The Tyee: Audio Edition

The Tyee

We’re an independent, online news magazine from B.C. founded in 2003. We’re devoted to fact-driven stories, reporting that informs and enlivens our democratic conversation. This feed features our stories, read by AI narration. Our reporting has changed laws, started movements and garnered numerous awards.

  1. 14h ago

    BC's Life Expectancies Are Diverging, Exclusive Data Shows The longest, and shortest, lives Progress, and regression The challenges The building blocks of health Proximity to health care, access to transportation Challenges in First Nations communities

    In Richmond, 90 is the new 80. But in the BC Interior, life expectancies are shorter than 20 years ago. … Article written by Tyler Olsen. Residents of B.C.'s largest cities are living longer than ever — but their counterparts in the B.C. Interior are not. Twenty years of life expectancy data obtained by The Tyee reveals that the closer a community is to British Columbia's largest cities, the longer its residents tend to live. The data also shows that the life expectancy gap between B.C.'s most prosperous cities and its economically struggling areas is growing steadily larger. In parts of Metro Vancouver, life expectancies are now approaching 90. By contrast, in many Interior areas and the central Vancouver area surrounding the Downtown Eastside, projected lifespans have declined over the last two decades according to the figures, which were released to The Tyee by request but are not otherwise publicly available. The data reveals life expectancy, in jurisdictions called local health areas, between 2000 and 2024. Richmond has British Columbia's longest life expectancy, with residents born in 2024 expected to live 89.4 years on average. The second part of this Tyee series will examine why people in Richmond may live particularly long. By contrast, the small but densely populated central area surrounding Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has the province's lowest life expectancy. Life expectancy data reveals "a really important variable in public health for us to gauge how a community is doing," Fraser Health medical health officer Dr. Curtis May told The Tyee. Understanding those factors can inform health officials about challenges, and inform potential responses, May said. Access to health care is important, but one of many components. Income, education levels, housing quality, interactions with toxic drugs, and other external factors all play key roles in determining the life expectancy of broad and diverse populations. Environmental and social factors and the prevalence of healthy or risky habits also affect a community's overall health, and the length of the lives of its residents. "This is a whole-of-society story," May said. Across British Columbia, the life expectancy at birth in 2024 was 82.6 years, according to the most recent data from Statistics Canada. That's higher than in 2004, when babies could be expected to live for 80 years, on average. But the two decades of provincial life expectancy data provided to The Tyee show just how varied life expectancies are across the province. The data, which stretches from 2000 to 2024, shows significant progress in some local health areas, but decreases in other places. The areas themselves vary significantly in size and population in ways that could affect the data. Vancouver is broken into six local health areas, while Surrey — which has a similar population — is divided into two areas. Most large B.C. municipalities are covered by a single local health area. Local health areas in less-urban regions often include multiple communities. In addition to Richmond, eight other local health areas have life expectancies exceeding 85. All are in the Lower Mainland, and four are within Vancouver. The other long-lived areas include North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby and the Tri-Cities — which encompasses Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, and the two villages of Anmore and Belcarra. Life expectancies in Victoria and the Kelowna area have also continued to tick upwards, with babies in the Greater Victoria area expected to live about 83 or 84 years, and with life expectancies in the Kelowna area about 82 years and in line with the provincial average. With a few exceptions in the Kootenays and the Comox area, life expectancy recedes as one travels away from B.C.'s largest cities. In the Fraser Valley, for instance, people in Surrey are expected to live longer than those in Langley, who have longer projected lives than neighbours in Abbotsford, who live longer than those in Chill...

