The windstorm that pummeled Metro Vancouver on the weekend is a wake up call to everyone in British Columbia that we need to be better prepared to cope with, and communicate about, extreme weather events. These are no longer once in a lifetime or 100 year events. Less than ten years ago the 2006 windstorm heavily damaged Stanley Park and left over 250,000 Hydro customers without power, some for many days. At its peak, this weekend’s storm left over 500,000 in the dark, literally and figuratively, complicated by the fact the BC Hydro website was unavailable, and communications between municipal authorities and emergency services appeared sporadic and uncoordinated. Since Saturday BC Hydro has managed a phenomenal effort in bringing most households and businesses online, and for that the crews often working in extremely difficult conditions must be thanked.

The cost of the storm has yet to be calculated, not only in terms of actual damage to infrastructure, homes and vehicles, but also to lost business. What is obvious though is that communication is essential. The lack of coordinated communication is what leads to the vast majority of messages on social media expressing frustration over lack of information.

This lack of communication and access to information is not new. Think back to last year and what transpired after the Mt. Polley tailings pond breach. It took far too much time for the provincial government to connect with and inform nearby residents. Think back to this past summer’s forest fire season and how it took the government an unseemly amount of time to reassure communities that all resources would be made available. And we can also reflect upon what happened in response to the bunker fuel spill in Vancouver harbour. The ‘after action’ report by John Butler highlighted the lack of coordination and communication between governments and agencies responsible for responding to the spill and informing the public. A pattern emerges.

Residents obviously don’t blame governments and authorities for causing the storm, but they do expect emergency communication systems to be in place to ensure that everyone is kept informed of ongoing developments. They also expect that effective communication systems will be in  place to allow people to provide information back to authorities on issues affecting their neighbourhoods.

I am thrilled and heartened to see how so many people in all the areas impacted by power outages, downed trees and damaged homes came to the aid of their neighbours. But once power is fully restored to everyone, and the cleanup gets underway we should look at the lessons to be learned and how we can be better prepared before the next extreme weather event hits. And as the climate system continues to warm, we can expect this to be sooner rather than later.

This is the fifth in our series highlighting innovation and creativity within our region’s business sector.

Next time you are driving to work, check out the cars around you. I’ll bet you’ll find that the overwhelming majority are single-occupant, gas-powered vehicles weighing more than 1000-1500 kilograms. In fact, you and your automobile probably fall into this category as well. Imagine all the energy that is wasted in transporting all that extra weight. And wasted energy is wasted money!

Very few of us travel more than 100 kilometres a day in our car, yet many of us drive large vehicles as single occupants to and from work five days a week. For example, the commute from the new housing developments along Happy Valley Road to downtown Victoria is about 40 kilometres return. The commute from Tsawwassen to downtown Vancouver is around 70 kilometres return. So a fully electric single occupancy vehicle with 130 kilometre range on a single charge can certainly target a niche market. And that’s what Vancouver-based ElectraMeccanica is planning to do.

ElectraMeccanica has partnered up with InterMeccanica, a family-owned New Westminster-based high-end automobile manufacturer that has been custom building cars for their niche market since 1959. InterMeccanica knows how to make cars. Their precision and attention to detail is legendary; their rich history of innovation was recently the subject of a feature story in the Canadian edition of Hagerty. Now owned and operated by Henry Reisner, the oldest son of the founder Frank Reisner, InterMeccanica continues to produce custom order Porsche 356 Roadster and Speedster replicas.

The partnership with ElectraMeccanica is a new venture for InterMeccanica and their imminent move back to their old location in the new Meccanica building in southeast False Creek represents an exciting step forward. The move was made possible through the vision of Scott Cressey of Cressey Development Group and Jerry Kroll CEO of ElectraMeccanica. The new Meccanica building is a unique mixed use light industrial / residential development.

ElectraMeccanica, the brainchild of entrepreneur automobile expert Jerry Kroll, recently bought up the rights for the Sparrow, a car designed and showcased by Mike Corbin at the 1996 San Francisco auto show. Corbin Motors went on to produce several hundred Sparrows before becoming a victim of sour economic times in 2003. In 2004, Ohio-based Myers Motors stepped in to give the Sparrow a second chance. Unfortunately, despite rebranding it the Myers Motors NmG (No more Gas), improving its battery performance and redesigning the exterior, the Sparrow once more fell the way of troubling economic times. But this time should be different.

