EDITORIAL · BC ELECTION 2026 · THE ENVIRONMENT PLAN

David Eby released his environment plan on a long‑weekend Saturday. Three of its seven promises were announced before, and it pledges to “preserve public access” while his government closes backcountry roads.

The BC NDP released David Eby’s environment plan from Courtenay on Saturday 10 October, the first day of the Thanksgiving long weekend. Set against the government’s own releases, three of its seven promises had already been announced: the 30 by 30 land target in November 2023, the Great Bear Sea marine reserve in May 2026, and the cap on electricity for data centres, which has been law since November 2025. Two put new money into existing programs, and two are new. The plan says 30 by 30 will “preserve public access,” but it names no road, budget or rule. In the valley the Province counted toward 30 per cent in 2023, the Incomappleux, the Ministry of Forests is deactivating the only road in.None of the seven promises is for the people who use the backcountry.

Backcountry Coalition ·

Backcountry Coalition is independent. This article is not authorized by any party or candidate.

The plan has one line for the people who hike, hunt, fish, ride and sled on Crown land. Protecting 30 per cent of the province by 2030, it says, will “preserve public access.” It does not say which roads, who pays or under what rule. Meanwhile the Ministry of Forests is deactivating roads into the backcountry, including the road up a valley the Province has already counted toward that 30 per cent.0102

The rest of the plan is mostly familiar. Of its seven promises, three had already been announced: the 30 by 30 land target dates from a 2023 agreement, the Great Bear Sea marine reserve was announced in May, and the cap on electricity for data centres has been law since November 2025. It was released on the first day of the Thanksgiving long weekend.0103040506

Two of the seven promises are new: the Clean Futures Fund and water rules for AI data centres. Two more put new money into programs that already exist: $30 million a year for the Watershed Security Fund and $50 million for old growth. The ledger below sets each promise beside the date it was first announced, in the government’s own releases.0107

The plan promises that 30 by 30 will “preserve public access.” The Ministry of Forests is deactivating the road up the Incomappleux Valley, and its own notes on that road say the conservancy there means no more forestry.

The plan at a glance

The seven promises under “David Eby’s plan to protect the place we call home,” sorted by what the record shows about each.01

Announced before3 of 7
The 30 by 30 land target (November 2023), the Great Bear Sea marine conservation area reserve (May 2026) and BC Hydro’s cap on power for data centres (law since November 2025).030405
New money, existing program2 of 7
$30 million a year for the Watershed Security Fund, created in 2023, and $50 million to turn old-growth deferrals from 2021 into permanent protection, under a 2020 promise to act on all 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review.070809
New2 of 7
The Clean Futures Fund, starting at $50 million, and water-efficiency standards, public reporting and community engagement for AI data centres.01
For the people who use the backcountry0 of 7
The words road, trail, recreation, backcountry and Crown land do not appear in the release. “Public access” appears once, as one of the things 30 by 30 is supposed to do.01

Section 01The plan came out on the Saturday of a long weekend, two weeks before the vote.

The release on bcndp.ca is dated October 10, 2026, and the party’s releases page lists it with three others that day. The Canadian Press photographed Eby on the bank of the Puntledge River in Courtenay “following an announcement,” on “Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026,” and its campaign roundup began: “Candidates running in this month’s provincial election spent the start of the long weekend on the campaign trail.” Thanksgiving Day is Monday 12 October. Voting day is Saturday 24 October.0106

We think the timing matters. A Saturday release lands in the thinnest news cycle of the week, and the Saturday of a holiday weekend lands in the thinnest of the year. The Canadian Press summed up the NDP’s day in two sentences, about water-use standards for AI data centres and $30 million a year for the watershed fund. By Saturday night, none of the outlets we checked had set the plan’s promises against the government’s record.06

The Premier’s own post that afternoon was about data centres’ water use. It ended: “To build B.C. strong, we have to protect the place we call home.”10

That evening the BC Green leader, Emily Lowan, made the case that the plan was mostly re-announcement. Her post is the lead for this piece, and every claim in it is tested against primary sources below.11

“Today the Premier revealed his environmental platform: re-announcing a marine plan signed two years ago, a land target from 2023 and a data centre power cap that’s already in force.

What he didn’t say, is that his own government admits B.C. will miss its climate targets.”

“His $50 million for old growth, shared with mill retooling, comes six years after he promised to implement every recommendation of the Old Growth Strategic Review, and they’re still not implemented and giant trees continue to fall.”

BC Green PartyEmily Lowan · BC Green leader · Bluesky, 10 October 2026

Section 02New or recycled? Each promise beside the date it was first announced.

The middle column is the plan’s own wording. The third column gives the earliest government announcement we found for the same thing, with its date. Lowan’s three examples check out against the record, with one correction on the marine plan, which is explained below the table.

