a recent commercial is to be believed, then FortisBC is in the business of selling outdoor gear. Nothing in the 30-second ad of a parent and child walking through a forest suggests that connecting your home to gas could lead to catastrophic global warming.  Two concerned B.C. residents and the organization Stand.Earth are taking FortisBC to court for using ads like this to greenwash its products. Lawyers from Ecojustice and Slater Vecchio LLP are bringing the case against FortisBC under the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act. We speak with Andhra Azevedo, one of the lawyers at Ecojustice.

Next week, Vancouver City Council considers tenant protection for residents of single room occupancy hotels, a 30 kph speed limit on all Vancouver streets, e bikes and scooters on the seawall and lots more. Ian Mass joins us with his City Beat report.

On March 6, Green Party MLA Adam Olsen retabled a bear den protection bill in the BC legislature for the third time. Olsen has been pushing for legal changes since October 2022 but has yet to have his private members bill heard. For decades, environmentalists and First Nations have been advocating for an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act to include bear dens. We speak with Mark Worthing, Campaigns and Programs Director at the Awinakola Foundation.

Drug activist Dana Larsen appealed the loss of the business licence for his Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary in Vancouver. In response, Green Party city councillors Adrienne Carr and Pete Fry voted to re-issue the licence. Now they are going a step further by introducing a motion to create a regulatory framework for psilocybin and other psychoactive mushrooms. We speak with Pete Fry.

NDP MP Charlie Angus has introduced a private member’s bill calling for a ban on what his party calls 'misleading, deceptive' fossil fuel ads. The NDP says the bill would take the same approach Ottawa took to tobacco ads in 1990s. While there is predictable opposition to the bill from the oil and gas industry, others see the bill as a very modest step towards what is needed.For an assessment of the bill, we speak with Peter Dietsch, a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Victoria.

Drug companies often give payments to doctors and other health-care workers for consulting fees, speaking at events or funding research, as well as meals and travel expenses. But, in Canada, it’s difficult to know how much was paid to whom. Our guest, Dr. Joel Lexchin, says this information needs to be readily available to Canadians.

A report released last month by the BC Fed and CCPA-BC says British Columbia’s local transit systems could be united into a province-wide public transit network within a decade, offering safe and affordable service throughout the province. We talk with Sussanne Skidmore, president of the BC Federation of Labour, about their vision.

Unless governments act to build and save housing that low income people can afford, the number of houseless people in Vancouver is on track to increase by 50% by 2030. This is the stark prediction in the Carnegie Housing Project’s 2024 report, released last month.  We speak with Devin O’Leary, one of the co-authors of the report.

A ground-breaking new book examines and exposes the use of defamation law to silence victims of sexual violence. Author Mandi Gray draws on media reports, courtroom observations, and interviews with silence breakers, activists, and lawyers from across Canada to examine the impact of so-called liar lawsuits on those who report or are thinking of reporting sexual violence.

Next week, Vancouver City Council is going to consider a massive social housing development in East Vancouver. Also, on the agenda, expanding free public Wi-Fi in the Downtown Eastside and an update on City plans to dissolve the Park Board. Redeye collective member Ian Mass joins us with his City Beat report.