Ep - 608 - Quiet Food Insecurity

Guest: Dr Sylvain Charlebois

By Stuart McNish

“Quiet food insecurity” says, The Food Professor, Sylain Charlebois, “ is a noticeable decline in the quality and variety of food in shopping baskets and that poses long-term nutritional and health risks.” The nature of the make up of the shopping cart contents is a direct reflection on the cost of food. “Prices are up by about $1,000 over last year for a family of four” says Charlebois.

The pressure on food prices accelerated with the imposition of tariffs on US food in March of 2025. Despite the tariffs being removed, food prices did not drop, “in September food inflation actually rose”, says Charlebois. Today, food prices are still rising at about 4 to 6 percent a year. Meat and produce have been identified as the major contributors to increases in grocery prices.

The driving factors include, but are not limited to, a weaker Canadian dollar, international trade friction, on-going supply chain challenges and a dramatic increase in fuel costs. Charlebois describes the situation as, “bad, bad for family budgets and bad for health and it’s due to consumers changing shopping patterns to put food on the table.

I invited, the Food Professor Sylvain Charlebois to join me for a Conversation That Matters about the impacts of rising food prices on all of us.

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

Ep 607 - British Columbia’s Golden Moment in Mining

Guest: Michael Goehring

By Stuart McNish

“We’re seeing some progress in mine permitting,” says Michael Goehring of the Mining Association of British Columbia. “However,” he continues, “we need to build on this momentum to realize our once-in-a-lifetime mining opportunity.” To do that will require further action from the provincial government – action that Goehring says “includes a coordination of policies across a variety of ministries such as finance.”

In February of 2026, the provincial government introduced taxes on professional services, restrictions on mining exploration tax credits, and increased administrative burdens. Goehring says, “Expanding the 7% Provincial Sales Tax to engineering, geoscience, legal, consulting, and accounting services imposes costs on junior mining companies that have no revenue.”

“We’re at a critical point: the public, for the first time in decades, appreciates the value mining brings to the economy, to our green energy aspirations, and to our national security,” says Goehring. He acknowledges the recently-approved expansion at the Hudbay, New Ingerbelle mine is a good step forward. It alone will account for more than 800 jobs in the Princeton area and extend the life of the existing Copper Mountain Mine to 2040.

We invited Michael Goehring of the Mining Association of BC to join us for a Conversation That Matters on how BC can find its way to capitalizing on a golden moment.

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

Ep 606 - DRIPA and its legal consequences

Guest: Robin Junger

By Stuart McNish

The news in British Columbia is all about DRIPA – the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. The premier of the province David Eby, in response to the December 2025 BC Court of Appeal Ruling of a case known as Gitxaala, raced to amend the act. His attempts to do so have become a headspinning spectacle.

The original case began in 2023 with a challenge to the Mineral Tenure Act, which allowed mineral explorers to strike a mineral claim without acquiring agreement and consent by the historical First Nation to the area.

The case upheld the miners’ position that consent was not required during exploration. It was the first challenge to DRIPA. It was immediately appealed and in December of 2025, the Court of Appeal of BC overturned the lower court ruling by stating, “The Declaration Act gives a statutory mandate and duty to take all measures necessary to bring British Columbia’s law into alignment with UNDRIP.”

“In other words,” says Indigenous legal authority, Robin Junger, “the BC government must, as stated in its own words, follow the law it wrote and the court has no option.”

I invited Robin Junger of McMillan LLP to join us for a Conversation That Matters to outline exactly what DRIPA is and the legal ramifications of amending the legislation.

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca