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Province launches secure care for people with brain injury, mental illness, severe addiction

The Province is taking action to make sure people with long-term concurrent mental-health and addiction challenges get secure and dignified care by opening highly secure facilities for people under the Mental Health Act throughout the province, as well as secure treatment within BC Corrections.
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Province commits to early pensions for wildfire fighters

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Agriculture and Food

B.C. farmers getting more support to grow food using tech

B.C. farmers are getting help with adopting new labour-saving technologies that will enhance their profitability, productivity and efficiency, while helping to improve food security in the province.
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B.C. strengthens tree-fruit sector, protects growers, workers

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Attorney General

Nominations open for King’s Counsel designation

Nominations for the honorary designation of King’s Counsel (KC) for 2024 will open on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024.
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Provincial court to use Cowichan Tribes laws for child and family services

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Children and Family Development

Sts’ailes, Canada and B.C. celebrate coordination agreement to support child and family services

From Indigenous Services Canada: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/sts-ailes-canada-and-b-c-celebrate-coordination-agreement-to-support-child-and-family-services-833129120.html
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Province takes new direction for vulnerable children, families

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Citizens' Services

Government collaboration will further enhance cybersecurity

As part of British Columbia’s ongoing work to protect government information systems, the Province is entering an agreement with the Government of Canada to enhance collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre).
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High-speed internet service available on Digby Island

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Education and Child Care

More classrooms coming for Surrey elementary students

Families in Surrey will have 915 more elementary seats in their community as part of the B.C. government’s plan to expand schools quicker.
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Province approves two more Langley schools, addition opens for students

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Emergency Management and Climate Readiness

Public notifications and evacuation route planning will strengthen community safety

Strengthening community resilience through emergency preparedness projects" />

To help keep people safe and informed during emergencies, the Province is providing funding to communities in B.C. to improve planning for emergency evacuation routes and public notifications.
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Province supports search-and-rescue teams for a safer backcountry

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Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation

B.C. powering growth in the Fraser Valley with clean electricity

BC Hydro will construct approximately $1 billion worth of capital projects in Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission, Hope and Harrison Hot Springs over the next decade to upgrade and expand the electricity grid to provide clean power for homes, businesses and growing transportation needs.
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B.C. cuts harmful methane emissions from oil and gas sector

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Environment and Climate Change Strategy

More than $89 million invested in clean economy infrastructure projects across British Columbia

Province acquires land to expand Okanagan Lake Park

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Finance

Province commits to early pensions for wildfire fighters

B.C. is negotiating earlier pensions for wildland firefighters helping align their benefits with those of other public-safety occupations while they protect communities from increasingly challenging wildfire activity.
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Enhanced support available for intimate partner, sexual violence survivors

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Forests

Province commits to early pensions for wildfire fighters

B.C. is negotiating earlier pensions for wildland firefighters helping align their benefits with those of other public-safety occupations while they protect communities from increasingly challenging wildfire activity.
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Sustainable forest-sector manufacturing jobs coming

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Health

Upgraded patient care areas opening at Royal Inland Hospital

Patients in Kamloops now have improved access to services as upgrades at the Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) are complete, including enhancements to the post-anesthetic recovery (PAR) unit, pediatric unit and ambulance stretcher bays.
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New long-term care home coming to Squamish

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Housing

More than 150 new rental homes coming to Victoria

Families, seniors and individuals in Victoria with low to moderate incomes are moving into 97 new rental homes with the opening of Michigan Square, while another 58 homes for earners with middle incomes are on the way through new BC Builds projects.
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More than 1,600 new homes on the way for Indigenous people

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Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation

Coastal First Nations, B.C. renew commitment to work together on coastal sustainability, tourism, economic development

The Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative (CFN) and the Government of British Columbia are strengthening their decades-long relationship by renewing their commitment to work together through a reconciliation agreement that builds off the success of their 2009 reconciliation protocol and 2020 Pathway to Reconciliation memorandum of understanding (MOU), to continue to benefit all those who live on the north and central coast.
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Vancouver Island Nations will have safer community access roads

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Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat

Outstanding individuals honoured with Coronation Medal

The King Charles III Coronation Medal was awarded to outstanding individuals in British Columbia during a ceremony with the lieutenant governor.
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35 years of excellence: 12 outstanding individuals honoured

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Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation

Sustainable forest-sector manufacturing jobs coming

New support for forest-sector manufacturers throughout the province will create jobs, strengthen local economies and promote the transition to high-value, made-in-B.C. forestry products.
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New manufacturing jobs coming to Lower Mainland

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Labour

Flush toilets coming to B.C. construction sites

Construction workers can soon say goodbye to unsanitary portable toilets on most construction sites and say hello to cleaner flush toilets.
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Income protection options expanded for child actors