The seven promises, in the order the release lists them
ItemPlatform wordingFirst announcedStatus
30 by 30 land target “Partnering with Prime Minister Carney to protect 30% of B.C.’s land by 2030 to conserve the environment, protect wildlife habitat, and preserve public access.”01 3 Nov 2023: Tripartite Framework Agreement with Canada and the First Nations Leadership Council. The Province was already citing the goal in January 2023.0312 Re-announced. “Preserve public access” is new wording, and the agreement does not use the words recreation, public access or roads.
Northwest corridor “The Northwest Critical Conservation Corridor is poised to add protections to an area equivalent to 12,000 Stanley Parks, while enabling responsible natural resource development.”01 13 Nov 2025: referred by the Prime Minister to the federal Major Projects Office.13 A federal project, announced eleven months ago. The federal project page gives no boundary, Crown-land share or access rule.
Watershed Security Fund “$30 million per year to provide the BC Watershed Security Fund with sustainable, long-term funding.”01 6 Mar 2023: $100 million into the fund, building on $30 million in Budget 2022.07 New money for an existing fund.
Clean Futures Fund “Dedicating a portion of provincial revenue from new oil and gas development to fund climate action programs … starting with an investment of $50 million.”01 No earlier announcement found. New.
Data-centre power cap “Maintaining BC Hydro’s firm limit on the amount of electricity available for new data centres.”01 20 Oct 2025: Bill 31 tabled, with 300 MW for AI and 100 MW for data centres. Royal assent on 27 Nov 2025; competitive process opened on 30 Jan 2026.0514 Already in force. The plan’s own verb is “maintaining.”
Data-centre water rules “Setting strict new water-efficiency standards, mandated public reporting of water use, and requiring engagement with local communities on conservation and drought planning.”01 No earlier announcement found. New.
Great Bear Sea “Finalizing the new, historic National Marine Conservation Area Reserve in the Great Bear Sea, announced earlier this year.”01 22 May 2026: reserve agreement announced. It follows the network action plan of 5 Feb 2023 and the Great Bear Sea PFP signed on 25 Jun 2024.04 Re-announced. The release itself says “announced earlier this year.”
Old growth “$50 million to convert old-growth deferrals of the most irreplaceable and rarest forests into permanent protections, while supporting mills to retrofit and make more value-added products with second growth.”01 Oct 2020: party promise to “act on all 14 recommendations”; 2 Nov 2021: deferrals proposed on 2.6 million hectares.0908 New money for a six-year-old promise. One $50 million figure covers both the forests and the mills.

The one line in the plan for the people who use the backcountry is “preserve public access.” The ledger shows nothing behind it: no road, no budget and no rule.

Lowan’s first two examples match the record exactly. The 30 by 30 target was set in the tripartite agreement of 3 November 2023. The data-centre limit is in the Energy Statutes Amendment Act, which received royal assent on 27 November 2025, and BC Hydro has already taken 15 applications for close to 800 megawatts under it. BC Hydro now says that “With a provincial election having been called, the 2026 Call for Demand timeline has been extended.”030514

On the marine plan, the record is more precise than her post. The marine agreement signed two years ago is the Great Bear Sea Project Finance for Permanence, announced as signed on 25 June 2024. The platform does not re-announce that plan. It re-announces the national marine conservation area reserve, which the Province, Canada and six coastal First Nations announced on 22 May 2026, and the release itself says it was “announced earlier this year.” Either way, the promise is already on the books.0401

The Northwest Critical Conservation Corridor is the plan’s largest number, and it is a federal project. Prime Minister Mark Carney referred it to the Major Projects Office on 13 November 2025, describing a corridor that “sits atop vast deposits of critical minerals” and would create “a conservation area the size of Greece.” Measured with the Province’s own yardstick, which made a 58,654-hectare conservancy “approximately the size of 150 Stanley Parks,” 12,000 Stanley Parks is about 4.7 million hectares, or about 47,000 square kilometres. The federal project page names mines, LNG and a transmission line, and it gives no boundary, no Crown-land share and no rule on who may travel there. The Narwhal asked where the conservation half would be, and wrote: “We don’t know.”1312

Lowan also wrote that the government admits it will miss its climate targets. Its own report says so. The 2025 Climate Change Accountability Report, released on 3 December 2025, states that “the current suite of climate policies does not put the Province on track to meet its 2030 targets,” and projects that implemented policies achieve “35% of the 2030 GHG reduction target.” The Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions, Adrian Dix, wrote in the same report: “We recognize that our current approach won’t take us all the way to our climate goals.” The plan sets no new target and gives no date.1501

Section 03Six years of announcements, and the access record beside them.

Read down the timeline. The entries marked in orange are the roads and trails closed or given up under the same government in the same years.