    18 min
  2. 14h ago

    Federal Cuts Put the Squeeze on Summer Jobs for Youth Federal Cuts Put the Squeeze on Summer Jobs for Youth Spending on defence and AI, cuts elsewhere

    News CULTURE Labour + Industry This summer, stagnant funding for museums means it's harder for heritage sites to stay open. Isaac Phan Nay Today TodayThe Tyee 1 Comment / 1 New 1 1 30 Jun 2026 Isaac Phan Nay is The Tyee's labour and work life reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative. Support writing that explores and celebrates local culture. Become a Tyee Builder. URL copied to clipboard! SHARE: 68 SHARES Comment / New This summer, stagnant funding for museums means it's harder for heritage sites to stay open. … Article written by Isaac Phan Nay. It's the May long weekend, and David Osborne walks down to Saturna Island's East Point Regional Park. As hikers and bike-packers mill around the grassy knoll that gives way to tafoni rock slopes resembling Swiss cheese, Osborne unlocks the white brick heritage building centred on the point. Despite the sunny sky and natural beauty around, it's a bittersweet day for Osborne. He doesn't know how many times he'll be able to open the Fog Alarm Building this year. First constructed for foghorns to signal to ships, the small structure has been converted to serve as a testament to the community settled on Saturna Island. Now, its walls display articles about the island's history, a locally known orca and the community's annual lamb roast. Normally, Osborne says, a local student would staff the Fog Alarm Building. They would show guests around the small museum and help them better understand the area's unique geography and the plethora of wildlife that filter through East Point — including orcas, grey whales, sea lions, hawks, eagles and garter snakes. Some students also helped preserve some part of the community's history. On a small shelf in the corner sits a booklet about local food and foraging, and several self-published volumes chronicling the lives of longtime residents — like the woman who runs the island's general store. "It's a fantastic place to visit," Osborne said. "So it was a really depressing thought that after 15 years we weren't going to be able to do our thing here." This year, the small museum won't be able to afford a summer student. Osborne, a volunteer, usually relies on a federal grant to fund the position. But for the first time in about a decade, the museum's request for funding was denied. And without a student, Osborne said he wasn't sure the museum would be able to open for visitors — much less continue documenting the island's history. Osborne isn't alone. Federal funding for these positions has remained flat for years despite rising minimum wage and inflation, according to the Canadian Museums Association. And at the provincial level, that means small institutions across B.C. are struggling to find staff and run the programming that keeps them afloat. "Museums are the caretakers of place and stories," said Leia Patterson, interim executive director for the BC Museums Association. "When we can't tell our stories because we can't be open for our busiest season, everybody loses." According to Patterson, more than half of the 450 member institutions are small museums that are often run by one to two staff members, a few part-time staff members and summer students. These include heritage sites, Indigenous-run cultural centres and botanical gardens. Oftentimes, Patterson added, these museums serve as community centres. Some are cooling centres during heat waves, and some host community gatherings and events. "When you expand your thinking about museums as places of community, they serve so many purposes," she said. "They do all of this extra work on the side rather than just caring for old things." These institutions remain open thanks to a patchwork of donations from the public, revenue from programming, and grant funding from the government, said Dnyanesh Kamat, senior manager of advocacy at the Canadian Museums Association. But Kamat said all funding for museums, including the Young Canada Works grant funding that allows...

    8 min
  3. 14h ago

    Using Salmon Guts to Map Forage Fish Populations Billionaires Don't Control Us Herring feed chinook; chinook feed orcas How anglers can connect with the study

