Portal:British Columbia

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British Columbia ⁱ/ˌbrɪtᵻʃ kəˈlʌmbiə/ (BC) (French: la Colombie-Britannique, C.-B.) is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu ("Splendour without Diminishment"). In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the fifteenth largest metropolitan region in Canada. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada and the second-largest in the Pacific Northwest. In 2009, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,419,974 (about two million of whom were in Metro Vancouver).

The province's name was chosen by Queen Victoria when the Colony of British Columbia and the Mainland became a British colony in 1858. It refers to the Columbia District, the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River, which has its origins and upper reaches in southeastern British Columbia, which was the namesake of the pre-Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company. Queen Victoria chose British Columbia to distinguish what was the British sector of the Columbia District from that of the United States ("American Columbia" or "Southern Columbia"), which became the Oregon Territory in 1848 as a result of the treaty.

BC Rail (AAR reporting marks BCOL and BCIT), known as the British Columbia Railway between 1972 and 1984 and as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE; AAR reporting marks PGE and PGER) before 1972, was a railway that operated in the Canadian province of British Columbia between 1912 and 2004. It was a class II regional railway and the third-largest in Canada, operating 2 320 km (1,441 miles) of mainline track. It was owned by the provincial government from 1918 until 2004, when the operations were sold to Canadian National Railway.

Chartered in 1912, the railway was acquired by the provincial government in 1918 after running into financial difficulties. A railway that ran "from nowhere, to nowhere" for over 30 years, neither passing through any major city nor interchanging with any other railway, it expanded significantly between 1949 and 1984. Primarily a freight railway, it also offered passenger service, as well as some excursion services, most notably the Royal Hudson excursion train. The railway's operations were not always profitable, and its debts, at times, made it the centre of political controversy.

James McMillan (1783-1858) was a fur trader and explorer for the North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company. He led some of the earliest surveys of the lower Fraser River and founded Fort Langley for the HBC in 1827, and was its first Chief Trader.

Born in Scotland, McMillan moved to North America at about age 20 and began work as a clerk for the North West Company in what is now Saskatchewan. Notably, he joined David Thompson's 1808 North West Company expedition west across the Rocky Mountains. Later, he assisted in purchasing Astoria, Oregon from the Pacific Fur Company. In June 1824, following the merger of the North West Company and the HBC, McMillan accompanied HBC Governor George Simpson from York Factory far west to the lower Columbia River, arriving in Fort George on November 8 of that year. Simpson described McMillan as a “Staunch & Manly Friend and Fellow Traveller”. Ten days later, Simpson assigned McMillan with commanding an expedition to survey the mouth of the Fraser River and assess it for navigability, settlement potential and agricultural suitability. He led an exploration party of 40 men from Fort George to Puget Sound and on to Mud Bay, just east of present day Point Roberts. On local advice of a shortcut, McMillan's party proceeded east up the Nicomekl River through what is now South Surrey, British Columbia where they then portaged to the Fraser River. The expedition traveled and surveyed up the Fraser River as far as Hatzic Slough, before returning to Fort George.

... that a criminal government-corruption trial began more than six years after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided the British Columbia Parliament Buildings?

Wikinews British Columbia portal

• January 4: Suspect arrested in Los Angeles arson rampage case
• November 3: Beleaguered British Columbia Premier resigns
• November 3: NuCaptcha introduces a video captcha service, ads included
• July 1: Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers face potential charges in Dziekanski tasering death
• June 30: Braidwood Inquiry finds Dziekanski tasering in British Columbia unjustified

Capilano Lake, seen from Cleveland Dam area

Author: Vmenkov

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There is something bigger than fact: the underlying spirit, all it stands for, the mood, the vastness, the wildness.

Carr, Emily. Hundreds and Thousands: The Journals of Emily Carr

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The M/V Coho coming into port in the harbor in Victoria

For comprehensive topic coverage, see Outline of British Columbia

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