  1. 11 Sep 2020

    The Old Growth Strategic Review is released with 14 recommendations, and harvesting is deferred in nine areas totalling 352,739 hectares.16

  2. October 2020

    During the election campaign, the BC NDP commits to “act on all 14 recommendations,” and John Horgan promises to implement “the report in its totality.” Eby is re-elected as part of that government.0917

  3. 2 Nov 2021

    The Province proposes deferrals on 2.6 million hectares of at-risk old growth and calls them “a temporary measure.”08

  4. 25 Jan 2023

    The Incomappleux Conservancy is created, with more than 58,000 hectares, and the Province says it is “contributing to our goal of protecting 30% of the province by 2030.”12

  5. 5 Feb 2023

    The Great Bear Sea marine protected area network action plan is endorsed at IMPAC5 in Vancouver.04

  6. 6 Mar 2023

    $100 million goes into the Watershed Security Fund.07

  7. 3 Nov 2023

    The tripartite nature agreement sets the goal of protecting 30% of B.C.’s land by 2030.03

  8. 25 Jun 2024

    The Great Bear Sea Project Finance for Permanence is signed, with $60 million from the Province.04

  9. April 2025

    The Ministry of Forests confirms that the Incomappleux FSR will be deactivated, and that the conservancy and the Part 13 designation “ensure that there will be no further forestry activities in the valley.”02

  10. 8 May 2025

    Minister Randene Neill tells the House: “The very last thing we’re going to do is turn the back country off from folks who love to use it.”18

  11. 20 Oct 2025

    Bill 31 is tabled to cap electricity for AI and data centres. It receives royal assent on 27 November.05

  12. 13 Nov 2025

    The Prime Minister refers the Northwest Critical Conservation Corridor to the Major Projects Office.13

  13. 1 Dec 2025

    The Deputy Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship writes that the Province is “unable to fund or manage” 67 kilometres of the Columbia & Western rail trail.19

  14. 3 Dec 2025

    The Climate Change Accountability Report says current policy does not put B.C. on track for its 2030 targets.15

  15. 6 Feb 2026

    The Ministry of Environment and Parks announces it will decommission 67 kilometres of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail near Princeton, at an estimated $20 million.20

  16. 21 May 2026

    The Outdoor Recreation Strategy, part of the Province’s Look West plan, says recreation access “depends heavily on resource roads” (Target 8).21

  17. 22 May 2026

    A national marine conservation area reserve in the Great Bear Sea is announced.04

  18. 22 Jul 2026

    Walker FSR, the British Columbia road to Kakwa Park, is closed near kilometre 52 over unsafe bridges.22

  19. 22 Sep 2026

    On the Rady Creek road near Trout Lake, a ministry spokesperson says: “At this time, the decision for deactivation is final.” The road closes on 1 November.23

  20. 10 Oct 2026

    The BC NDP’s environment plan promises that 30 by 30 will “preserve public access.”01

Section 04Old growth: a promise to act on all 14 recommendations in 2020, and $50 million in 2026 shared with mills.

The Old Growth Strategic Review, A New Future for Old Forests, went to the Province on 30 April 2020 with 14 recommendations, and it was published on 11 September 2020. Ten days after it was published, an election was called. During that campaign the NDP made what The Tyee called “a more detailed commitment” to “act on all 14 recommendations,” and John Horgan promised to implement “the report in its totality.” Eby had been Horgan’s Attorney General since 2017, and after the 2020 election he stayed in that cabinet and took on housing as well.160917

The deferrals that followed were described from the start as temporary. On 2 November 2021 the Province proposed deferring harvest within 2.6 million hectares, and called deferrals “a temporary measure” while a new approach was developed. In October 2023 it created a $300 million Conservation Financing Mechanism, $150 million of it from the Province, to accelerate old-growth protection “as recommended by the Old Growth Strategic Review.”0824

Promised · October 2020

“Act on all 14 recommendations” and implement “the report in its totality.”09

Delivered by 2026

Deferrals the Province itself calls temporary, a $150 million provincial contribution to a conservation fund in 2023, and now one $50 million line that also covers mill retrofits.082401

The 2026 promise is a single sentence: “$50 million to convert old-growth deferrals of the most irreplaceable and rarest forests into permanent protections, while supporting mills to retrofit and make more value-added products with second growth.” It does not say how the $50 million is divided between the forests and the mills, how many hectares it would protect, or by when. Six years after the promise to act on all fourteen recommendations, the plan does not report how many have been completed.01

Section 05“Preserve public access” is three words in the plan. The roads into the backcountry are closing under the same government.

The plan’s only line for the people who hike, hunt, fish, ride and sled on Crown land is the promise that 30 by 30 will “preserve public access.” It names no road, no budget and no rule. The tripartite agreement that sets the 30 per cent target does not contain the words recreation, public access, hunting, motorized or roads.0103

The clearest test of that promise is a valley the Province has already counted toward 30 by 30. In January 2023 the Premier announced the Incomappleux Conservancy, southeast of Revelstoke, as “contributing to our goal of protecting 30% of the province by 2030.” In April 2025 the Ministry of Forests explained why it would deactivate the road up the same valley.1202

“In 2023, the upper part of the valley was turned into a Conservancy under the Park Act, and the lower part of the valley has been specified as a designated area under Part 13 of the Forest Act. … The FSR’s and the tributary roads were planned for deactivation regardless of these recent developments, but the creation of the conservancy and the Part 13 designation ensure that there will be no further forestry activities in the valley. … Once an FSR is no longer required for industrial use, it is deactivated.”