    A new study examined thousands of chinook stomachs to track a vital and often overlooked part of the Salish Sea's food chain. … Article written by Michelle Gamage. Scientists have figured out how to use the voracious appetites of salmon to map the availability of forage fish in the Salish Sea. How voracious? A juvenile salmon digesting a herring almost one-third its size, with the herring's tail still sticking out of its mouth, will still bite at a fishing lure in search of more grub, says Rick Hackinen, who owns Brightfish Charters in Campbell River and has been fishing salmon for 45 years. Instead of scientists trawling to try to catch small and agile forage fish themselves, they've partnered with local anglers like Hackinen who are catching the salmon that are eating the small fish. The Salish Sea is the inland sea between Vancouver Island, mainland British Columbia and Washington state. Its forage fish include Pacific herring, Pacific sand lance, northern anchovy, lantern fish and tiny shrimp and crustaceans. To support the study, known as the Adult Salmon Diet Program, local anglers recorded data about their daily chinook and coho catches before sending scientists the fish's guts. Researchers such as Wesley Greentree, a PhD student with the University of Victoria and the Pacific Salmon Foundation, then received the guts and took a closer look to analyze the semi-digested creatures inside. Researchers can also further "digest" the stomach contents in a dish soap mixture for six weeks. This allows them to fish out the remains of tiny identifiable bone structures, which also inform researchers about what the salmon was eating before it died. The work is "incredibly stinky" and "not glamorous," Greentree told The Tyee. Get The Tyee's free daily newsletter in your inbox. Journalism for readers, not profits. People visiting the lab have worried that the smell is rancid enough to be a safety issue, he added. But Greentree said his team have tough stomachs. "We've done more smelly projects," he said. "We had one student who was looking at whale feces. Now that was quite something." While the work may not be glamorous, it helps fill a knowledge gap about local forage fish, he said. Greentree's team has mapped out the availability and distribution of chinook salmon prey during the hotter, brighter half of the year and the cooler, darker half of the year. They recently published their findings in the Fisheries Oceanography journal. Since launching in 2015, the Adult Salmon Diet Program has been sent more than 7,600 chinook and coho salmon stomachs from more than 250 recreational anglers. Stomachs for the study were also collected by the Pacheedaht First Nation creel surveyors in Port Renfrew, the Raincoast Education Society in Ucluelet and Tofino and the Sidney Anglers Association in Sidney. Greentree's study analyzed 2,500 chinook stomachs caught in summer and winter from April 2017 to March 2022. They focused on chinook instead of coho because chinook can be recreationally caught year-round. Chinook salmon spend their first summers foraging in the Salish Sea. Some never leave, while others return to the region to eat their final meals before heading into fresh water to spawn, the study said. Chinook are the main food source for endangered southern resident killer whales. And, as it turns out, Pacific herring are the main food source for chinook salmon. Will Duguid, who founded the Adult Salmon Diet Program, explained in a 2021 webinar that it's important to study forage fish because they play such a major role in marine food webs, transferring nutrients up the food chain when they eat tiny zooplankton and then are eaten by larger seabirds, fish and mammals. Small impacts to forage fish populations can have huge implications further up the food web, he added. The Salish Sea is divided into five regions: the northern Strait of Georgia, central Strait of Georgia, southern Strait of Georgia, Haro Strait and Juan de Fuca Strait. For...

    7 min
  4. 14h ago

    Exposing Alberta's Wilful Blindness to AI Centre Harms A case study in AI centre impacts Sweeping changes for Albertans

