“Today's BC Liberals” may have taken a little inspiration during last year's election campaign from former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell when she bluntly stated in 1993 that "an election is no time to discuss serious issues." It's why British Columbians could be forgiven for thinking that they missed something during...

I'm not in the habit of discussing my professional decisions on this site, not because I don't welcome input, but rather because I think our role should be to report the news, not become the news. Having said that, I think it's time for a frank dialogue about what you want your news outlet to look like. Not the website – I'm...

One of the most defining issues of the Conservative’s time in government is their constant march toward self-regulation for industry. In the past, Canada relied on strong public regulation and oversight to ensure risks are managed to protect the public. The move away from the time-tested method has been incremental and...

The Harper government seems intent on proving to its detractors that things can always get worse. They’ve one-upped themselves with the farce called the Fair Elections Act. It has been described as a direct threat to the right to vote and an assault on democracy by the very people our democracy assigns to examine these things....

To the leaders of my province, I am a 34-year-old farmer in the Southern Interior working with my wife and son to build a business growing and selling food.   We do not have the finances to own farmland, so we operate entirely on leased parcels. Because large agribusiness and government subsidies to the industrial food system...

Colonies and Nations Two things happening in Canada now must move one to ask why Canada is. Immigration of alien cultures here is one, and Quebec sovereignty is the other, reason to ask: Why is there a jurisdiction, this political entity, called “Canada”? The historical answer comes most readily to me, with my background as...

This open letter to Mayor Brian Taylor was submitted by Grand Forks resident Julia Butler.  Dear Mayor Taylor At the council meeting on March 10, I presented council with a letter from Coralee Oakes, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development stating, “I assure you that the Province of British Columbia does not...

According to BC Hydro, in Earth Hour 2014 their customers accrued less than half the savings achieved in 2013. Is this because the lights people turned off were more efficient lights or is it because fewer lights were turned off? Maybe it’s a combination of both; however, it’s my belief that climate change has almost disappeared...

A new study sponsored by Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center has highlighted the prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution. Noting that warnings of 'collapse' are often seen to be fringe or controversial,...

The notion of ‘big ideas’ periodically raises its head in Canadian politics and I recently criticized the NDP for taking a good idea – a national day of action – and wasting it in on, well, small ideas. Specifically I suggested that the party’s focus on excessive interest rates and other charges effectively redefined citizens...