CROWSFOOT PASS, ALTA. —
Where fly fisherman Shane Olson once paddled summer tourists around in a boat, he now guides them by foot – carefully navigating shallow waters one step at a time.
“Every year, these rivers seem to be getting smaller, faster,” Olson, 48, said, whipping a gleaming fishing line over the Crowsnest River about 70 kilometres from the U.S. border.
It is an alarming trend in Canada’s breadbasket, and a sign of water scarcity to come as climate change speeds the melting of Rocky Mountain glaciers feeding rivers that deliver water to some seven million people across the Prairies.
“We are pushing it to the absolute breaking point,” Olson said.
The province of Alberta could face a $22.1 billion loss, or roughly 6% of its gross domestic product, as Saskatchewan River Basin flows drop, according to a study last year in the journal Ecological Economics.
At the same time, water demand is growing, sparking competition among miners, farmers and First Nations.
A seven-hour drive downstream from Olson’s fishing spot, the province of Saskatchewan is planning a $4-billion expansion of its irrigation system. Upstream in the Rockies, developers have proposed eight new steel-supplying coal mines.
In an interview with Reuters this year, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson called rising Prairie water demand amid climate change “a major source of concern.”
While Canada is the world’s third most water-abundant nation, the Prairies are prone to both flooding and drought. Their water supply depends on how much snow collects in the Rockies – known as the region’s “water towers” – and how quickly it runs off as it melts.
But water abundance is a Prairie myth, scientists say.
During the second half of this century, most glaciers in the Canadian Rockies will melt, according to a 2019 study in Water Resources Research. The region’s water outlook will be “bleak” long before then, said University of Lethbridge geographer Christopher Hopkins.
Warmer temperatures are causing mountain snow and ice to melt earlier in the year, increasing the likelihood of summertime water shortages, according to research published last year in Environmental Reviews.
As the climate changes, winter precipitation falls more frequently as rain than snow, leaving less water stored in the mountains, hydrologist John Pomeroy said.
Water conditions over the last 20 years have been especially volatile, according to tree ring data that record annual water and temperature conditions dating back 900 years, said Dave Sauchyn, director of the University of Regina’s Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative.
That period saw both a prolonged drought in 1999-2003 and the 2013 flood that wrought $6 billion in damages.
“That these two events occurred within 10 years of each other is extraordinary, and very likely a manifestation of increasing extremes from climate change,” said Pomeroy, who heads the University of Saskatchewan’s Global Water Futures Program.
‘IF YOU DON’T HAVE WATER, YOU DON’T HAVE NOTHING’
In June, a record heat wave seared Western Canada that scientists said would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change. Wheat crops shriveled and cattle-grazing pastures turned brown.
As of Aug. 30, Alberta had issued 18 low-water advisories for rivers.
As water demand grew in dry southern Alberta, the province stopped issuing new water licences there in 2007.
It held in reserve 11,000 acre feet of water from the Oldman River flowing eastward from the Rockies.
The reserve is a drop in the bucket compared to Alberta’s total surface water allocations of 7.5 million acre feet. But Alberta has floated the idea of lifting the reserve’s limits by sector, a move that has stirred up fears that it could divert scarce water to coal mines.
Unlikely partnerships formed among environmentalists, ranchers, and country singers to fight the mines, underscoring how taut tensions over water use have become.
“It is clear that amending this regulation is directly linked to the coal companies’ need for water licenses,” said Katie Morrison, conservation director at the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
The government has yet to decide the issue, spokesman Paul Hamnett said.
Ottawa rejected one coal proposal in August, citing the potential for water contamination and harm to plants and animals.
Some proposals for coal mines in the Rockies’ sensitive eastern slopes are on hold pending a review of Alberta’s coal development policy due in November.
During 2019-20, Alberta’s Environmental Appeals Board handled 20 appeals of water licence decisions – the busiest two-year period since Alberta capped water licensing in 2007.
In one case, farmers appealed a golf club’s water diversion application out of fear it would deplete the aquifer. Another complaint took issue with water allotment for washing gravel.
Water scarcity has already forced a shift in Canada’s oil sands mines, which in 2019, recycled 78% of the water they used, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator.
John Smith, who runs a ranch near Nanton, Alta., worries that a coal mine on a peak overlooking his farm could soak up the water his family has relied on for three generations.
“Our dads told us, our grandads told us, ‘If you don’t have water, you don’t have nothing,’” Smith said. “It really is our greatest resource, and it’s only going to become more scarce.”
Saskatchewan’s plan to quintuple its irrigated land to 500,000 acres would enable farmers to grow higher-priced crops such as potatoes and sugar beets.
“This is what we consider climate change adaptation,” said Patrick Boyle, spokesman for the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency.
But First Nations fishing and hunting in the downstream Saskatchewan River Delta, near the Manitoba border, see the plan threatening their way of life.
“We’re messing with nature,” said Vice Chief Heather Bear of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.
“Everything that happens upstream will affect us downstream.”
EDMONTON – The legendary k.d. lang got the band back together at the Canadian Country Music Association awards show.
Lang teamed up with the Reclines for the first time in 35 years to belt out “Big Boned Gal” from their last album together in 1989.
Clad in a blue and green western-style dress, lang strut across the stage in Edmonton to embody the “big boned gal from southern Alberta.”
The awards show saw Alberta’s MacKenzie Porter and Ontario’s Josh Ross take home hardware for being best female and male artists of the year.
Ross also won entertainer of the year and single of the year for “Trouble.”
Ontario artist Jade Eagleson won album of the year for “Do It Anyway.”