    The UCP refuses to tally risks to nature and people. This expert did it for them. … Article written by Andrew Nikiforuk. Two years ago, Premier Danielle Smith declared that her government wanted to woo $100 billion worth of data centre investment to the province by 2030 with a bold new strategy. Smith explained that artificial intelligence was making our lives "better, simpler and safer." But to succeed, the innovation needed more energy and space. Alberta was open for business because a data centre boom would "foster innovation, create jobs and promote economic diversification." AI investor and pro-Trumper Kevin O'Leary immediately championed the policy: "Danielle Smith has the water, she has the fiber, she has the people, she has the policies, she's got the permits that can be gained there, and that's what we're working on." Smith's government waived an environmental review for O'Leary's $70-billion behemoth, claiming that data centres are not "a mandatory activity for the purposes of environmental assessment." The province also axed its water advisory council this year — a move that guarantees no embarrassing reports on the extreme water demands of data centres might question the province's claim about benefits. At the same time, the province created a concierge service for AI investors to achieve smooth sailing with regulators and "speed to market." Even though North American citizens have increasingly rejected or imposed moratoriums on data centres in their communities for many reasons, the Smith government hasn't said a word about the liabilities, including noise pollution, heat islands, water consumption, smog and higher energy bills. Enter Brad Stelfox, the province's most prominent land use ecologist. He has spent his career studying and modelling cumulative effects of land use over time. The Indus and Area Residents Group, representing members of a small community six kilometres outside Calgary, recently sought his analysis of the Beacon AI Centers Indus Project slated for their locale. The group wanted to know if the province had adequately reviewed the project's potential effects, as well as wider impacts of the AI boom on Albertans. Guess what Stelfox found? The Smith government has not conducted a proper cumulative impact assessment for the Indus area or the province as a whole, concludes Stelfox in a report submitted to the Alberta Utilities Commission. "As such Albertans remain uninformed of the full extent of the environmental and social consequences associated" with AI data centres. While Smith and industry talk about jobs, tax revenue and economic growth, "there is a striking absence of information in Alberta about the adverse consequences (environmental, social and health) caused by individual or multiple AI/DCs." The proposed Beacon data factory is a case in point. The project would occupy 900 acres and require 1.5 megawatts of energy around the clock. That power would come from 100 natural gas reciprocating engine generators organized into modules, exhaust treatment systems and air-cooled radiators. Every year, Stelfox notes, the project would consume half a million cubic metres of water (about 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools) and release 4.78 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air (roughly what one million passenger vehicles produce). Beacon was founded by Nadia Partners in 2023. This U.S. specialist investor in AI doesn't work like a normal company with public or institutional ownership. Instead, the New York firm, founded by Aidan Kehoe, creates companies solely to build AI centres. These companies are then managed by recruited CEOs. Beacon has so far proposed to build six data centres in Alberta, including three in the Calgary area, at a cost of $4 billion. (Smith's government even passed orders-in-council in 2025 so the U.S.-owned Beacon Data Centers could legally buy up to 43 square kilometres of land in 2025.) Collectively Beacon's operations will draw 4.5 gigawatts of power from their o...

    11 min
  5. 1d ago

    BC Nurses Issue 72-Hour Strike Notice

    Job action could start as soon as July 2. The union says withholding labour will be a last resort. … Article written by Michelle Gamage. The BC Nurses' Union has issued a 72-hour strike notice, meaning nurses across the province could start taking job action starting July 2 at noon. The union has been trying to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with its employer, the Health Employers Association of BC, after the previous agreement expired in March 2025. "We understand that this announcement may create concern, and we don't take it lightly," said BCNU president Adriane Gear at a press conference Monday. Nurses are taking "every step possible" to ensure there are no disruptions to health care, Gear said. She added that the Health Employers Association of BC has requested to continue discussions since the union issued the strike notice. In an emailed statement, the Health Employers Association of BC said "returning to the bargaining table is the most effective way to resolve outstanding issues while minimizing the impact on the people of B.C.," and that it is available to meet with the union any time. It added that it hopes to be able to negotiate mutually beneficial solutions that support government's key priorities, but that further details "are best kept to the bargaining table." In early May, BCNU's 53,000 members voted overwhelmingly in support of the strike vote after six months of bargaining. On May 21 the Health Employers Association of BC and Nurses Bargaining Association reached a tentative 2025-2029 collective agreement. On June 19 the tentative agreement was rejected after 67 per cent of unionized nurses voted against it. On Monday Gear said the exact requests that the union is making will stay at the bargaining table, but added that the union wants their employer to address benefits, general wages, retention, overtime and ensuring nurse-to-patient ratios. The current mandate does not cover what nurses need, she said. Gear said it's "frustrating" that the province isn't willing to spend money to retain its nurses, but is willing to spend "over half a billion dollars" on private agency nurses and hundreds of millions on the FIFA World Cup games. Agency nurses are nurses who work for private, for-profit companies who are contracted to work for health authorities, rather than working directly for health authorities. While the province pays for agency nurses, there are around 4,500 public, unionized nursing positions that are vacant across the province, which makes it harder for health care teams to deliver care, Gear said. When the health care system is under strain, violence against health-care workers goes up, with hospitals sometimes acting as "pressure cookers" for frustrated patients, or family members with loved ones who are in pain or waiting for care. Workplace injury rates, which include assault, have increased by 25 per cent since 2019, which translates to one nurse leaving on a WorkSafeBC claim every 16 hours, Gear said. In May Gear told The Tyee job action from the BCNU could include "working to rule," where nurses start and end their shift on time and take their scheduled breaks, in contrast to how nurses often stay late and do not take their scheduled breaks. A next step could include banning non-nursing duties such as answering phones, cleaning, delivering meal trays or running to the blood bank or pharmacy, she said. These extra duties would have to be taken on by managers. The union could also restrict overtime and set up information picket lines, she said. On Monday Gear said, "this province runs on overtime" and that the union would be mindful how disruptive restricting overtime could be. Withdrawing labour would be a last resort, she said, adding she hopes "we don't have to take this extraordinary step." The last time nurses withdrew labour in B.C. was in 2001, she added.

