The 'Ethical Oil' bait-and-switch
In the ongoing campaign to put a positive spin on Alberta’s Tar Sands, proponents have deployed a new rhetorical attack: women’s rights. If you support women’s rights, say conservative pundits Ezra Levant and Alykhan Velshi, choose “ethical oil” over “conflict oil”. The phrase is now standard prose for the Harper government,...
COMMENT: Canada’s disappeared women
This fall British Columbia’s Missing Women Commission will finally begin its work. It does so in under a cloud of suspicion: an inadequate mandate, a potentially compromised commissioner, and a refusal to financially support affected native communities, families, and Vancouver Downtown Eastside community groups to participate...
Aboriginal groups slam police and justice system
The First Nations Summit (FNS), the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), the BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN) and the Native Courtworker and Counselling Association of BC (NCCABC) today expressed shock and outrage at the RCMP beating of a 17 year old handcuffed aboriginal girl in Williams Lake and an aboriginal death in...
LETTER: Democracy wins at UBCM with regard to Smart Meters
Dear Editor,The BC Liberals' attempts to silence the growing Smart Meter controversy have failed at the Union of BC Municipalities convention with delegates voting for a province-wide moratorium. Could the heavy-handed, dictatorial edicts of Rich Coleman and the Liberals have actually prompted this clear vote for democracy,...
Protests greet Cheney talk at Vancouver Club
On a cloudy Monday night, hundreds of Vancouver residents gathered at the ‘Vancouver Club’ to protest the visit of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. This was Cheney's first trip outside of the United States on his book tour.The protestors came from a plethora of different backgrounds including anti-war, 9/11 conspiracy,...
BC government’s job plan on right path
I like the provincial government’s new job plan--not because they promised thousands of new jobs almost immediately, but because they didn’t.We all experiecned the hype before, provincially and federally, from every political party that has held office or wanted to: with the hype and promises skyrocketing in job numbers in ...
John Hart negotiations 'going nowhere': First Nations
The We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum Nations confirmed today that negotiations concerning BC Hydro’s proposed $1.3 billion John Hart Generating Station Replacement Project are close to breaking down due to BC Hydro’s failure to table an offer in the ongoing negotiations to resolve aboriginal issues. Failure to arrive at an agreement...
Conservatives REALLY Frighten BC Liberals!
The most interesting thing about those latest radio ads by the BC Liberals is the fact they were done at all … now … more than 18 months (supposedly) before the next provincial election. And there’s an entire website set up just to attack BC Conservative leader John Cummins! Congratulations, John! You’ve now officially made...
Christy Clark stages a coup
BC is in deep trouble: we now have a government that has no moral, no public and no legal legitimacy to govern. Christy Clark’s government was never elected by the people of this province, on the basis of any endorsed platform, program, promises or outlined plans for governing. And she herself--before taking the premier’s...
Why the BC Liberal government doesn't value your life
There are many instances I've come across in the past number of years which suggest to me the Campbell/Clark Government places no real value on the lives of its citizens - this despite Premier Clark's "families first" motto. That's a bold claim, I know - which is why I'm going to state my case here, drawing on several specific...