The James Barker Band from Woodville, Ont., won fans’ choice and group of the year.
During their acceptance speech, frontman Barker hinted at new music and a possible tour in 2025.
Ross says he and his band play roughly 150 shows every year and are never home, but says taking home entertainer of the year made the hard work worth it.
Porter won for female artist of the year and top video for “Chasing Tornadoes.”
The female artist win ends the five-year streak of Tenille Townes being awarded the coveted hardware.
Porter had been nominated seven times previously for the award in the past decade but hadn’t won until now.
The artist from Medicine Hat, Alta., says it takes a lot of hard work and hustle to succeed as a female in the country music industry and gave a shout out to her fellow singers and her newborn daughter.
Joining the two artists in the winners’ circle was Ontario singer-songwriter Owen Riegling, who won for breakthrough artist of the year.
The show began with American artist and co-host Thomas Rhett being dubbed an honorary Canadian by Edmonton Oilers players Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl.
Rhett donned an Oilers jersey that was gifted to him by the pair.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
EDMONTON – Ontario country artist Jade Eagleson has won album of the year at the 2024 Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Edmonton.
The singer from Bailieboro, Ont., was up for six awards alongside Alberta’s MacKenzie Porter.
Eagleson took home album of the year for “Do It Anyway” and says he’s thankful to his wife and management team for helping him reach the level he’s at.
The James Barker Band from Woodville, Ont., also won fans’ choice and group of the year at the award show, held in Edmonton.
During their acceptance speech, frontman Barker hinted at new music and a possible tour in 2025.
Another Ontario crooner, Josh Ross, has taken home a trio of awards, receiving entertainer of the year, male artist of the year and single of the year.
He says he and his band play roughly 150 shows every year and are never home, but says taking home entertainer of the year makes the hard work worth it.
Porter took home female artist of the year, ending the five-year streak of Tenille Townes being awarded the coveted hardware.
Porter had been nominated seven times previously for the award in the past decade but hadn’t won until tonight.
The artist from Medicine Hat, Alta., says it takes a lot of hard work and hustle to succeed as a female in the country music industry and gave a shout out to her fellow singers and her newborn daughter.
Joining the two artists in the winners’ circle was Ontario singer-songwriter Owen Riegling, who won for breakthrough artist of the year.
The show began with American artist and co-host Thomas Rhett being dubbed an honorary Canadian by Edmonton Oilers players Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl.
Rhett donned an Oilers jersey that was gifted to him by the pair.
The return of k.d. lang and the Reclines was expected to be a highlight of the show.
The appearance will mark the first time the Alberta songstress has teamed up with the band in 35 years and is tied to lang’s induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.
The awards show is back in Alberta’s capital for the first time since 2014. It was held in Hamilton last year and in Calgary in 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
VANDERHOOF, B.C. – British Columbia Conservatives are promising changes they say will bring more stability to the province’s struggling forest industry.
Leader John Rustad announced his plan for the sector a week before the official launch of the provincial election campaign, saying a Conservative government would do away with stumpage fees paid when timber is harvested and instead put a tax on the final products that are produced.
Rustad said Saturday that under a provincial Conservative government, a small fee may be charged upfront, but the bulk would come at the end of the process, depending on what type of product is created.
He also promised to review how wildfires are managed, as well as streamline the permit process and review what he calls the province’s “uncompetitive cost structure.”
“British Columbia is by far the highest cost producers of any jurisdiction in North America. We need to be able to drive down those costs, so that our forest sector can actually be able to do the reinvestment, to be able to create the jobs and make sure that they’re still there to be able to support our communities,” he said.
The governing New Democrats meanwhile, say eliminating stumpage fees would inflame the softwood lumber dispute with the United States and hurt forestry workers.
In a statement issued by the NDP, Andrew Mercier, the party’s candidate in Langley-Willowbrook, said Rustad failed to support the industry when he was in government under the former BC Liberals.
“Not only will Rustad’s old thinking and recycled ideas fail to deliver, his proposal to eliminate stumpage would inflame the softwood lumber dispute — punishing forestry workers and communities,” Mercier said, accusing Rustad of ignoring the complexity of the challenges facing the industry.
The softwood lumber dispute between the U.S. and Canada stretches back decades. In August, the U.S. Department of Commerce nearly doubled duties on softwood lumber.
International Trade Minister Mary Ng has said Canada has taken steps to launch two legal challenges under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
Rustad said a provincial Conservative government would push hard to get a deal with the United States over the ongoing dispute “whether it’s with the rest of Canada or by itself.”
He said his party’s proposed changes are in the name of bringing “stability” and “hope” to the industry that has seen multiple closures of mills in rural communities over the last several years.
Most recently, Canfor Corp. decided to shutter two northern British Columbia sawmills earlier this month, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed by the end of the year.
According to the United Steelworkers union, Canfor has closed 10 mills in the province since November 2011, including nine in northern B.C.
Jeff Bromley, chair of the United Steelworkers wood council, said Saturday the idea of changes in favour of taxing the final product has been floated in the past.
He said the finer details of the Conservative plan will be important, but that the system needs to be improved and “new ideas are certainly something I’d be willing to entertain.”
“Something needs to happen, or the industry is just going to bleed and wither away and be a shadow of its former self,” Bromley said.
“Politics aside, if (Rustad) can come up with a policy that enables my members to work, then I would be supportive of that. But then I’m supportive of any government that would come up with policies and fibre for our mills to run. Period.”
When Canfor announced its latest closures, Forests Minister Bruce Ralston said the sector was a “foundational part” of the province and the current NDP government would work to support both local jobs and wood manufacturing operations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024