Kroll and Resiner have brought their collective talents together to introduce their new, second generation Electra Meccanica EMV-17. Professionally designed, and with a range of 130 km on a single charge, the lightweight carbon fibre composite EMV-17 is capable of reaching a top speed of 140 km/hr and cruising at 110 km/hr. But here’s what makes the EMV-17 so attractive. It will retail for less than $20,000 Canadian.

This past spring I had the opportunity to test-drive one of the original Sparrows (see image above). It was incredibly zippy and easy to handle, and I confess that more than a few heads turned as I drove by. Last Friday I was in Vancouver to tour the InterMeccanica facility and their new southeast False Creek location. There were a number of Porsche 356 Roadster and Speedster replicas in various stages of construction in the facility. In addition, two of the first refurbished Sparrows were being constructed.

ElectraMeccanica have already sold their first ten 2015 pre-production Sparrow’s. They plan to roll out 120 EMV-17 cars in 2016, a further 1,200 in 2017 and an additional 1,800 in 2018. All of these EMV-17s will be constructed in the Metro Vancouver region.

While the single occupancy electric vehicle may have struggled in the past, it seems pretty clear to me that times have changed. Obviously the price of gas has increased. But more importantly, there is a much greater awareness of the effects that increasing greenhouse gases are having on our climate. 2014 was a record warm year globally; 2015 is on track to break the record set just last year. In BC we have suffered from an extended drought and wildfires burned out of control this past summer. And things will only get worse.

In the average British Columbia household, the automobile is the single biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. It therefore represents the single greatest opportunity to reduce these emissions. Vancouver, bounded by the U.S. border to the south, mountains to the north and east, and water to the west, is one of the most ideal markets for the widespread introduction of electric vehicles. Victoria surrounded by water on three sides and the Malahat to the north, represents another. We typically don’t drive great distances daily in Vancouver and Victoria.

So it’s incredibly exciting to see homegrown innovation start to take off in this new, emerging sector of our economy – the clean tech sector. Who knows, pretty soon the 100% electric vehicle won’t be the head-turner. Instead, it will be the inefficient, 8-cyclinder gas guzzler of yesteryear.

This is the 21^st in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Austin Sawyer

This past June Austin Sawyer was one of fifty Canadians awarded the prestigious $80,000 Schulich Leader Scholarship. In Austin’s case, it was his application of the scientific method that led him to rise to the top of  the distinguished 2015 class of nominees. Austin joins Alysha Rose as the second Schulich Leader Scholarship winner we have highlighted in our celebrating youth in our community series. And this remarkable young man partnered with fellow Lambrick Park Secondary School student Vicki Kleu (another previously featured student in our series) in the development of method to improve the cleanup and retention of oil spills.

His partnership with Vicki was very productive as they shared complementary skill sets with Austin particularly loving the presentation and “making the pitch” component of the science fair competitions. Their project won them national recognition at the 2014 Canada Wide Science Fair and it played a pivotal role in the success of Austin’s Schulich nomination for students who want to study science, technology, engineering and math (academic disciplines known as STEM fields) at a Canadian university. Their science project, a reusable and biodegradable oil boom, won the pair a $500.00 cash prize as well as a Manning Innovation Achievement Award and the Senior Excellence Bronze medal.

Vicki and Austin’s invention of an inexpensive absorbent boom that picks up over 32ml of oil per gram of fibre was featured in Douglas Magazine earlier this year. And if you’re interested in further details about their impressive findings, check out their TedX Talk entitled A New Approach to Oil Spill Recovery. Austin and Vicki have recently been working with some oil companies to do further research and try to market the oil boom.

In 2015 Austin branched off on his own and once again qualified for the national science fair competition, after finishing third in the Vancouver Island Regional Science Fair for his innovative project aimed at developing low-cost solutions to increase the longevity of wood railroad ties. Janet Dawson, a grade eight student at Gordon Head Middle School also mentored by Cheryl Nigh, and coached by Austin, finished fifth and also qualified for the national competition. At the nationals, once again Austin made it to the podium winning won a bronze medal of excellence in the senior category. Janet Dawson for whom he served as a mentor and coach earned a silver medal of excellence in the junior category at nationals, along with wining top discovery project and top astronomy award.

