When people talk about a circular economy in which materials get reused and less waste ends up in landfills, they’re really talking about entrepreneurs such as Meaghan McDonald.
The 31-year-old Victoria woman has launched a new venture that aims to make money and protect the environment at the same time.
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Her brand, Salt Legacy, plans to give new life to discarded or “dead” sails from sailboats by using the durable, water- and sun-resistant materials to make backpacks, surfboard bags and other outdoor gear rather than burying all that nylon and polyester underground.
“I’ve always been really eco-conscious and always wanted to create something that would kind of help within the circular economy,” McDonald said.
She has a background in biology rather than business, so she got help from an eight-month incubator program run by Victoria’s Project Zero — a partnership between the non-profit Synergy Foundation and Vancity that assists start-up businesses looking to operate in a circular economy.
Project Zero envisions a Vancouver Island where, by 2040, “our waste will be our greatest resource” and hundreds of people will be working for small independent businesses that, like McDonald, will be “upcycling” materials into new products.
Municipal politicians are getting on board.
Victoria Coun. Jeremy Loveday describes the circular economy as an immense opportunity “to create good green jobs and live on this planet in a way that will actually be sustainable.”
That’s why he got Victoria council to endorse a resolution to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, calling on the provincial government to develop a circular-economy strategy.
Loveday said such a strategy would allow the province to encourage and mandate that governments, businesses and residents adopt circular-economy practices.
“And, I think, local governments are at the heart of it because cities are where the population, carbon emissions, waste and innovation are all occurring.”
His motion, which emerged from the Climate Caucus, a non-partisan network of more than 300 elected officials across Canada, received final approval from Victoria council on Thursday.
In a related move, council also backed Loveday’s resolution to the UBCM asking the province to adopt right-to-repair legislation, which would ensure citizens have access to the parts and information they need to fix items, rather than being discouraged by companies that claim ownership over the intellectual property of their products.
“The idea, essentially, is that it’s time for the era of planned obsolescence to be over, and that consumers should have the right to receive information about their products, have access to spare parts, and that we should be able to repair the things that we purchase, rather than having a product that is designed to have an end of life,” Loveday said.
Nanaimo Coun. Ben Geselbracht won approval from his council for similar motions last week, as well as a third resolution calling for a provincial strategy to deal with demolition and construction waste.
Geselbracht said that the more municipal councils sign on to the resolutions, the stronger the case for them receiving serious consideration at the next UBCM convention.
“Then, hopefully, when it gets passed to the minister, there’s a pretty clear mandate that this is an important issue and we really demand action on it.”
As for McDonald, she’s forging ahead with her business plans and collecting old sails from marinas and sailing clubs that are only too happy to donate materials destined for the landfill.
She has the prototype for her backpack complete, work is underway on a fanny pack and a surfboard bag is in the design stage.
McDonald is also gathering the history of each discarded sail, so that she can attach stories of adventure and world travel to her new products.
“Then the new consumer can kind of have a bit of that history and that connection piece to the backpack they just bought,” she said.
In that way, her products will keep stories circulating as well as the economy.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.
Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.
Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”
The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.
Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.
“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”
Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.
Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.
Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.
B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.
The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.
“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”
Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.
Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.
The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.
Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.
Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.
NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’ll be advising the Liberal party to flip some the challenges posed by an increasingly divided and dangerous world into an economic opportunity for Canada.
But he won’t say what his specific advice will be on economic issues that are politically divisive in Canada, like the carbon tax.
He presented his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy at the party’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. today, after he agreed to help the party prepare for the next election as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth.
Carney has been touted as a possible leadership contender to replace Justin Trudeau, who has said he has tried to coax Carney into politics for years.
Carney says if the prime minister asks him to do something he will do it to the best of his ability, but won’t elaborate on whether the new adviser role could lead to him adding his name to a ballot in the next election.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has been taking advice from Carney for years, and that his new position won’t infringe on her role.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
