BCBusiness Report Card: Forests, fish and all that good B.C. stuff

We assess how different people, things and, of course, businesses fared this week

Sometimes in this column (which we know you’ve been eagerly anticipating), we spread the grading out a bit throughout Canada. 

This is BCBusiness, so we focus on the country’s westernmost province, but it’s not always possible to ignore issues of nationwide importance.

Which is why, dear reader, you should be so thrilled with this week’s edition. Not only is it all-B.C., but it’s earned, baby. There wasn’t even anything non-B.C. that ended up on the cutting-room floor.

Nope, it’s all British Columbia and, best of all, it’s everything this province is known for. We’ve got forests, fisheries, labour negotiations and, of course, everyone’s favourite local telecom, Telus.

Here’s what made the grade (and what didn’t) this week.

Headlines that write themselves

Grade: A

A retired fisherman winning a $60-million lottery haul? That’s a jackpot for the headline writers, too.

“Retired British Columbia fisherman nets $60M lottery jackpot” —Toronto Star

“Retired Richmond Fisherman Reels in Record-Breaking Lotto Max Haul” —BC Lottery Corp.

Honestly, it’s a bit of a shame that every single outlet covering this thing didn’t try to work in a pun of some kind.

“Retired Richmond fisherman wins record $60-million Lotto Max prize” —Vancouver Sun

Really, Vancouver Sun? That’s it? Tough look.

Tension

Grade: B

Oh, man, let’s do it. The BC Teachers’ Federation is ready to rumble in the hopes of getting a new deal done, and the provincial government has apparently offered more than the standard 2-percent raise. 

We’re still waiting for the NDP government to be forced to stickhandle a major misstep (and not fabricated ones like gas prices or the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which they had no real control over).

Could this be it? A teachers’ strike would certainly be bad news for John Horgan and crew, but—at this point at least—it appears pretty unlikely.

Doug McCallum

Grade: B–

Wonder if being an “embattled mayor” is all it’s cracked up to be on TV? Probably not, but the wins must be nice. And the provincial government approving Surrey’s new municipal police force is exactly that for Doug McCallum, who is approximately one vote away from losing power.

Also, the fact that the province is taking some control of the project away from McCallum? Probably a good thing. 

B.C. forests

Grade: C

Just when you were beginning to think that it’s been a relatively good summer for forest fires in the province, this news hits.

Warm weather is slated to stick around, which could mean an extension of the wildfire season. Hopefully it’s not too bad, but one gets the feeling we’ve been let off a little easy so far… 

Telus

Grade: D+

Maybe it doesn’t matter that Telus’s email service has been going through some rather hard times lately. After all, anyone using a telus.net address these days clearly has no qualms about living in the past.

That must have been some damn good email for those who’ve resisted the urge to move until now. Gotta be some upside to getting “Really, @telus.net?” every time you give someone your address.

Fisheries

Grade: D

And while it was a good week for a certain former fisherman listed above, it’s been a tough season for B.C. fishers in general.

Climate change is reportedly the key culprit behind the decline of wild Pacific salmon, and that has to be scary news for those who ply their trade with a net or a rod.