Austin, now 18 years old, was born in Victoria and attended Torquay Elementary and Gordon Head Middle School prior to graduating from Lambrick Park Secondary this year. We were a little surprised to learn that he disliked science (and school in general) until Grade 8 when he was influenced and inspired by Cheryl Nigh, a talented science and math teacher at Gordon Head Middle School. It was Ms. Nigh who got him interested in science fairs. In Grade 8, Austin entered the regional science fair and ended up winning a Canada wide silver medal of excellence. And Austin has excelled academically ever since he arrived at Lambrick Park Secondary; he obtained a 5.0 GPA every year and a 92% average in Grade 12.

As might be expected, Austin was also involved in a number of extracurricular activities including the Leadership program and the Green Team at Lambrick Park Secondary, as well as its Student Council. He was elected as Vice President of the Student Council (after dressing up as the character Napolean Dynamite during the campaign) and during his tenure he had a liaison role between student council, Leadership and the student body. He loved the role and describes himself as “very social”.

To be nominated for the Schulich Award, Austin had to submit an essay to the Principal and Vice Principal of his school to explain “how being an all around student was more important than strictly grades”. Then he wrote an essay to the Schulich Board based on the following quote by David Suzuki about future and continued fossil fuel extraction: “We’re in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone’s arguing over where they are going to sit”. Austin envisions a future “where the car is being driven away from the wall toward change and leaving the world a better place”.

In ten years, Austin would like to own a biomedical company and design prosthetics to help people with physical disabilities. In September, he will begin his studies at the University of Victoria in engineering, with a focus on chemical or biomedical engineering in the future.

Austin also excels in sports. He started playing soccer at age 8 and admits to being “very competitive”. He scored the winning goal in a shootout in Grade 11, while playing for his soccer club Saanich Fusion (Gold Level). He also ran track in Grade 9, 10 and 11, including relay and 100 metre events. In Grade 12, he was sidelined with an ankle injury and bone issue that required surgery. Back in form now, he likes to go running, hiking and play soccer for fun.

Austin has a job at Berwick House, a retirement residence in Victoria where he works with his brother in the kitchen. He enjoys interacting with the seniors and loves to hear their stories. He has been a volunteer in the community at marathons, at the Campus View elementary craft fair and as a mentor to younger students at the Science Fair. He loves mentoring students and brings his tremendous enthusiasm to the role.

This very well rounded young man has clear goals, an engaging personality and a brilliant future. Those young students he mentors in science fairs are fortunate indeed to know Austin.

September 16, 2014 marked the 50^th anniversary of the ratification of the Columbia River Treaty. It also triggered the beginning of a ten-year period for renegotiation for which we are now in the middle of the second year. As negotiations continue to evolve, I will provide ongoing analysis of the treaty process. In this, our first post on the topic, I offer a historical review of how we got to where we are today.

The ~2,000 km long Columbia River begins in British Columbia’s Rocky Mountains and stretches through Washington before reaching the Pacific Ocean northwest of Portland, Oregon. Its drainage basin (including the rivers that flow into and join with it) includes parts of British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. That’s an area of about 670,000 square kilometres which is greater than the size of Alberta.

The Columbia River has played a pivotal role in the economic development of British Columbia and it all began in the 1930s. During that time, the United States realized that it could harness the Columbia by damming it; it could then use the river for power generation, flood control, channel navigation and irrigation. The United States quickly realized, however, that to truly maximize the potential of the river — and to truly be able to control the possibility of severe flooding — it would also need to harness the river on the Canadian side. This need to enter into transboundary cooperation was underscored when a 1948 flood caused extensive damage from Trail, British Columbia to Astoria, Oregon, completely destroying Vanport, Oregon’s second largest city in a day. Sixteen years later, in 1964, the Columbia River Treaty was formally ratified, allowing for the development and operation of dams in British Columbia and thereby creating power and providing flood control for both Canada and the United States.

