The need for cruise control

An environmentalist explains why better federal regulations are needed to police polluters among the world's fleet of cruise ships: State and local authorities can only do so much. Over six months this year, Puget Sound will see 211 big ships bearing 835,000 passengers call on Seattle.

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Two new earthquake faults are mapped near the Washington-B.C. border

• Toronto Globe and Mail

Ross Bay Cemetery

Near Victoria, B.C.

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In B.C., a shift in education spending to address a shortage of workers in the trades

• Vancouver Sun

Victoria's harbor ferry fleet

On Vancouver Island, B.C.

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B.C. Ferries will return portraits of the queen to its vessels

• Victoria Times-Colonist

Booming growth forecast for British Columbia

• Toronto Globe and Mail

The Democrats' secret weapon: Canadians

At the Barack Obama rally in Seattle on Feb. 8, there was an unexpected contingent that had infiltrated the excited crowd at Key Arena: our neighbors to the North. In the press section there was a guy from Victoria working on a radio feature for the CBC about the Obama campaign. He was sporting a "Canadians for Obama" t-shirt and I overheard him tell someone that many Canadians "don't give a damn who's running for prime minister," but they are watching the U.S. election with great interest. In fact, a recent poll indicated that one in six Canadians would give up their right to vote in the next election if they could sway the U.S. election result. Some are coming south to volunteer.

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A Canadian is shaking up the Northwest newspaper business

If printed papers are dying, publisher David Black of Victoria acts like the happy guy at the funeral.

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Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, B.C.: among the highest-priced housing in world

• CBC

Previously unheard of: Environmentalists will demonstrate in support of B.C.'s premier

• Toronto Globe and Mail

Video of a 15-year-old bound by police launches an investigation in Victoria

• Toronto Globe and Mail

Protesters living in trees hope to block construction of an overpass near Victoria

• Toronto Globe and Mail

The Vancouver gambit for building roads and transit in Seattle

When British Columbia announced its $14 billion plans for new transit early this week, it upped the stakes for competition among West Coast cities in the transit Olympics. It also injected itself in what will be a hot debate in Washington — the use of private investment to build the next generation of transit and highways.

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B.C.'s $14 billion transit improvements: where the money comes from

• Toronto Globe and Mail

B.C. unveils a $14 billion plan to expand metro Vancouver and Victoria mass transit

• Vancouver Sun

The Empress Hotel in Victoria marks 100 years as an icon

• Toronto Globe and Mail

Little Sidney, B.C., is the bookstore capital of Canada

• Toronto Globe and Mail

Famous cities don't have happy residents

Statistics Canada has just released a fascinating study of how people feel about Canadian cities. There's a big surprise. Cities that rank high in international surveys of livability, such as Vancouver and Victoria and Toronto, score poorly with their local residents, when ranked for satisfication among residents. The top cities in Canada, as rated by those who live there, are Saint John, New Brunswick, followed by Quebec City, and such where's-that-again? places as Charlottetown and Moncton, N.B., and Kitchener, Ontario. Victoria? Dead last, tied with booming Calgary. Vancouver was 12th (of 18 cities measured) and Toronto was 15th.

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Top B.C. newsmakers in 2007: Robert Pickton, and everyone else

• Province (Vancouver, BC)