Best of BC

The magnificent west coast of Canada is famous for its mild climate with some of the warmest weather in Canada. The weather of BC differs from marine to continental and is influenced by its position east of the relatively warm Pacific Ocean, the north-south location of its huge mountain chains, the westerly winds and BC’s northerly latitude.

The summer months bring a weakening in the west to east air flow in combination with the persistent high pressure off the coast means less rain throughout the province. As a result, summers tend to be dry throughout most of BC. In winter, the province is affected occasionally by much colder, drier air from the Arctic. British Columbia Travel

PEMBERTON, B.C. — “Oh my God, it smells like cows.” And with that comment, as she stepped off the shuttle bus yesterday from one of the dusty festival parking lots, an urban hipster began her three-day Pemberton Festival experience. Indeed, there are many cows in this lush valley, but their “essence” was quickly replaced with the scent of young humanity: beer, barbecue and B.C. Bud.

The giant, inaugural music festival, featuring international acts such as Coldplay (one of the festival’s producers), Jay-Z and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, has invaded the quiet village of Pemberton, about 150 kilometres north of Vancouver. The population of slightly more than 2,000 has swelled to about 40,000 this weekend, wreaking havoc on the roads - and at the festival site.
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A senior Canadian border official says traffic at the Canada-U.S. border will be no busier during the 2010 Winter Olympics than a summer Saturday, raising concerns that the Canadian government isn’t taking border issues around the Games seriously.

New technologies similar to what the U.S. is already implementing will be in place on the Canadian side by Games time, said Blake Delgaty, the Pacific Regional Director for the Canadian Border Services Agency.
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The streets of Canadian cities are crowded with bicycles, scooters, mopeds and even bicycle-powered taxis, as well as the streams of traditionally powered cars. What we seldom see are small, low-speed, electrically powered vehicles.

That should change, as more provinces encourage these environmentally friendly vehicles to operate on city streets. Just yesterday, Quebec began a three-year pilot project that will permit two models of slow-speed electric vehicles to travel on roads that have speed limits under 50 kilometres per hour. British Columbia recently changed its laws to let electric cars operate on any road in the province with speed limits of 40 kilometres an hour or less. Manitoba will soon introduce legislation to encourage low-speed electric cars, and other provinces are expected to follow suit.

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VANCOUVER — A gruesome discovery awaits the B.C. Conservation Officer Service near a small island off B.C.’s central coast.

Officers were told by a witness last week that staff at the Lagoon Cove Marina on Cracroft Island had shot a young grizzly bear, dragged its carcass down to a boat, tied a few car batteries around its neck and threw it overboard.

Baden Cross, a researcher with the Valhalla Wilderness Society who is often contracted by the government to map bear-human conflict zones, was canoeing with his wife nearby when he heard the shot fired at the marina.
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Western Canada Bureau Chief

Vancouver–Last August, a 12-year-old girl found a sneaker on the beach and, intrigued at her discovery, she sat down, untied the laces and out fell the remains of a human foot.

She was likely the last person in British Columbia to pick up a shoe along the shoreline without fearing what they would find.

Since then, four other feet have washed ashore. What was thought to be a sixth foot was found on the shores of Vancouver Island on Wednesday, but investigators quickly discovered it was a hoax, a skeletonized animal paw, packed with seaweed and stuffed inside a sock and a running shoe.
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