After the treaty was signed, British Columbia built three dams that have been continuously used to provide flood management and electrical generation (through hydropower) both in British Columbia and the United States. In return for the construction and extended reciprocal use of these dams, British Columbia receives, from the United States, an annual Canadian Entitlement now valued at between $250 and $350 million. As a result, electricity generated downstream, in the United States, provides nearly half of the city of Los Angeles’ electricity, while water from the dam system irrigates more than 7.3 million acres of previously non-arable land. In addition to the benefits provided to the United States and our own Canadian Entitlement, the Columbia River Basin now provides approximately half of the power generation capacity of British Columbia. So even without knowing it, each and every one of us continues to be affected daily by the 1964 Columbia River Treaty every time we turn on the lights or our televisions.

It’s pretty clear how British Columbia benefits from the treaty: we get flood control, we get electricity, and we get an annual payment from the United States. For all of its benefits, however, it’s important to consider how the treaty impacts our province. Treaty dams flood almost 600 square kilometres of bottomland in British Columbia and the flooding affected residents of areas that were either flooded or were near the flooding. Furthermore, much of the land impacted is of cultural and titular importance to local First Nations.

In an effort to implement the treaty in a short amount of time, the British Columbia government did not substantively consider the impacts of altering the natural flow of the river. The result of this lack of consideration has meant that the people of the Columbia River basin have neither had much say in the development of the river, nor have they seen substantial direct economic benefits to their communities. This lack of consideration also extended to environmental issues, which, in the 1950s and 60s, were not of paramount importance during the negotiations. The use of British Columbia land, through the treaty, does not identify ecosystem considerations; it does not account for the potential implications of climate change; nor does it include mechanisms that allow for adaptation according to changing environmental, economic and regional conditions. Agriculture — in and around the Columbia River — has been required to change. Local ecosystems have shifted. Fish populations that previously used the river have disappeared or altered their activities. Although we have not “destroyed” the Columbia River basin, we have certainly had an impact on it.

In 1995 the Columbia Basin Trust was set up as after residents, including local government officials and First Nations, of the Columbia Basin approached the British Columbia Government with a request (as taken from the Columbia Basin Trust website):

1. funds be allocated to the region, representing a fair share of the ongoing benefits being realized outside of the Basin as a result of the Columbia Basin Trust;
2. a regional organization, governed by a board of Basin residents, be created to manage those funds.

As noted above, we are currently in the middle of the second year of a ten-year period of renegotiation. Both the United States and Canada have set up review committees to examine the current treaty and its effects. Both committees have advised that each country would substantially benefit from the continuation of the treaty. The issue becomes more complicated when the committees consider the costs and benefits for each jurisdiction. For example, the United States asserts that Canada is currently receiving more than its fair share of entitlements, while British Columbia believes that intangible benefits to the United States from our own water management are not currently accounted for under the treaty. Moreover, while both parties agree that accommodating environmental factors is a high priority, recommendations on the process for their accommodation vary. One thing that is certain, the negotiation process will ultimately play an important role in deciding the energy future of British Columbia.

Ultimately, the Columbia River Treaty renegotiation offers the potential for British Columbia to continue to play a major role in the energy sector of the Pacific Southwest. Furthermore, it gives British Columbia the opportunity to position itself as a leader in sustainable energy production and transnational energy cooperation.

If you are interested in further information, please consider reading the details of the regional recommendations from the United States and the recommendations from British Columbia. The province of British Columbia also provides information concerning negotiations on an ongoing basis.

On August 8th, it was my distinct honour to participate in the welcome ceremony and opening of the Oak Bay First Annual Arts and Culture Festival. It was the first cultural canoe welcoming ceremony to take place in Oak Bay in over a century. I was part of the canoe entourage that included paddlers from the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations, a student from Oak Bay High School and local politicians. We paddled from Oak Bay Marina to Willows Beach, where we were greeted upon arrival and invited onto the beach by Chief Ron Sam and Songhees Elders.

This was definitely a highlight of my two years as an MLA and I was profoundly humbled by the significance of the event. It brought home to me the importance of honouring and celebrating our indigenous history. In his remarks, Chief Sam told us it was an emotional day for him and those in attendance were also deeply moved. We were fortunate to bear witness to Elder Joan Morris presenting a blanket to the Acting Mayor of Oak Bay, Kevin Murdoch. The First Nations dance performances were inspiring and, even as the rain came, the crowd was appreciative.

The event kicked off the week-long festival to celebrate our vibrant arts and culture community. Thanks to the organizers as well as Oak Bay Arts Laureate Barbara Adams who did such a wonderful job and I sincerely thank them for inviting me to participate.