Canadian leaders hope trade negotiations won’t derail Columbia River Treaty
The Columbia River Treaty — and what will happen next between Canadian and U.S. governments — has been the talk of the town in British Columbia. The 61-year-old treaty lays key roles in flood risk management and water flow on the Columbia River.
“ This is for people in British Columbia. Really important, and people have talked about it, but for the people of the Columbia Basin, this is visceral. This is part of their lives and histories and souls,” said Adrian Dix, the British Columbian Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions.
Dix spoke at a virtual meeting hosted by the British Columbian government about the future of the treaty. People were so interested that more than 600 signed into the meeting. Webinar officials had to limit the size of the talk.
“ I get asked (whether Canadian officials will cancel the treaty) from time to time in the local Save-On-Foods, for example, on the weekend again,” he said, referring to a Canadian grocery store chain.
That’s not the plan, he said. Pausing negotiations for new U.S. administrations to consider policy changes isn’t unusual. This time around, though, tariff threats and trade disputes aren’t all helpful, Dix said.
”These really vicious anti-Canadian attacks made on us cause concern and cause concern in the context that we are in,” he said. “With respect to the Columbia River Treaty, we are preparing for any action the American government might take and will continue to defend Canadian and British Columbian interests.”
For years now, the U.S. and Canada have worked out ways to modernize the Columbia River Treaty, which was ratified in 1964. Updates include considerations for salmon, including Indigenous viewpoints and changes to water storage. The treaty would have expired last year, but negotiators hammered out a potential agreement.
The “agreement in principle” isn’t legally binding until it’s ratified. However, the treaty won’t be used as a “bargaining chip” in trade negotiations, Dix said.
The U.S. Department of State didn’t answer specific questions sent by email.
Dix said Canadian negotiators are ready to re-engage in talks when the U.S. is ready. He said a modernized treaty would benefit both sides of the border.
In addition, this is the first time that Indigenous nations in Canada and the U.S. have “their own voice on the inside of an international negotiating treaty directly,” said Jay Johnson, the chief negotiator and senior policy adviser to the Chiefs Executive Council of the Okanagan Nation Alliance.
So far, there’s been a lot of collaboration with “tribal relatives in the U.S.,” Johnson said.
“ There are obviously some mutual interests that we have around salmon, around ecosystems, around cultural values, and we’ve worked hard to embed those into, into the agreement in principle,” he said.
However, having a seat at the table isn’t the same as having an “effective voice,” said Nathan Matthew, a Secwepemcw Nation member.
“ So lots of efforts being made to address what we feel are the rights that we have to sit and help with decisions and to deal with the infringements of all of the negative aspects of the construction of the dams and the operations to date. It’s not easy,” Matthew said.
The treaty has had broad support across the political spectrum, on both sides of the border, he said. The initial negotiations began under the first Trump administration.
If Canada or the U.S. decided to terminate the treaty, the current treaty would remain in effect for 10 more years while the current management system was dissolved, Dix said.
“ In short, Canadian action to terminate the treaty would have little effect on the current dispute and would obviously involve losses on all sides,” he said.
However, recent comments by President Donald Trump about the U.S. turning on the “large faucet” to Canadian water supplies isn’t how things work, Dix said.
Water flows across the border and is then in the hands of U.S. management.
“ The idea that Canada can supply water through the treaty for broad American needs is not accurate and is not a concern,” he said, “although it reflects, I think, the nature of the current debate and intentions expressed towards Canada in the American government.”
Idaho lawmakers float 'embryo adoption' tax break
Idaho lawmakers are considering giving people a tax break on certain costs related to in vitro fertilization, though it won’t happen this year.
The proposed deduction would apply to legal and medical expenses related to so-called “embryo adoptions.”
“Those donated embryos are the results of other families that have gone through the IVF process and, in the end, they have extra embryos and they want to put them out there for adoption,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Brooke Green (D-Boise)
Multiple embryos are typically produced during each cycle of in vitro fertilization, but not all of them get used.
That tax break would be capped at $10,000 and would only be available if the embryo results in a live birth.
“This sends a much needed message about the importance of families and that we are looking for avenues to help send out the message that we want to help families grow on their own terms,” said Rep. Britt Raybould (R-Rexburg).
A House committee voted to introduce the bill Thursday morning to discuss the issue further over the next year.
Kennewick joins ranks of districts questioning WA discrimination laws regarding trans athletes
Another eastern Washington school district has waded into the debate over transgender athletes' participation in girls’ sports.
The Kennewick School Board has lodged a federal title nine complaint against Washington state, asking for federal intervention over the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
A recent executive order from the Trump administration bans trans girls from participating in girls’ sports and threatens to withhold funding from schools that don’t comply with the order.
Washington education officials have advised districts to continue to comply with state law, which bans discrimination based on gender identity.
Mead and Central Valley Districts earlier this week both proposed policies that would limit girls’ sports to students assigned female at birth and create a third athletic division for trans and nonbinary students.
Mead’s board has also suggested it will follow federal guidance, rather than state law on this issue.
ID immigration bill on hold
Idaho has been temporarily blocked from enforcing an immigration bill.
House Bill 83 allows state law enforcement to check a person’s immigration status if they are suspected of or being detained for a separate crime.
A federal district judge Thursday granted the ACLU’s request for a temporary restraining order — the same day Governor Brad Little signed the measure into law.
Boise State Public Radio reports that a judge has been assigned to the case and a preliminary injunction hearing is set for mid-April.
Texas passed a similar law in 2023, which is on hold awaiting a ruling from an appeals court.
Basketball isn't the only women's game in town in Spokane this weekend
This weekend is big for women’s sports in Spokane.
The NCAA regionals begin their four-day run at the Arena. Louisiana State and North Carolina State tip it off at 4:30, followed by Ole Miss and UCLA. The winners will play Sunday.
Also, at four venues around Spokane, female volleyball players — ages 11 to 15 — will try to qualify their teams for national tournaments. The Pacific Northwest Qualifier will fill The Podium, the Spokane Convention Center, the HUB Sports Center in Spokane Valley and Eastern Washington University in Cheney.
It’s the second weekend for the volleyball tournament. Last weekend, the teams with 16 to 18-year-old girls competed.
Tournament Organizer April Stark says 800 teams are serving, digging and spiking this year. She says the tournament has become so popular that next year’s event will be extended to a third weekend.
“We’re hoping maybe to add a few more teams but kind of take some of that compression on the two weekends and add it to that third weekend to kind of spread things out. And, again, that's our plan, you know. But the best laid plans, you know how that goes. So we'll have to see," she said.
The name of the tournament is Pacific Northwest Qualifier, but Stark says it also draws teams from Montana, California, Arizona and Texas.
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Reporting contributed by James Dawson, Courtney Flatt, Owen Henderson and Doug Nadvornick.