There is no accounting for political judgment when it gets caught up in irrational euphoria. The overwhelming victory of Justin Trudeau in the Liberal Party's leadership race demonstrates just how impoverished the state of our political culture has become. Did the polls -- almost completely meaningless at this stage of the ...

I recently had the opportunity to speak and offer support for Bill C-380, An Act to Amend the Fish Inspection Act and the Fisheries Act, which would prohibit the importation of shark fins not attached to the rest of the shark and enshrine in legislation Canada's prohibition on finning.  This bill was introduced by my colleague,...

Once every four years citizens are offered a brief reprieve from the responsibility of endless decisions about matters concerning their kids, their homes, and their work; of just getting along and making ends meet. Once every four years we are inundated with propaganda telling us that all the problems associated with the...

It's a bit rich for the B.C. Liberal party to be giving lessons to the BC NDP on political fundraising, as they tried to do over the weekend after the NDP sent a fundraising appeal to corporate Liberal party donors. The Liberals might have been well-advised to leave well enough alone, if for no other reason than it might...

The Official Community Plan (OCP) is a bylaw like no other. The Municipal Act not only requires councils to adopt an OCP; it establishes a time limit for its adoption. The procedure for developing and adopting an OCP is also without equal. The Act requires councils to hold public hearings and it prescribes the form, content,...

Well, Rossland, it's been a while coming: the final outcome of the "DemocracySTORM" on ways YOU felt our city should budge its budget. We asked three questions:   1) What should the City of Rossland spend MORE money on? 2) What should the City of Rossland spend LESS money on? 3) What other key points should council consider...

For a while, I was wondering whether Christy Clark and her supporters realized THEY were in government, not opposition! They all spent much of the Liberals’ half-hour paid advertisement on Global TV Sunday night warning against the evils of deficits and debt: BC NEEDS a balanced budget “for our kids”; BC should NOT leave those...

To begin, and to keep my focus sharpened, I will quote what I set out last column as my goal: “My subject for next column is, can we look to “old-fashioned” mystery-teachings to lead us forward?   Can “return” to pagan or medieval astrology, kabbalah, alchemy or magick, work for us now? Does the East have spiritual truths to...

The purpose of local government, as defined in the Municipal Act, sec. 3(a), is to provide “good government for its community.” The Act does not define what a community is, and there are many ways to define a community. For the purpose of local government, a community can be defined as “a body of people living in the same...

Like most parents in Canada, I have grieved for Rehtaeh Parsons, the 17-year-old teenager that committed suicide April 7 after being sexually assaulted two years ago. After the assault, she was cyberbullied until her breaking point. As a parent, this terrifies me. I know I am in way over my head. Every parent feels that “kids...