I live on a sailboat. My “backyard” is Georgia and Johnstone Straits. And, yes, I am a NIMBY. To anyone who wants to transport Alberta’s tar sands oil through BC’s pristine wilderness to load onto tankers, I say: Not In My Backyard. We all know what the dire environmental consequences will be if several hundred oil tankers ...

Ever since the BC Liberal government surprised residents of BC’s Kootenays with its March 20, 2012 approval for the controversial Jumbo Glacier Resort, people have been asking: Why now? After all, the Jumbo Resort proposal has been around since 1989 and has been successfully opposed by local people for more than twenty years....

With Parliament back in full swing I would like to reflect a bit on the 2011 general election which for several reasons was quite historic. The 41st Parliament obviously changed our party by thrusting us into the role of Official Opposition for the first time, but it also changed the face of the House of Commons, by making ...

I read three things on the back of a vehicle in Victoria last week: “Free Tibet!”  and the Sanskrit symbol “Om.” Then, on the licence plate, “the Best Place on Earth.” I like how these concepts relate. We live in BC, a long way from China, but it feels good to stand in solidarity with colonized Tibetans ruled by China. Things...

Just as Hamlet contemplated suicide in Shakespeare’s play, Council is contemplating financial suicide for the taxpayers of Rossland.  Earlier this year, CAO Victor Kumar urged Council to  rescind the Development Cost Charge (DCC) bylaw. Mayor Granstrom and his happy band of robotic rubber-stampers were happy to oblige.  Only...

In September 1962 – 50 years ago this month – a book was published which changed the way we looked at the post-World War Two chemical revolution. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring – a clarion call about the perils of pesticides – is largely credited with launching the modern day environmental movement. Soon after its publication,...

Workers have always had to fight. From the time of the industrial revolution right up until today, the people who make the capitalist system work--those who do the work that produces the goods and those who are the consumers who buy them--have had to fight for a fair share of the profits. Capitalism works best when the people...

If anyone had any doubts that CAO Victor Kumar controls council members like puppets on a string, consider this. Mr. Kumar has resigned and appears to have foisted his own hand-picked successor onto council. His resignation should have provided council with an opportunity to undertake an exhaustive search to find the most...

Today I couldn’t help but wonder…at what point in a politician’s life does spewing hypocritical crap become so second nature that they fail to smell the aroma of the barnyard they’re sitting in? It was a mere two weeks ago when the story broke of excessive and frivolous spending in government, not only by the premier, but by...

Okay, time to stop worrying about climate change. Turns out we can just change the climate. How? Well, maybe we should just nuke the moon. (Apparently if we can shift its orbit to block more sunlight, oil companies can keep drilling, the politicians in their pockets can keep doing nothing and gas-guzzling SUV drivers can laugh...