    4 min
  6. 1d ago

    Please Advise! Should 24 Sussex Be Converted to Condos? Please Advise! Should 24 Sussex Be Converted to Condos? Please Advise! Should 24 Sussex Be Converted to Condos? Given big plans from Carney and Eby of late, it's a fair question.

    10 10 Politics Politics Housing Opinion Housing Read more: Opinion Housing Opinion Housing Given big plans from Carney and Eby of late, it's a fair question. Steve Burgess YesterdayThe Tyee Steve Burgess writes about politics and culture for The Tyee. Read his previous articles. Our journalism is supported by readers like you. Click here to support The Tyee. URL copied to clipboard! SHARE: 68 SHARES 10 Comments / 10 New Comments / New Please Advise! Should 24 Sussex Be Converted to Condos? [Editor's note: Steve Burgess is an accredited spin doctor with a PhD in Centrifugal Rhetoric from the University of SASE, situated on the lovely campus of PO Box 7650, Cayman Islands. In this space he dispenses PR advice to politicians, the rich and famous, the troubled and well-heeled, the wealthy and gullible.] Given big plans from Carney and Eby of late, it's a fair question. … Article written by Steve Burgess. Dear Dr. Steve, Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a plan to renovate the official prime ministerial residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa through a national design competition and a crowd-funding program. Meanwhile he and B.C. Premier David Eby announced a program to buy up 2,200 unsold B.C. condos and convert them to social housing, but the plan seems to be running aground before it starts. Are these good ideas, Dr. Steve? Signed, Real Tea Dear RT, They might have turned the place into a first-rate garden shed, or perhaps rented out the resident mice for medical research. But instead, the prime minister's house is getting a makeover. Still, this 24 Sussex renovation seems a little, um, sus. Who exactly is going to be paying for the reno? If you contribute 50 bucks, can you show up unannounced for Sunday brunch? If you donate $10 million, can you put golden arches on the front lawn? If the winning entry in the national design competition resembles a Pizza Hut, what conclusions should we draw? The private funding of public institutions has been done before, though. For example, it's how U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas got his RV. Carney has assured the public that corporations will be barred from contributing — no Starbucks accepted. Individuals can chip in though. Perhaps Mr. T. Horton? Dr. Oetker? Ronald McDonald? Private/public funding deals can have pitfalls. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are in the process of inadvertently bringing down the Albanian government via their secret plan to drop a glitzy resort onto a protected island. Ivanka Trump told a podcaster that she and Kushner stopped their yacht for a swim and "discovered" the island of Sazan. Columbus once made a discovery like that. Albanians are reacting as if Kushner and Trump were selling smallpox blankets. Albanian anti-corruption prosecutors have opened a formal probe into the transaction and protesters are calling for resignations. It's the biggest scandal since terrorist ANTIFA scum took a giant steak knife to the Lincoln Reflecting Pool. Still, money is money. Maybe Trump and Kushner could sail their yacht up the Ottawa River and "discover" the city? Innocent and friendly locals will welcome them at the water's edge in their traditional business attire, bearing ceremonial gifts of beavertails and bilingual Cheerios boxes. As for the prime minister's B.C. housing plan, the first thing you must know is, it's not the prime minister's B.C. housing plan. It was B.C.'s idea. Carney insists on giving credit. Premier Eby responded by grumbling that the feds announced the deal too soon. Keep passing that shit sandwich, boys. Whosever idea it was, the plan is for the current glut of unsold condos to be alleviated as the federal and provincial governments buy up 2,200 units to create social housing. But soft — here's Carney and Eby singing the praises of their condo scheme: "I don't think we've done, myself included, a particularly good job at rolling this out and explaining exactly what this is," Carney said. "If people hate it, it's OK," Eby said. "...

