Column: Challenges for voters -- and candidates
We can debate whether holding an election now is opportune or opportunistic. We have had three referendums in the past 15 years on the subject of our electoral system, and we have decided to leave things as they are. Debating the timing of an election is part and parcel of our preferred system. Having decided to maintain the...
Explainer: Fall election – has the BC NDP kept its election promises?
The NDP rose to power in 2017 vowing to take action on climate change, old-growth logging, the Trans Mountain pipeline, endangered species and more. Three years in, The Narwhal examines how the government has fared on the environment By Sarah Cox, for The Narwhal B.C.’s NDP government came to power in 2017 promising to...
Op/Ed: How Canada could benefit from a carbon budget
By Kathryn Harrison and Anna Kanduth, for The Conversation Canadians have understandably been preoccupied by the COVID-19 emergency. Yet the climate emergency that prompted hundreds of thousands to march in the streets in September 2019 has not subsided. Just as Canadians have worked together to “bend the curve” on COVID-19,...
Column: COVID-19, school and climate change
The global pandemic has created a unique and challenging back-to-school season. Many parents, guardians and teachers are struggling to balance children’s safety with education, all while keeping their households running smoothly. It’s like nothing we’ve seen before. Many adults are rightfully focused on making sure the...
Letter: Distressed by early election
Editor, the Rossland Telegraph: I want to be wrong about this. I am only half certain. I think the BC NDP are heading for a defeat. Premier Horgan has watched New Brunswick's election result and drawn a conclusion, but he is wrong about British Columbians. We are not tolerant of crude political tactics to sustain his power...
Column: From the Hill -- What we need from Parliament now
Parliament begins its fall session this coming week and I have just returned from a week of meetings in Ottawa to discuss how that sitting will look—both in terms of how we will meet and the policies the government may bring forward in the Speech from the Throne on Wednesday. Throughout the spring and summer, the House of...
COLUMN: Carbon pricing in the climate crisis is like handwashing in a pandemic
Sometimes we need to be reminded of the basics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials have repeated clear messages about handwashing, physical distancing and mask-wearing. These are relatively simple preventative measures to limit the virus’s spread. Responding to climate change isn’t so simple, yet it’s every...
Editorial: Grieving the death of a co-op
Many readers know that ‘way back in 1971, I was one of the six official signatories to the founding documents of Mountain Equipment Co-operative, a (formerly) member-owned retail consumer co-op. And many readers will know by now that it has been placed under creditor protection, and that its assets are being, or have been, ...
OP/ED: Landmark decision by BC Supreme Court protects public health care
In today’s landmark ruling in the Cambie Surgery Centre case, Justice Steeves dealt a strong blow to the efforts of Dr. Brian Day and others to undermine Canada’s publicly-funded health care system. The decade-long legal attack launched by one of the largest for-profit surgical centres in Canada sought to invalidate key...
Column: Earth Overshoot Day
This year, “Earth Overshoot Day” came later than it has in 15 years — on August 22. That’s a mixed blessing. Increasing per capita consumption, population growth and rising greenhouse gas emissions had been moving the date earlier almost every year since the 1970s. It’s fallen in late July or...
