Posts by Ben Parfitt

Ben Parfitt

About Ben Parfitt

Ben joined the CCPA staff team as a resource policy analyst in 2005 after years working as an investigative journalist with numerous magazines, and previous to that as a reporter with The Vancouver Sun. He is author and co-author of two books on forestry issues and currently devotes much of his policy research to natural resources, with special attention paid to energy, water, and forest resources and climate change.

Ben values being part of a great team at the CCPA as well as the opportunities provided to meet regularly with First Nations, community leaders, environmental advocates and the many people who work in the province’s resource industries and who are committed to progressive change.

Ben is an avid cyclist and budding day hiker who likes to take advantage of the many outdoor recreation options open to him and others living in Victoria and south Vancouver Island. He is the proud father of a super-talented daughter, Charlotte Priest, who is wise beyond her years and has taught him much. He also loves to listen to music—the good old fashion way—on vinyl. Follow Ben on Twitter

Burning wood pellets

A burning question

Oct 19, 2022
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BC government needs to say how many trees are falling to wood pellet industry Recently, two respected news organizations aired investigative documentaries showing how trees in BC’s drastically over-cut primary forests are chopped down only to be turned into wood pellets that are burned by the millions of tons to make electricity in the United… View Article

Reconciliation in action?

Jul 13, 2022
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Far from it, says chief of holdout First Nation over deal with province on Site C In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was tasked with informing all Canadians about what happened to Indigenous Peoples in residential schools, defined the word reconciliation as a process of “establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between… View Article

The sound of silence

Jun 21, 2022
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Weeks stretch to months, months to years as BC government clamps down on information  When debate on the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act began last fall Stephanie Cadieux, then Liberal MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale, was among many to note how British Columbians are waiting longer and longer to obtain information from government… View Article

Damage on Highway 7 damage at Ruby Creek from the November 2022 flooding events

Government to investigate deadly landslide

Jun 16, 2022
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Months after five killed, experts to determine if failed logging road caused fatal mudslide Seven months after a mudslide killed five people on Highway 99, the provincial Ministry of Forests is launching an investigation into the event, marking the first time that it has indicated that a failed logging road may be behind the tragedy…. View Article

Opening the floodgates

Jun 1, 2022
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More than climate crisis behind last November’s rising waters, death and destruction; experts urge province to make course correction   First of Two Parts When Premier John Horgan declared a provincial state of emergency in the wake of last November’s horrific floods, landslides and deaths, he was quick to name the culprit.  The “never seen before”… View Article

A deadly wake-up call

Jun 1, 2022
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In aftermath of a landslide that killed five, experts say government must act now to avoid more “preventable” deaths Second of Two Parts (read the first) As 2021 drew to a close, Premier John Horgan said many British Columbians would remember it “as the year that climate change arrived on our doorsteps.”  Whether it was… View Article

The Revolving Door: Troubling questions raised as BC’s chief forester prepares to work for global wood pellet giant, Drax

Apr 6, 2022
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At mid-afternoon on Monday (April 4), senior staff at British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests were told that one of their highest-ranking members—the province’s chief forester, Diane Nicholls—was entering the revolving door that would sweep her seamlessly out of government employ and into the industry her ministry regulates.  “Diane is leaving us to further her work… View Article

Jobs and forests up in smoke: Coalition calls for investigation into wood pellet juggernaut Drax

Mar 14, 2022
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At 944,000 square kilometres in area, British Columbia is nearly four times larger than the United Kingdom.  But what the latter lacks in size it compensates for in reach, a reach that extends deep into the old-growth forests of Canada’s westernmost province.  To appreciate that reach it helps to consider  the tremendous loss of forests… View Article