    7 min
  7. 1d ago

    Enduring the Killer Heat, in Their Own Words 'I Was So Glad He Picked Me'

    As they sweltered, Jen Hatton's newborn was struggling. And so was her ailing cat. First in a series recalling the scorching summer of 2021. … Article written by Jen Hatton, as told to Bennett Gilleland. The cost of the 2021 western North America heat wave and the fires it kindled was measured in records broken, lives lost and homes destroyed. Behind those numbers were millions of ordinary people forced to confront extraordinary times, as our world has become warmer. Five years later, The Tyee is presenting the stories of five of those people, as told in their own words. We start with the ordeal of Jen Hatton in Delta. Over the next 10 days you will hear as well from: A Vancouver homeowner who had to find a new home when her condo turned into a greenhouse. A Lower Mainland firefighter who answered emergency calls as extreme heat buckled the province's health-care system. A retired school principal who was forced to evacuate when that heat turned to flame in Lytton. And a Kamloops councillor who could do little but watch as fire scorched one of the city's outer neighbourhoods. Their testimonies were created with the Climate Disaster Project at the University of Victoria. Some of what they share can be difficult to read. But the survivors want you to know what happened to them for a reason. So we can be closer together. So we can feel less alone. So you know what to do when one of the worst days of your life happens, without warning. That's why these stories aren't just an account of the harm caused by an environment we have harmed and are still harming. They are early warning systems and emergency preparedness plans. Because the survivors of past climate disasters carry with them knowledge and wisdom needed to help us confront the extreme events that have now become seasonal. Reading their testimonies now isn't just about memorialization. It's about preparation. An opportunity to change what will happen today and tomorrow. — Sean Holman of the Climate Disaster Project Jen Hatton was born in British Columbia's Interior and raised in Surrey by her mom. There, she found a love of the outdoors and played band in high school, before studying history at Simon Fraser University and meeting her husband Greg. After he bought her a book on their first date, she knew he was a keeper. They married in 2012 and seven years later moved to Delta. In 2021, B.C.'s extreme heat wave arrived five months after the birth of her youngest son, Leif, brother to three-year-old Eleanor and five-year-old Daniel. This is Jen's story as told to Bennett Gilleland. In the news, there was this weird high-pressure system. They were forecasting 40 C. I've never seen heat like that here. I was born in the Interior, so I've seen 40 C in the summer easily, but not the coast. CBC kept reiterating, "This is not going to blow away, this is actually going to happen." When your life as an animal changes, it throws you. There's no plan of attack. It's coming. This is real. We didn't have a lot of options, so we stayed put. We didn't know how long it was going to be. One day? Two? Is it going to be three? God forbid they've gotten it wrong. We have food, water, electricity, fans and all that stuff. How long can we hold out? How long can we last like this before we go nuts? It was unlike anything we'd ever experienced. Any time you went outside, it just smelled hot. The resin coming out of the trees, the parched grass and baked dirt. Sun-baked trees, hot dust from where the dirt's all dried out, and you can almost smell that the plants are struggling. You hear the odd car drive by, but not the nature. The birds, they're not out. Not even the bugs are out, it's so hot. Frogs are not singing. Even at night. Nobody was mowing the lawn. Nobody was outside gardening. I live in a neighbourhood full of families; to have it just be silent, it's unnatural. I had concerns that Leif was too hot. Babies are not great at regulating their body temperature. Babies do a much better job...

    11 min

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We’re an independent, online news magazine from B.C. founded in 2003. We’re devoted to fact-driven stories, reporting that informs and enlivens our democratic conversation. This feed features our stories, read by AI narration. Our reporting has changed laws, started movements and garnered numerous awards.

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