Ministry of Forests · FAQ, Incomappleux Forest Service Road Deactivation · April 2025

The ministry says the road was slated for deactivation before the conservancy existed, and it gives safety and the lack of maintenance money as the reasons. Its own notes also set out the mechanism that matters for 30 by 30. Forest service roads are kept up for industry, protection ends the industry, and once a road is “no longer required for industrial use, it is deactivated.” The same document says that “FSR’s are designed and built for industrial use, not public access,” and that the district would go ahead “regardless of if an application is made under the Land Act.” A public land users’ group says the road is “the only ground-access to homes, private property, mineral tenures, and recreation areas” in the valley.0225

The plan does not say how 30 by 30 would keep access to protected land open when the roads into it are kept up for an industry that protection removes. That is the gap behind “preserve public access.” The government’s own recreation strategy describes the same gap. Target 8 of Look West: B.C.’s Outdoor Recreation Strategy calls for “a modernized framework for high-value recreation access and resource roads,” because “the industrial base that has historically funded road maintenance continues to shrink.” The strategy was published in May, Target 8 names no lead ministry, budget or date, and the plan does not mention it.2101

Closing under the same government

Each entry comes from the Province’s own notices, letters and releases. Each is set out with its documents in the piece linked.

Rady Creek FSRTrout Lake · closes 1 Nov
“At this time, the decision for deactivation is final,” a ministry spokesperson told CBC News on 22 September.23 Our fact check
Incomappleux FSRRevelstoke · deactivation
The road up the valley the Province counted toward 30 per cent, deactivated because “there is no future industrial access need.”02 The riding
Fourteen roads in Kootenay CentralSince 2020
All or part of fourteen forest service roads in Brittny Anderson’s riding closed, posted for removal or retired, Sitkum Creek and Heights among them.26 The fourteen roads
Walker FSRKakwa Park · since 22 Jul
The British Columbia road to Kakwa Park, closed near kilometre 52 “due to unsafe bridges.”22 Walker FSR
Kettle Valley Rail TrailPrinceton · 67 km
To be decommissioned at an estimated $20 million, mostly federal disaster money.20 The KVR
Columbia & Western rail trailChristina Lake · 67 km
“Currently, the Province is unable to fund or manage the non-status corridor,” the Deputy Minister wrote on 1 December 2025.19 The C&W

In May 2025 the minister responsible for Crown land told the House: “The very last thing we’re going to do is turn the back country off from folks who love to use it.” Since she said it, the Province has written that it is unable to fund or manage the Columbia & Western, announced the decommissioning of the Kettle Valley section, closed Walker FSR and declared the Rady Creek deactivation final.1819202223

None of the BC NDP’s 33 campaign releases to 8 October mentions a forest service road, a resource road, outdoor recreation, the backcountry, Crown land or Look West, and the environment plan of 10 October does not either.27

Section 06The MLA whose riding lost fourteen forest roads posted the promise to “preserve public access.”

Brittny Anderson, the BC NDP candidate in Kootenay Central and the Minister of State for Local Governments and Rural Communities, shared the release on her Instagram account, brittny.d.anderson, on 10 October.28

Posted · 10 October 2026

A plan that says 30 by 30 will “preserve public access.”2801

Her riding · since 2020

All or part of fourteen forest service roads closed, posted for removal or retired, and none of them raised in her 68 speaking turns in this Parliament.2628

Eleven opposition MLAs raised forest roads and backcountry access in the House 30 times in the same Parliament. The Incomappleux and Rady Creek roads are in the next riding, Columbia River-Revelstoke, and Sitkum Creek is in hers.25 Posting “preserve public access” costs nothing. Raising one of the fourteen roads in the House would have cost a speaking turn, and she has not used one on them.2826

Instagram, Facebook and X need a sign-in, so other candidates’ posts could not be checked. On Bluesky, the party’s account, the caucus account and Brittny Anderson’s account carried no post of it on 10 October; the Premier posted about the plan himself.10

Section 07What we’d ask him.

Each of these questions could be answered with a date or a dollar figure. They belong with the Premier and with every BC NDP candidate who shares the plan.

What does “preserve public access” mean, in writing?Which roads into land protected for 30 by 30 will stay open, who will pay to maintain them, and under what law?

Will deactivations stop until Target 8 exists?The government’s own strategy says recreation access depends on resource roads that industry no longer pays for. It names no lead ministry, budget or date for the fix.

Will Rady Creek and the Incomappleux be paused?One closes on 1 November. The other runs up a valley the Province counted toward 30 per cent.

How many of the 14 old-growth recommendations are complete?And how much of the $50 million goes to forests rather than mills?