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Mental Health and Addictions

Province launches secure care for people with brain injury, mental illness, severe addiction

The Province is taking action to make sure people with long-term concurrent mental-health and addiction challenges get secure and dignified care by opening highly secure facilities for people under the Mental Health Act throughout the province, as well as secure treatment within BC Corrections.
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Indigenous people getting more access to treatment, recovery

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Municipal Affairs

More than $89 million invested in clean economy infrastructure projects across British Columbia

Water infrastructure upgrades across British Columbia

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Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills

More student housing opens in Castlegar, Nelson

Selkirk College students now have access to new on-campus housing at Castlegar and Nelson-Silver King campuses.
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More health-profession students will train at new UBC facility in Surrey

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Public Safety and Solicitor General

Province launches secure care for people with brain injury, mental illness, severe addiction

The Province is taking action to make sure people with long-term concurrent mental-health and addiction challenges get secure and dignified care by opening highly secure facilities for people under the Mental Health Act throughout the province, as well as secure treatment within BC Corrections.
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Early intervention program launching to keep people safe in North Shore communities

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Social Development and Poverty Reduction

Government taking action to help people out of poverty

People facing complex barriers will have better access to employment opportunities with the launch of wraparound services that support the most vulnerable on their path to employment readiness.
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Community funding boost makes more free, healthy food available

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Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport

People in British Columbia honoured for dedication to service

Eighteen people in British Columbia are being honoured with the Province’s Medal of Good Citizenship for their extraordinary contributions to their communities.
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Province provides updates for FIFA World Cup 26

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Transportation and Infrastructure

Hundreds of new homes, amenities near transit coming to Surrey

Hundreds of new homes and space for amenities such as grocery stores and child care near transit are coming soon as plans for the future site of the Surrey Langley SkyTrain project move forward.
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Riding, rolling, strolling toward healthier communities

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Water, Land and Resource Stewardship

Safety prioritized as water begins to overflow Chilcotin River landslide

Water has begun to overflow the landslide blocking the Chilcotin River near Farwell Canyon.
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Updates to management plan provide certainty for Sunshine Coast dock owners

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ARCHIVED: Natural Gas Development

FACTSHEET: B.C.'s water protected by regulations and oversight

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ARCHIVED: Natural Gas Development

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ARCHIVED: Natural Gas Development Note: This News Release has been archived - the Ministry no longer exists

FACTSHEET: B.C.'s water protected by regulations and oversight

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Lindsay Byers

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British Columbia has a stringent process in place before the natural gas industry can use water for exploration purposes.

The BC Oil and Gas Commission has many measures in place to protect water. All water applications go through a thorough review process. Applications can only be approved if water flows will be maintained and the environment is protected.

Experts from the BC Oil and Gas Commission review each and every water request. All hydrologic and aquatic implications are considered to ensure water is protected for communities and ecosystems.

Facts:

• Water use can be granted through short-term permits for up to two years or longer-term licenses. A stringent review process is conducted for both. Companies are legally required to report out on the water they use.
• Based on 2015 statistics, the oil and natural gas industry uses less than 0.03 percent of the mean annual run off from river basins in northeast B.C. - the amount of water that flows through rivers and lakes during the year.
• The BC Oil and Gas Commission has the authority to suspend water permits during times of low stream flow. This is a proactive measure to ensure water resources remain protected.
• British Columbia also has strong regulations to protect water from resource development, including hydraulic fracturing. There has never been a reported incident of groundwater contamination as a result of hydraulic fracturing within British Columbia.
• The typical range for a potable water well for domestic purposes in northeast B.C. is between 18 and 150 metres underground. The depth of an oil and gas producing zone occurs as deep as 3,500 m below surface. When wells are drilled in B.C., they are double-lined with cement and steel to a depth of at least 600 metres and below any fresh water sources. This provides protection for the environment, isolating the hydraulic fracturing process from soil and drinking water sources. There are also impermeable layers of rock and soil between a potable water zone and the producing hydrocarbon zone. This provides natural, pre-existing protection from fluid migration.
• British Columbia was the first province in Canada to regulate the mandatory disclosure of ingredients used in the hydraulic fracturing process. The online registry, found at FracFocus.ca, provides a transparent accounting of each well drilled and includes water data.
• In 2016 the Province of British Columbia implemented a new Water Sustainability Act to respond to current and future pressures on fresh water - including groundwater - and position British Columbia as a leader in water stewardship. This new act modernizes B.C.'s laws to regulate groundwater use and strengthen province-wide water management.
• For more information and statistics, the BC Oil and Gas Commission has a Water Information Portal available online at https://www.bcogc.ca/public-zone/water-information.