Ben Parfitt
Ben Parfitt is a Victoria-based journalist and has written on water, energy, forestry and climate issues for many years. He is also a long-time analyst with the B.C. Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He is the author of a book of essays, Forest Follies: Adventures and Misadventures in the Great Canadian Forest. He is also coauthor of Forestopia: A Practical Guide to the New Forest Economy (with Michael M’Gonigle), and Sturgeon Reach: Shifting Currents at the Heart of the Fraser (with Terry Glavin). His writing has appeared in numerous B.C. newspapers, magazines and on-line publications as well as national media outlets. He has received awards for his writing work from the Canadian Association of Investigative Journalists and the Jack Webster Foundation among others. When not writing, he likes to bike and hike and listen to records.
Stories by Ben Parfitt
Inside BC Hydro’s lost battle to protect major hydro dams from fracking earthquakes
A significant shake near the Site C dam in 2018 seemed like reason enough to...
Peace Canyon dam at risk of failure from fracking-induced earthquakes, documents reveal
BC Hydro knew for years that earthquakes triggered by fracking operations posed risks to vulnerable...
Left behind: staggering level of waste at Great Bear Rainforest logging operations, data reveals
A controversial timber-pricing system may be to blame as forestry companies log the best and...
The Great Bear loophole: why old growth is still logged in B.C.’s iconic protected rainforest
Despite new ‘ecosystem-based’ rules to limit forestry, logging companies continue to find ways to harvest...
B.C. should disclose what fracking companies pay for publicly owned resources
After a two-year battle the province has finally released astonishing information about subsidies for fracked...
Thousands of B.C.’s endangered whitebark pine logged on private land
As thousands of endangered whitebark pine trees fall on privately owned forestlands in British Columbia,...
The battle for Haida Gwaii’s cedars
On islands renowned for their towering trees, the cedars that define Haida culture are being...
‘We’re not against forestry’: Peachland mayor asks for pause on logging in watershed
Okanagan community asks for a ‘time out’ to examine the cumulative impacts of logging on...
B.C. allows logging, mining companies to cut down thousands of endangered trees
Ottawa designated whitebark pine trees as an endangered species seven years ago, but British Columbia...