BC taxpayers subsidized fracking companies to the tune of 1.2 billiion in two years
Although the amount of natural gas fracked in the northeast corner of the province has increased by 70 per cent over the last decade, British Columbia is increasingly out of pocket when it comes to collecting on this industry's resource royalties, according to newly released data By Judith Lavoie, for The Narwhal Fossil fuel...
Column: Forming bonds in times of crisis
The climate and ecological crises touch each of us to varying degrees. Some carry the emotional weight of worrying about what kind of diminished, unstable world we’re leaving for our children while others are directly, physically affected by climate-fuelled disasters like storms, wildfires, droughts and changing wildlife...
Column: Life and Path
A death in my family A cousin of mine died last month, a man with whom for a very long period I had no contact nor true family-feeling. Alcoholism killed him. We once were very close. I feel called to apologize in advance to family members who might feel my remarks here are too personal, that I have said too much that should...
Op/Ed: Canada doesn't protect whistleblowers, and they're at serious risk.
By Paloma Raggo, for The Conversation Whistleblowers put their careers, and sometimes their safety, on the line to protect democratic ideals and the public interest. Canada, like its southern neighbour, is not immune to whistleblowing controversies at the highest levels of government. Would a whistleblower be protected in...
Column: From the Hill -- a message from our re-elected MP
I want to start by saying that it’s a great honour and privilege to be re-elected as the Member of Parliament for South Okanagan-West Kootenay. I’ll continue to work hard to live up to the responsibility of that position. It was a hard-fought campaign, and the landscape of Canadian politics has shifted somewhat. We have a...
Letter: Remembrance Day message to young people
To The Editor: I had the privilege of growing up in The War Amps Child Amputee (CHAMP) Program which was started by war amputee veterans. Through Operation Legacy, which is made up of members of CHAMP, we pay tribute to the veterans who founded the Association and all those who have served our country. I have participated in...
Editorial Rant: Lying in politics -- so common, so corrupt
Politics. Election campaigns. Lies. Is anyone else out there infuriated by how closely those three things are linked? Why should politicians have some sort of 007-like “License to Lie”? I say they shouldn’t. In Canada, people are given some protection against false or misleading advertising. There’s the voluntary “Canadian...
Opinion: What Canada can learn from New Zealand on electoral reform
By Dominic O'Sullivan -- Associate Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University The results of the recent Canadian election don’t reflect the will of the people, and the situation is reigniting calls for proportional representation. Some have outlined what Canada’s House of Commons would have looked like under ...
Opinion: We are heading for a New Cretaceous, not a new normal
By Peter Forbes, for Aeon A lazy buzz phrase – ‘Is this the new normal?’ – has been doing the rounds as extreme climate events have been piling up over the past year. To which the riposte should be: it’s worse than that – we’re on the road to even more frequent, more extreme events than we saw this year. We have known since...
Column: We owe Greta and the world's youth more than a Nobel Prize
Many people, including me, expected Greta Thunberg to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Instead, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali was deservedly awarded for ending more than 20 years of conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.Greta and the young people worldwide urging adults to care about their future don’t need a Nobel....
