British Columbia

A

Communications

In 2002 British Columbia had 54 AM and 44 FM radio stations. The first radio station to begin broadcasting was CKMO in Vancouver in 1922. The province has 8 local television stations.

As of 2002 the province had 16 daily newspapers. The leading newspapers include the Vancouver Sun and the Province in Vancouver, and the Times-Colonist in Victoria. The first newspaper published in what is now British Columbia, the Victoria Gazette, appeared in Victoria in 1858.

VII

Recreation and Places to Visit

British Columbia is famous for its spectacular mountains and beautiful coastal scenery, which are well represented in the many provincial and federal parks, including Yoho, Kootenay, Glacier, and Pacific Rim national parks. Parts of the Queen Charlotte Islands have been designated a National Park reserve.

National and local politicians have worked actively to preserve the rugged wilderness of British Columbia. In the mid-1990s the provincial government set aside a large area in northwestern British Columbia as the Tatshenshini-Alsek wilderness. With adjacent Kluane National Park and Reserve in Yukon Territory and Alaska’s Wrangell-Saint Elias and Glacier Bay national parks, this area forms a continuous, spectacular, undisturbed wilderness totaling 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq mi) in three political jurisdictions.

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In early 2006 provincial officials announced the creation of the Great Bear Rain Forest, which preserves 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) of British Columbian coastal wilderness as parkland. The park is about twice the size of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. The agreement, which took about a decade to formulate, also strictly limits development and resource exploitation on an additional 4.6 million hectares (11.4 million acres) in the region.

Vancouver is home to a number of major professional sports franchises. B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, one of the largest air-supported domes in the world, was built for Expo ’86 and is the home of the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League. The Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL) play in nearby General Motors Place. The Vancouver Canadians play AAA baseball in Nat Bailey Stadium.

A

Historical Sites

Most of British Columbia’s historical sites commemorate the pioneers and early settlers of the province. Barkerville Provincial Historical Park, in the Cariboo Mountains, is a restored mining town that was founded during the gold rush of the 1860s. National historical sites in the province are Fort Langley, east of Vancouver, a reconstruction of the Hudson’s Bay Company fort, and Fort Rodd Hill, near Victoria, with 19th-century fortifications.

VIII

Government

A

National Representation

British Columbia is represented by 36 members in the Canadian House of Commons and by six senators, appointed by the Canadian governor-general, in the upper house, or Senate of the federal government.

B

Executive

The formal chief executive of British Columbia is the lieutenant governor, who is appointed by the Canadian governor-general and who represents the British monarch in the province. The position is largely ceremonial. Executive powers actually rest with the premier, who is a member of the legislature and usually the leader of the majority party. The premier appoints about 20 ministers to the cabinet (executive council) from among the members of the party. The ministers direct and formulate policy for the departments of the provincial government.