Where are the Northwest corridor’s boundaries, and what access rules will apply?The plan counts 12,000 Stanley Parks of it. The federal project page shows no map and no access rule.

The letter linked below asks the candidates of the party you choose where they stand on reasonable public access to public land. It opens in your own mail app and sends from your own address.

Images on this page and in the cards below are credited in the sources.29

The plan promises to “preserve public access.” The roads are closing now, and the plan names none of them.

Share this story

Six images carrying the story on their own — the Saturday release, the ledger, the old-growth promise, the Incomappleux, the roads and the questions. Made to be posted. Background photograph: Mount Ida in Kakwa Park by Jagged Ridge Imaging (John Scurlock), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

Suggested caption

David Eby released his environment plan on a long-weekend Saturday. Three of its seven promises were announced before, and it pledges to “preserve public access” while his government closes backcountry roads.

The BC NDP released the plan from Courtenay on Saturday 10 October, the first day of the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Already announced: the 30 by 30 land target (November 2023), the Great Bear Sea marine reserve (May 2026) and the cap on power for data centres (law since November 2025). Two promises add money to existing programs, and two are new.

The plan says 30 by 30 will “preserve public access.” It names no road, budget or rule.

In 2023 the Province counted the Incomappleux Valley toward 30 per cent. In 2025 the Ministry of Forests confirmed it is deactivating the road up the valley, and wrote: “Once an FSR is no longer required for industrial use, it is deactivated.”

Rady Creek closes for good on 1 November. Walker FSR has been barricaded since July. The Province says it is “unable to fund or manage” 67 km of the Columbia & Western.

Ask your candidates what “preserve public access” means, which roads stay open, and who pays.

Backcountry Coalition is independent. This article is not authorized by any party or candidate.

