Forget hope that the BC Hydro rate increase would be overturned, the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) recently approved an interim rate increase of eight per cent, effective May 1. For the average residential BC Hydro customer, this would amount to a bill increase of about $6 per month, albeit until the final decision comes […]

The Province will provide $2 million to the Union of BC Municipalities for West Nile Virus (WNV) monitoring and larvaciding  —insecticide that affects only developing stages of mosquitoes — for targeted areas of the Kootenays, the Okanagan and the Fraser Valley. WNV is transmitted to people and animals, such as horses, through a bite from an […]

 There will be no excuse for anyone not to vote in the next provincial election, thanks to the NDP’s choice of Adrian Dix as its new leader. For years, how many times have we heard those who do not vote saying “They’re all the same.”? Well, not this time.  Adrian Dix and Christy Clark are […]

It took three ballots but Adrian Dix finally won out over two other NDP leadership candidates Sunday and will become the new leader of the provincial Opposition. The Vancouver-Kingsway MLA edged Mike Farnworth, after Dana Larsen and Juan de Fuca MLA John Horgan were dropped after the first and second ballots, respectively. Dix received 9,772 […]

The Province is continuing its fight against the mountain pine beetle epidemic with a $9-million infusion to help B.C.’s three beetle action coalitions continue their front-line battle. The three coalitions have been developing and funding projects to help mitigate the current and anticipated economic, environmental and social impacts of the pine beetle epidemic. Now, the […]

The mistake most people make in rating election debates is they assume all the candidates start as equals.  But unless they’re all neophites, that is simply not true: one is already the Prime Minister or Premier or Mayor–and it’s up to the others to knock him/her of the top perch. It was a good debate, […]

Some key dates for the HST referendum were announced Friday. • Monday, June 13 – Elections BC starts mailing out referendum ballots for the HST to all registered voters. • Friday, June 24 – Majority of British Columbians have received the ballot. • Friday, July 8 – Last day for unregistered voters to request a […]

The re-negotiations of the federal-provincial-territorial health accord are on the horizon, and everyone is looking for a way to save money and improve health.  Sound impossible?  Why don’t we put our money where our mouth is?   It’s a strange truth of Canadian public policy: the care of our lips, tongues, and throats is fully […]

Ask anyone who has lived under a dictatorship and they will tell you of its ugly features: A Supreme Leader who rules with an iron fist; legislation pushed through by a rubber stamp legislative assembly with little or closured debate; government officials ordered into silence or fearful of speaking up; and a press denied the right to even […]

There are lots of questions remaining about the BC Rail scandal…. the biggest being ‘why did the Liberal government pick up the $6M defence lawyers’ tab for two convicted criminals?’.   This week I had a chance to keep that question–and story-alive, by appearing on broadcaster Stirling Faux on-line business show This Week in Money.  Here’s […]