While no one can predict the major news of the day, there are a number of stories and issues carrying over into 2024 that will continue to develop. This is no means an exhaustive list, as there are many, many issues to track, but rest assured, those below will be making headlines rolling into the new year.
So, without further ado:
Development in Cranbrook
What does 2024 have in store for the City of Cranbrook in terms of development? Downtown development? Industrial development? Housing development? Infrastructure development?
While much of the province, if not most of the country, faces an affordability crisis, housing is a significant element couched within that challenge.
Off the top of my head, I know there are housing projects in the works, including Wildstone Heights along Echo Field Rd. at the northern end of the Wildstone golf course, while further developments in the Shadow Mountain area on properties east of Highway 95A are also under way.
Two separate multi-storey apartment buildings planned on empty vacant lots have passed through the city’s rezoning process, both of which are proposed by West Urban Developments. However, only one of those projects is currently listed on the company’s website.
Further, there’s the city’s updated housing needs report, which calls for 1,400 units over the next decade, in a mix of housing types from single family, to multi-family residential, along with mix of unit types along the housing continuum.
The city is also waiting on the results of an application to the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund, as the feds have been doling out significant funding to larger urban areas across the country through the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Of course, dovetailing into all of that is the ongoing review of the city’s updated Official Community Plan (OCP), which will help identify and guide development — residential, commercial, industrial, you name it — over the coming decades.
Already, elements of the plan have generated quite the community discussion and feedback, as staff and council work through the review process towards approval set for the spring.
Honourable mention: Over 15 years ago, there was an extremely divisive referendum in Cranbrook, as voters ultimately rejected an ambitious and controversial development plan that would have brought thousands of acres into the municipal fold through the “East Hill” lands. Those same lands are now back on the real estate market for anyone who has a cool $86.5 million to spare.
Teck sale to Glencore
While the Elk Valley coal mines are somewhat geographically removed from Cranbrook, it’s ludicrous to suggest that mining doesn’t impact the city’s economy.
Teck Resources Ltd. is a significant employer in the region, as the coal mines provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs and employment income.
However, the company has announced plans to sell the coal assets to Glencore, following an earlier attempt by the Swiss-based company to acquire the entirety of the Canadian mining giant in a so-called hostile takeover last spring.
While that attempt was rebuffed, both companies came to an agreement in November, as Glencore made a number of commitments, namely to maintain existing employment level, keep a head office in Vancouver with regional offices in Calgary and Sparwood, while also continuing to maintain the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan.
In terms of the financial impact, Glencore is purchasing the coal assets at approximately $9 billion, taking over an operation that generates billions of annual profit.
Case in point, Teck Resources Ltd. reported $6.4 billion in profits from the metallurgical coal assets in the Elk Valley, which produced 21.5 million tonnes, according to the company’s annual report for 2022.
However, there is another element to the Glencore sale that will be interesting to watch…
Transboundary water pollution concerns in the Kootenay watershed
…Water quality issues in the Kootenay watershed has been a long running issue for the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation and environmental advocates.
In particular, the Ktunaxa Nation has been calling for a reference to an entity called an International Joint Commission, which was created out of a 100-year old treaty between Canada and the United States that investigates transboundary water issues and recommends solutions.
The U.S. State Department, Ktunaxa governments based in the United States and Ktunaxa Nation governments in Canada are all on board with a reference to the IJC, however, Canada has yet to make a commitment to the process.
That unwillingness was allegedly attributed to resistance from British Columbia, as provincial government officials had raised concerns about losing autonomy of provincial environmental regulations
However, in recent months, British Columbia has warmed up to an IJC reference, contingent on the IJC’s recognition of the province’s regulatory authority.
Ktunaxa Nation governments, and representatives from Canada and the U.S. met in Cranbrook in early November to continue the conversation.
The issue of water pollution in the Kootenay watershed was specifically addressed by both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden following a bilateral summit in a joint statement, as both leaders committed to reaching an agreement in principle by the end of summer (2023).
Suffice to say, that deadline has been blown.
Honourable mention: As the IJC issue continues to trundle along, both Canada and the United States continue to negotiate a modernized Columbia River Treaty. The decades-old water sharing agreement was created on pillars of flood management and power generation, however, ecosystem function and viewing the Columbia River as one river system has been a new element raised and pursued by Columbia Basin Indigenous Nations.
Politics, politics, politics
British Columbia is heading into an election year.
Yes, voters are heading to the ballot box with the fixed election date set for Oct. 19, as Premier David Eby has repeatedly waved off speculation about calling an early election.
This upcoming contest will be fascinating for a number of reasons.
Firstly, it’s a question of whether the BC NDP have done enough to convince voters they deserve another term in government, given challenges ranging from housing affordability to health care and everything in between?
The BC NDP has enjoyed a majority ever since former premier John Horgan called a snap election in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Prior to that, a confidence and supply agreement with the BC Green Party kept the BC NDP in power in the aftermath of the tightly-contested 2017 election.
On the opposite side of the aisle, things get even more interesting.
BC United has tried to position itself as an alternative to the current government, following a re-band as the former BC Liberal Party, which enjoyed a 16-year run as the province’s ruling party between 2001-2017.
However, the BC Conservative Party is surging, if the polls are to be believed, but we all know polling can be fickle. No doubt, much of that surge is on the back of the federal Conservative Party’s movement in the polls, which is significantly ahead of the other federal parties (more on that later).
For B.C.’s election, what will the campaigns for BC United and the BC Conservative Party look like? How will they be different? What issues and solutions to issues are both parties going to campaign on?
Similar questions for the BC Green Party — while the party had two MLA’s elected in the 2020 contest, there were a number of ridings where the party candidate was the runner up, some closer than others.
Can the BC Greens find a way to flip more ridings (they were close in West Vancouver - Sea to Sky and within striking distance in Nelson-Creston)?
We’ll find out in about 10 months.
Honourable mention: The federal election fixed date is set for 2025 and that’s still a ways away, but the federal Conservative Party is already in campaign mode and the poll results show that it is surging ahead of everyone else. Can the Tories maintain their momentum? Are the Liberals going to be able to do enough to assuage voter anxiety about housing costs and rising unaffordability? Will the NDP maintain its supply agreement until the fixed election date? How will the NDP separate itself as a viable alternative to Liberal governance, given that agreement?