backcountry.cx/editorials/eby-recycled-environment-plan/

#BCpoli #BCElection #PublicLand #30by30 #Backcountry

Sources

  1. ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩BC NDP, “Eby’s plan protects B.C.’s natural spaces, funds climate action,” bcndp.ca release dated October 10, 2026, dateline Courtenay — read on bcndp.ca on 10 October 2026. Subhead: “Conservatives running climate change denying candidates, would put North Coast tanker ban at risk.” The seven commitments under “David Eby’s plan to protect the place we call home” are quoted in the ledger in their own words. The release also says the party “passed legislation to regulate electricity use by AI data centres and ban cryptocurrency mining companies from connecting to the hydro grid” and created “the BC Watershed Security Fund.” The words road, trail, recreation, backcountry, Crown, hunting, snowmobile and Look West do not occur in it; “access” occurs once, in “preserve public access.” The party’s releases index lists it among four releases dated 10 October. https://www.bcndp.ca/releases/ebys-plan-protects-bcs-natural-spaces-funds-climate-action
  2. ↩↩↩↩↩Ministry of Forests, “Frequently Asked Questions – Incomappleux Forest Service Road Deactivation,” April 2025, file 11250-30/3397. Q1: “In 2023, the upper part of the valley was turned into a Conservancy under the Park Act, and the lower part of the valley has been specified as a designated area under Part 13 of the Forest Act”; “The FSR’s and the tributary roads were planned for deactivation regardless of these recent developments, but the creation of the conservancy and the Part 13 designation ensure that there will be no further forestry activities in the valley”; “Once an FSR is no longer required for industrial use, it is deactivated.” Q2: closed “with the intent to deactivate it as there is no funding to do repairs or maintenance, and there is no future industrial access need.” Later: “FSR’s are designed and built for industrial use, not public access”; Q14: the district “is going to continue with our deactivation plans regardless of if an application is made under the Land Act, because it is obligated to relieve itself of liability.” https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/natural-resource-use/resource-roads/local-road-safety-information/selkirk/faq_document_for_incomappleux_deactivation.pdf
  3. ↩↩↩↩↩↩Environment and Climate Change Canada, “Government of Canada, British Columbia and the First Nations Leadership Council sign a historic tripartite nature conservation framework agreement,” November 3, 2023, Vancouver; and the agreement text as published by Canada. The release: the agreement supports “Canada’s goal of protecting thirty percent of lands in B.C. by 2030,” with Canada investing “up to $500 million” to match British Columbia’s commitments. The agreement, s. 4.1(b): “protect at least 30% of terrestrial areas by 2030”; s. 6.4.1: “protecting at least 30% of B.C.’s land base by 2030.” The words recreation, public access, hunting, motorized and roads do not occur in the agreement text. Agreement text: canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/integrated-nature-initiatives/nature-agreements/canada-british-columbia-nature-agreement.html https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2023/11/government-of-canada-british-columbia-and-the-first-nations-leadership-council-sign-a-historic-tripartite-nature-conservation-framework-agreement.html
  4. ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩The Great Bear Sea record. 5 February 2023, Vancouver, at the IMPAC5 congress: First Nations, Canada and British Columbia endorse the Network Action Plan, “The blueprint for a vast network of marine protected areas (MPAs) across the northern third of Canada’s West Coast” (BC Gov News story, news.gov.bc.ca/stories/marine-protected-area-network-partners-endorse-plan-to-protect-british-columbias-north-coast). 5 December 2023: release 2023WLRS0064-001918, a $60-million provincial grant to Coast Funds toward the Great Bear Sea PFP. 25 June 2024, Vancouver: Canada, British Columbia and 17 First Nations announce “the signing and launch of the Great Bear Sea Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative,” including “$60 million from the Province of British Columbia” (pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2024/06/25/protecting-more-our-marine-ecosystems-together-future-generations). 22 May 2026, Klemtu: release 2026WLRS0027-000582, “Minister’s statement on Central Coast marine protection area,” in which Randene Neill says the Province, Canada and six coastal First Nations celebrated an agreement to “establish a new national marine conservation area reserve (NMCAR) on the Central Coast.” https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026WLRS0027-000582
  5. ↩↩↩↩↩BC Gov News, “New legislation powers economy with clean energy, North Coast Transmission Line,” Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions, Monday, October 20, 2025, 10:42 AM, release 2025ECS0044-001032; and release 2025ECS0049-001216, Monday, December 8, 2025. October: the act would “put limits on the power available for data centres and AI,” with a competitive call “for a two-year period that allocates 300 megawatts (MW) for AI, 100 MW for data centres,” and the Province would “permanently ban new BC Hydro connections to the electricity grid for cryptocurrency mining.” December: “Bill 31 received royal assent on Nov. 27, 2025, and the regulatory measures and ministerial order came into effect on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025.” December release: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025ECS0049-001216 https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025ECS0044-001032
  6. ↩↩↩The Canadian Press, “B.C. election campaign: Parties talk jobs, data centres, royalties,” as published by NanaimoNewsNOW, Oct 10, 2026, 2:42 PM. “Candidates running in this month’s provincial election spent the start of the long weekend on the campaign trail.” Photo caption: “NDP Leader David Eby stands on the shore of the Puntledge river following an announcement in Courtenay, B.C., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026.” On the plan: “water-use standards for AI data centres and spending $30 million a year to continue the watershed protection fund.” Thanksgiving Day, a statutory holiday, falls on Monday 12 October 2026. https://nanaimonewsnow.com/2026/10/10/b-c-election-campaign-parties-talk-jobs-data-centres-royalties/
  7. ↩↩↩↩BC Gov News, “Watershed strategy co-developed with First Nations, $100 million invested,” Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Monday, March 6, 2023, 9:15 AM, release 2023WLRS0008-000267. “This $100-million investment in the Watershed Security Fund builds on last year’s $30-million commitment announced in Budget 2022.” https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023WLRS0008-000267
