ENVIROFOR NEWS: Fall Session Begins This Week MLAs return to work this week in what will be the longest session in over a year. Premier Christy Clark's government is expected to push the job-creation initiative as the top priority. Other items on the agenda include: Changes to legislation affecting the BC College of Teachers Changes to the Freedom of Information Act (Open Government initiative) Family-first initiatives and a new Family Law Act The appointment of a municipal auditor The reappointment of retired judges to help with capacity issues Click here to view the legislative calendar for the upcoming session. RSS Selection Issue Resolved: Some clients who recently signed up to receive RSS feeds for specific Acts may have noticed that the feeds were also pulling in content relating to other legislation (not selected). This issue has been resolved; however, you will need to sign up to the feeds again.

Case Involving Riparian Areas Regulation Attracts Interest
In July, the court ruled in a case involving the City of Salmon Arm that has attracted provincial attention. The interest is regarding the effectiveness of the provincial Riparian Areas Regulation, the regulation that is intended to protect fish habitat.

Andrew Gage, a staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law, wrote on his organization's website that the court decision, "has confirmed that the province's Riparian Areas Regulation (RAR) by itself provides little legal protection for fish habitat. The RAR is the province's primary legal tool to protect fish habitat from development located immediately next to streams and lakes, and this decision should be very troubling to anyone concerned about the environment and the protection of fish." View the entire article posted by BC Local News.

Forestry Workers Protest Against Continued Exporting of B.C. Raw Logs
Robert Barron, Daily News
Published: Thursday, September 29, 2011
Ladysmith's Don Robertson fears for the future of the province's forest industry if the export of raw logs is allowed to continue.

The retired sawmill worker, who spent much of his career at the Ladysmith mill, was one of hundreds of forestry workers and their supporters who gathered for a march and rally in downtown Nanaimo Wednesday afternoon to protest against raw log exports.

Sponsored by the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada, participants marched from the PPWC union hall on Albert Street to the Dunsmuir Street offices of Western Forest Products, one of the B.C. forest companies that ships raw logs overseas for processing, to hear speeches from union officials and local politicians. Read the full article in the Nanaimo Daily News.

New Unplugged Program Will Recycle Your Unwanted Small Appliances
Got a microwave in your crawl space? Don't know what to do with the broken toasters and kettles clogging your cupboards? Well, worry no longer. Starting October 1, you'll be able to drop off your used or busted appliances for free at more than 100 locations across the province. It's all part of a new Unplugged program designed to protect the environment and divert as many as two million small appliances away from landfills every year.

"I'm a pack rat myself and I can't wait for October 1," joked Shafiq Jamal of the Retail Council of Canada, one of the business participants in the new program. "I've got like three microwaves, a couple of kettles." Read the full Times Colonist article.