Opinion: Is Site C really a done deal? Is it over?
A summary, by Carol Linnet of DeSmog Canada Site C is a go. Premier John Horgan announced the decision Monday morning. It was met instantly with threats of legal action, requests for an injunction, and condemnation from Amnesty International. Let's start with the legal stuff. Within minutes of the...
Opinion: Site C's bill of goods carries a hefty price tag
Difficult to imagine them getting caught dead in the same room a few weeks ago, but to paraphrase William Shakespeare, “Site C acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” The list of supporters includes the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, B.C. Building Trades, Christian Labour Association and the Progressive Contractors Association....
Editorial Rant: Are we stupid, or what?
We have more fatal crashes than any other region. Are more drivers in the Southern Interior region of BC notably more stupid than drivers elsewhere in BC? Do so many of us here just not have a clue about winter driving? Or are we so much unhealthier that we have that many more medical crises causing car crashes? The statistics...
COLUMN: Stop blaming God and 'nature' for what we've done
Traditionally, we’ve labelled events over which we have no influence or control “acts of God” or “natural disasters.” But what’s “natural” about climate-induced disasters today? Scientists call the interval since the Industrial Revolution the “Anthropocene,” a period when our species hasbecome the major factor altering the ...
CBT announces new 10-million-dollar ecosystem enhancement program
Ecosystems around the Columbia Basin will receive a major boost thanks to a new Ecosystem Enhancement Program announced by Columbia Basin Trust. The program will run for five years with a budget of $10 million. The goal is to help maintain and improve ecological health and native biodiversityin a variety of ecosystems, such...
Column: We must begin to curb the power of corporations
The revelations of the Paradise Papers, the earlier Panama Papers and numerous articles in the western mainstream and alternative media demonstrate just one dimension, tax evasion, of an increasingly obvious truth: global corporations have become the greatest threat to the planet. The deliberate starvation of government,...
Column: Fake News is Circulating on the Internet. Here's One Correction.
Renewable energy isn’t perfect, but it’s far better than fossil fuels In their efforts to discredit renewable energy and support continued fossil fuel burning, many anti-environmentalists have circulated a dual image purporting to compare a lithium mine with an oilsands operation. It illustrates the level of dishonesty to...
EDITORIAL: The move (or not) to electoral reform in BC
Why fill out the government's questionnaire? The BC government's questionnaire, seeking public input on electoral reform, is intended to find out what features of an electoral system are most highly valued by voters, so the government can decide which system or systems to offer. Go ahead -- express yourself! Tell them what...
Corporate Influence Inflames Political Cynicism
In 1952, my Grade 10 civics teacher asked us what we hoped to become as adults. One of the most popular boys answered, “I hope to go into politics.” We were delighted because we knew he wanted to make the world and Canada better, and we admired him for it. Things have changed in half a century. In 1992, my daughter Severn, ...
Part Two: Multiculturalism and Immigrant Blending (revised)
“First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin. … I’m guided by a signal in the heavens, I’m guided by the beauty of our weapons.” -- Leonard Cohen, First we take Manhattan Part Two In Part One, I outlined my views of Canadian history as it pertains to immigration and multiculturalism, and the...