  8. ↩↩↩↩↩BC Gov News, “Government taking action on old-growth deferrals,” Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 1:35 PM, release 2021FLNRO0068-002088. Deferrals proposed “within 2.6 million hectares of B.C.’s most at-risk old-growth forests”; “Logging deferrals are a temporary measure.” https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021FLNRO0068-002088
  9. ↩↩↩↩↩Khelsilem, “Horgan on old growth: time is running out,” The Tyee, 21 October 2020. “Then last week on the campaign trail, Horgan promised to implement ‘the report in its totality.’” “This week his party made a more detailed commitment for a ‘paradigm shift’ and to ‘act on all 14 recommendations.’” David Eby was a member of that cabinet and ran on that platform. https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/10/21/Horgan-Old-Growth-Time-Running-Out/
  10. ↩↩David Eby, Bluesky, @davidebybc.bsky.social, 10 October 2026, 2:30 p.m. Pacific. “AI data centres use a lot of water. Here in B.C., we’re doing things differently.” The thread closes: “To build B.C. strong, we have to protect the place we call home.” https://bsky.app/profile/davidebybc.bsky.social/post/3mxkgpin2gc2k
  11. ↩Emily Lowan, leader of the BC Green Party, Bluesky thread of four posts, created 2026-10-11 00:23 UTC (5:23 p.m. Pacific, Saturday 10 October) — read through Bluesky’s public API on 10 October 2026. Quoted in full in the article from the first two posts. The third reads: “And his new water rules will tell communities how much water a data centre uses after it’s built but won’t say if they can say no to a data centre before it’s approved.” Her Instagram copy could not be read without signing in, so the Bluesky text is the one quoted. https://bsky.app/profile/emilylowan.bsky.social/post/3mxkqf42io22u
  12. ↩↩↩↩BC Gov News, “New conservancy protects rare ecosystems in Incomappleux Valley,” Office of the Premier, Wednesday, January 25, 2023, 12:41 PM, release 2023PREM0005-000087. “the new Incomappleux Conservancy spans more than 58,000 hectares”; “the 58,654-hectare conservancy, which is approximately the size of 150 Stanley Parks”; George Heyman: “contributing to our goal of protecting 30% of the province by 2030”; Premier David Eby: “Protecting our wild spaces for generations to come is one of the most important things we are doing to create a healthier future.” https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023PREM0005-000087
  13. ↩↩↩Prime Minister of Canada, “Prime Minister Carney announces second tranche of nation-building projects,” 13 November 2025; Major Projects Office, “Northwest Critical Conservation Corridor” (page modified 2026-05-21); Matt Simmons, “Thinking critically about Carney’s proposed conservation corridor in northwest B.C.,” The Narwhal, 3 December 2025. PMO: the corridor “sits atop vast deposits of critical minerals and has the potential to unlock world-class resources while creating a conservation area the size of Greece.” The MPO page describes mining, energy and trade infrastructure alongside “dedicating areas for nature conservation,” and states no area, no Crown-land share and no access rules. The Narwhal: “Greece is about 130,000 square kilometres,” and of the conservation half, “We don’t know.” The Stanley Park conversion uses the Province’s own ratio in the Incomappleux release (58,654 hectares to 150 Stanley Parks, about 391 hectares each): 12,000 × 391 hectares is about 4.7 million hectares, or about 47,000 square kilometres. MPO page: canada.ca/en/privy-council/major-projects-office/projects/other/referred/corridor.html; The Narwhal: thenarwhal.ca/bc-northwest-critical-conservation-corridor/ https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2025/11/13/prime-minister-carney-announces-second-tranche-nation-building-projects
  14. ↩↩BC Gov News, “B.C. launching competitive process for clean power in high-demand sectors,” Friday, January 30, 2026, 9:15 AM, release 2026ECS0005-000095; and BC Hydro, emerging industries connections page, read 10 October 2026. January: “Through Bill 31, the Energy Statutes Amendment Act, and a new regulation, there is now a requirement for prospective AI and data-centre projects to take part in a competitive selection process”; “The allocation targets for these projects are for as much as 400 megawatts for the first two years.” BC Hydro: “We received 15 applications representing close to 800 megawatts (MW) in total load request”; “With a provincial election having been called, the 2026 Call for Demand timeline has been extended.” BC Hydro page: app.bchydro.com/accounts-billing/electrical-connections/large-load/emerging-industries-connections.html https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026ECS0005-000095
  15. ↩↩Province of British Columbia, 2025 Climate Change Accountability Report, December 2025, and its release, “Climate Change Accountability Report shows lower emissions, more work to do,” Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 3:08 PM, release 2025ECS0048-001198. Report, page 6 of the PDF: “Although the current suite of climate policies does not put the Province on track to meet its 2030 targets”; page 18: emissions decline by 14% from 2007 levels, “achieving 35% of the 2030 GHG reduction target,” and “To meet the 2030 target, an additional 16.4-16.9 MtCO2e of reductions would be required”; page 4, Minister Adrian Dix: “We recognize that our current approach won’t take us all the way to our climate goals.” The release: “In spring 2025, the 2024 Climate Change Accountability Report indicated that B.C. was not on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets.” Release: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025ECS0048-001198 https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/climate-change/action/cleanbc/2025_climate_change_accountability_report.pdf
  16. ↩↩BC Gov News, “Government embarks on new approach to old forests,” Friday, September 11, 2020, 1:00 PM, release 2020FLNR0058-001711. The panel “submitted 14 recommendations to the Province in their report” on 30 April 2020; the government deferred “old forest harvesting in nine areas throughout the province totalling 352,739 hectares as a first step.” https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020FLNR0058-001711
  17. ↩↩“David Eby,” Wikipedia, read 10 October 2026, section “Attorney General of British Columbia (2017–2022).” “Following the 2017 British Columbia election … Eby was appointed to the cabinet of John Horgan”; “After the 2020 election, Eby was given the additional role of minister responsible for housing.” He became Premier on 18 November 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Eby
