Canada's National Observer delivers vital reporting on the defining crisis of our time: climate change. Through rigorous investigation and compelling storytelling, we expose the forces shaping Canada's climate future. www.nationalobserver.com/newsletters
My latest column in out in @nationalobserver.com, asking "Where is Carney's promised Youth Climate Corps?" www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/28/o...
Where is Carney’s promised Youth Climate Corps?The budget said it would commence with the 2026 fiscal year (which started April 1). We are now more than a quarter into that fiscal year with no YCC program launch and no details have been forthcomin...www.nationalobserver.com“Why do you have to be inside to learn? Why has that become normal?”
The youth-led movement to secure an outdoor future for schoolsGeorge Elliot Secondary is one of only six schools across Canada offering Advanced Placement Nature Education, a pilot program, which teacher Marnie Birkeland rebrands as “AP Passion to Action,” becau...www.nationalobserver.comWhen the Heiltsuk Nation invited coastal leaders to gather in Bella Bella, BC, Alberta’s proposed new oil pipeline to the North Coast still loomed. But after that threat was moved south, they met anyway — to plan for the pressures already building on the ocean.
Coastal Nations want 'master planning,' not piecemeal projectsWhen Heiltsuk Nation Chief Marilyn Slett invited coastal leaders to gather in Bella Bella, BC, she was expecting a potential fight against Alberta’s proposed new oil pipeline to the North Coast. But a...www.nationalobserver.comThe RCMP has warned the government that foreign actors could take advantage of self-governing communities in Canada’s North, newly obtained documents reveal.
RCMP worries foreign actors could gain foothold in northern Indigenous communitiesCash-strapped Indigenous governments in the North could be susceptible to attractive infrastructure and investment offers from foreign actors that could threaten Canada's national security, according ...www.nationalobserver.comMP Julie Dzerowicz, who represents the federal riding of Davenport, said the decision shows the government is listening to the people of Toronto — where the Liberals have an important upcoming byelection.
Liberals back away from Ford's Billy Bishop expansion as Toronto by-election loomsMP Julie Dzerowicz, who represents the federal riding of Davenport and is the chair of the Toronto Liberal caucus, said the decision shows the Liberals are listening to the people of Toronto.www.nationalobserver.comIn June 2022, Shawn Seguin climbed down a ladder into a water well on his property near the town of Caledonia, Ontario. He never came out.
Thousands of forgotten gas wells are killing people in southwestern OntarioAlmost unnoticed, people are dying in explosions and accidents across southwestern Ontario linked to invisible toxic gas leaking from about 27,000 long-buried gas wells.www.nationalobserver.comNEW: Export Development Canada provided between $100 million and $200 million in project financing for the gas-fired plant that will power Meta's data centre in Sturgeon County, Alta., Canada's National Observer has discovered.
Crown corp lends up to $200M for Meta data centre gas plant in AlbertaThe gas plant, known as Greenlight, is classified as a project that is “likely to have significant adverse environmental and social effects.”www.nationalobserver.com
And then last night we found out that Export Development Canada loaned $100-200 million to Greenlight, the gas plant behind Meta’s data centre in Sturgeon County. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/24/n...
Crown corp lends up to $200M for Meta data centre gas plant in AlbertaThe gas plant, known as Greenlight, is classified as a project that is “likely to have significant adverse environmental and social effects.”www.nationalobserver.comOn Tuesday, we discovered that Smith awarded a mysterious $300k “website” contract to a firm founded by her ex-advisor. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/21/n...
Former Smith advisers awarded $300,000 referendum contract by Alberta governmentThe contract was for the creation of a website, albertareferendum2026.ca, which belongs to the Government of Alberta and provides information on the province's upcoming referendum.www.nationalobserver.comThis week I wrote three stories, all surfacing from overlooked public documents in Alberta. On Monday, we revealed that power generators are expecting wholesale electricity prices in Alberta to triple when first data centres come online. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/20/a...
Alberta electricity industry expects tripling of power prices from data centresIn Capital Power's latest earnings call, the company's CEO, Avik Dey, told analysts that he couldn't rule out prices of "$80 or $90" per megawatt hour of electricity by early 2028. By 2029, rival comp...www.nationalobserver.comWhen Chief Gary Quisess noticed shelves in the grocery store starting to empty — with baby formula, food, fuel and water all running low — he decided Neskantaga First Nation needed to evacuate.
As First Nation's grocery shelves empty, its Chief says Ontario's wildfire response is falling shortAbout 130 members of Neskantaga First Nation have been evacuated to a Toronto hotel, waiting to know when they’ll be able to return home, while hundreds of people still in the community await updated ...www.nationalobserver.comNEW: Export Development Canada provided between $100 million and $200 million in project financing for the gas-fired plant that will power Meta's data centre in Sturgeon County, Alta., Canada's National Observer has discovered.
Crown corp lends up to $200M for Meta data centre gas plant in AlbertaThe gas plant, known as Greenlight, is classified as a project that is “likely to have significant adverse environmental and social effects.”www.nationalobserver.com“Don’t take your coats off, boys,” Kelsey McWhinnie would tell her students as they arrived each morning. “We’re headed outside.” The change she saw in her students was remarkable. It went from flipping desks or sleeping through class to catching up academically.
What science can tell us about nature’s impact on kids’ brainsKelsey McWhinnie was teaching at a local BC high school and the concept of taking students out of the classroom and into nature spoke to her. “The learning impacts and achievement of those kids went u...www.nationalobserver.comA farmer-led project could be a model for the Alberta government’s goal of attracting $1 billion in investment from AI data centers before the end of the decade. Palliser Grid would combine wind and solar generation, battery storage, pumped hydro and short-term use of natural gas.
Alberta farmer turns bad weather into a clean power playA farmer-led group cleared a key hurdle last month for an all-in-one renewable energy project to power a future AI data centre in southern Alberta. Now the hard work begins.www.nationalobserver.com“No one wants to go back to a time where Kitimat was becoming a ghost town."
Local officials divided over air quality concerns tied to LNG CanadaWhile some councillors are advocating for the cumulative health impact assessment requested by residents and health advocates, Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth has dismissed concerns as "fearmongering."www.nationalobserver.com
If there was ever a time to put our collective elbows up, it should have been over a bridge named after Gordie Howe, @maxfawcett.bsky.social writes.
Canadians want to fight. Their prime minister might need to let themI understand the broader strategy at work here, and I’m willing to bet many Canadians do as well. In the face of a volatile and vainglorious bully who’s constitutionally incapable of keeping his word,...www.nationalobserver.comLana Putnam was already doing something that made her feel small: climbing onto a Vancouver bus without fare money and hoping to get where she was going before anyone noticed. Then she tripped.
Indigenous riders try out free transit, EV use in Vancouver projectA federally funded Vancouver pilot is providing free transit passes and access to a shared EV for residents of an Indigenous housing community, aiming to reduce transportation costs and barriers.www.nationalobserver.com
Everyone wants the view. Only a few try to save it - what a great piece by @adriennetanner.bsky.social www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/23/o...
Everyone wants the view. Only a few try to save itBill Henwood of Sechelt, BC, has spent his life fighting to protect Canada's wild spaces. His next battle to protect the endangered Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem might be his toughest yet.www.nationalobserver.comMark Carney's era of new oil and gas infrastructure has begun, with a gas pipeline breaking ground in BC.
First new oil and gas pipeline under Carney's Liberals breaks ground in BCConstruction of the Sunrise pipeline, which would transport a further 300 million cubic feet per day production from BC and Alberta to the Canada-US border, gets underway, despite economic and environ...www.nationalobserver.com