COLUMNS: April Fools sparks some fake and not-fake news

There were few April Fool jokes around this year

Diana French

Diana French

There were few April Fool jokes around this year. Some say world events are such a joke why bother. However, an announcement on Facebook that Christy Clark (pictured in an orange pantsuit) was planning to run in Skeena/ Bulkley Valley as the NDP candidate was so well done it might have fooled some people. Not an April Fool is the thought she’ll run for the Liberals to replace Jody Wilson-Raybould.

Since it’s OK now for women to bare their arms in the legislature, will we be seeing the men in polo shirts instead of the traditional monkey suits? Nobody seems to care —

Read more: Sleeveless dresses are OK, B.C. legislature speaker says in dress code update

Recent reports say Canada’s climate is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. Northern Canada is almost three times the global average.

The U.S. Department of State says Canada is a “major money laundering country” where foreign drug-trafficking gangs are exploiting weak law enforcement and soft laws.

Canada’s Auditor General released an alarming report urging the Trudeau government to do a better job of sanctioning mining companies who don’t protect Canadian waters and fish.

Northern British Columbia has a new name — the Sacrifice Zone. While Site C, hydraulic fracturing, (fracking) and the LNG route to Kitimat might be great for the rest of B.C., they come at a cost to the area’s people and the environment.

We know fracking causes earthquakes, methane emissions, damaged landscapes, and it depletes and contaminates water, but a recent study found there wasn’t enough information to predict the long term or cumulative impact of the process.

Question. Will Coastal B.C. become a sacrifice zone if something goes haywire with the Trans Mountain pipeline? But somebody cares — countries and cities all over the world are banning the herbicide Roundup, because it contains glyphosate which has been implicated in serious human health problems.

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Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian and book author.

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