  18. ↩↩Hansard, 43rd Parliament, First Session, Issue 59, Thursday 8 May 2025, morning sitting, Oral Questions. The Hon. Randene Neill, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship: “Back-country use is not being turned off at an alarming rate — in fact, not at all,” and “The very last thing we’re going to do is turn the back country off from folks who love to use it.” https://lims.leg.bc.ca/hdms/file/Debates/43rd1st/20250508am-Hansard-n59.html
  19. ↩↩↩Lori Halls, Deputy Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, letter to the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, 1 December 2025, reference 47432, printed in the RDKB board agenda of 10 December 2025, pages 52–53. On the 67-kilometre Columbia & Western section between Fife and Castlegar, which the Province promised in July 2020 would be “available for recreational purposes year-round”: “Currently, the Province is unable to fund or manage the non-status corridor … However, the corridor remains open to the public at the users’ own risk.” See the Trans Canada Trail at Christina Lake. https://rdkb.civicweb.net/document/197053/
  20. ↩↩↩Ministry of Environment and Parks, Information Bulletin, “Decommissioning damaged section of Kettle Valley Rail Trail near Princeton,” 6 February 2026, release 2026ENV0005-000120. The 67-kilometre section “between Princeton and the Coquihalla Highway”; “The cost of decommissioning the damaged Princeton section is estimated at $20 million, with most of the cost covered by federal funding through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements program.” See the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026ENV0005-000120
  21. ↩↩Ministry of Environment and Parks, Look West: B.C.’s Outdoor Recreation Strategy, 21 May 2026, read from the PDF. Page 21, Target 8: “A modernized framework for high-value recreation access and resource roads”; “Recreation access in B.C. depends heavily on resource roads, which provide the primary routes into much of the province’s backcountry”; “As shifts in the forest sector accelerate and the industrial base that has historically funded road maintenance continues to shrink, new solutions need to be explored.” Page 31, Target 14, the strategy’s only link to 30 by 30: ensure “recreation values are considered in land-use planning processes,” “including the goal to protect 30% of B.C. by 2030.” Target 8 names no lead ministry, budget or date; see The strategy and the ballot. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/sports-recreation-arts-and-culture/outdoor-recreation/bc-parks/bcparks_ors_bcparks_outdoor-recreation-strategy.pdf
  22. ↩↩↩Prince George Natural Resource District, road safety information, read 10 October 2026. “Walker FSR 3112.01 (July 22, 2026) Walker Forest Service Road is closed near 52 km due to unsafe bridges. Access will be barricaded on Wednesday July 29, 2026.” Walker FSR is the British Columbia road to Kakwa Provincial Park; see Walker FSR. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/natural-resource-use/resource-roads/local-road-safety-information/prince-george-natural-resource-district-road-safety-information
  23. ↩↩↩Jacqueline Gelineau, “Outdoor recreation community frustrated with latest B.C. forest road closure,” CBC News, 22 September 2026. “The Rady Forest Service Road in the Kootenays’ Trout Lake area will be closed on Nov. 1”; a ministry spokesperson: “At this time, the decision for deactivation is final”; “Last year, the nearby Incomappleux Road was deactivated, sparking frustration.” The Rady record is set out in our fact check. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/trout-lake-rady-creek-forest-service-road-closures-9.7352990
  24. ↩↩BC Gov News, “Province launches made-in-B.C. conservation tool, takes further action on old-growth forest,” Thursday, October 26, 2023, 12:30 PM, release 2023FOR0061-001662. “a new $300-million Conservation Financing Mechanism – $150 million from the Province, matched by a commitment to raise an additional $150 million from the BC Parks Foundation.” https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023FOR0061-001662
  25. ↩↩Public Land Use Society, “Province Poised to Cut Off Access to Homes, Private Property, and Public Lands in the Incomappleux Valley,” 9 July 2026. The road provides “the only ground-access to homes, private property, mineral tenures, and recreation areas”; “Provincial ministers and senior ministry officials were invited but declined to attend.” Scott McInnis, MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke, tabled a petition against the deactivation on 28 May 2026 (Hansard, Issue 187); see our piece on the riding. https://publiclanduse.ca/news/province-poised-to-cut-off-access-to-homes-private-property-and-public-lands-in-the-incomappleux-valley/
  26. ↩↩↩Selkirk Natural Resource District, road safety information, read 10 October 2026, with the forest tenure road register and the 2023 electoral boundaries, as set out in Fourteen forest roads in Brittny Anderson’s riding. Since 2020, all or part of fourteen forest service roads inside Kootenay Central have been closed, posted for removal or retired, Sitkum Creek and Heights among them; of Heights the district writes, “there will be no ATV access after completion of deactivation.” https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/natural-resource-use/resource-roads/local-road-safety-information/selkirk-natural-resource-district-road-safety-information
  27. ↩BC NDP campaign releases on bcndp.ca, 22 September to 10 October 2026. The 33 releases to 8 October were each read in full for The strategy and the ballot; none contains “Look West,” “outdoor recreation,” “backcountry,” “resource road,” “forest service road” or “Crown land.” The 10 October environment release was read on 10 October and contains none of them either. https://www.bcndp.ca/releases
  28. ↩↩↩↩Brittny Anderson, BC NDP candidate in Kootenay Central and Minister of State for Local Governments and Rural Communities: the release as posted to her Instagram account, brittny.d.anderson, on 10 October 2026. Instagram requires a sign-in, so the post is described, not quoted or reproduced. Her House record is from all 191 of her speaking turns since 2020 and the 68 in the 43rd Parliament, in which she raised forest roads and backcountry access in none, set out with its method in Fourteen forest roads in Brittny Anderson’s riding. https://www.instagram.com/brittny.d.anderson/
  29. ↩Images. David Eby’s portrait is his official portrait, Province of British Columbia, as used in Where the parties stand. The background of the card and slides is an aerial photograph of Mount Ida in Kakwa Park by Jagged Ridge Imaging (John Scurlock), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped. Kakwa Park is reached from British Columbia by Walker FSR. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Ida_From_The_North,_Jagged_Ridge_Imaging,_John_Scurlock.jpg