Gadget Google – Lecteur multimédia de Google – http://www.liens-du-vin.ch/google-audio_player-script.htm
Continue readingAuthor: Norm Farrell
Northern Insight: Gifts for our children
When Liberals formed British Columbia’s government in 2001, they had a commitment to manage provincial finances responsibly. The result: program cuts, reduced capital spending and lower costs of administration. Fiscal conservatism was the BC Liberal mantra and provincial debt reflected the style. In Gordon Campbell’s first term, debt rose by
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Hudson Mews v. Portland Hotel Society
The Code of Ethics published by the Society for Professional Journalists includes, among others: Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable. Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage. Is the pro-media of British Columbia guided by those or
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Sea to Sky Highway subsidy $12-$15 each vehicle
News item, June 10, 2005: “VANCOUVER (CP) – The British Columbia government has signed a deal with a transportation consortium to design, build and manage improvement to the Sea-to-Sky Highway north of Vancouver. “Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said the project is on time and on budget after he announced the
Continue readingNorthern Insight: The states of state affairs
Comparing remuneration of senior public officials in Washington State to BC counterparts can leave one astounded. The most obvious examples are at the publicly owned investment management agencies and the ferry operations. Despite paying substantially less to executives, both Washington State Investment Board and Washington State Ferries outperformed equivalents north
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Who does the Government of BC serve?
I wrote previously about Narrows Inlet, a wilderness area 60 kilometres by air from Vancouver. I repeat Joan and Soren Bech’s submission to the Environmental Assessment Office because it is articulate and it relates to a major theme at this blog. The theme is a rhetorical question, “Who does the
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Conflict of interest. Wazzat?
When football coach Jerry Sandusky recruited, groomed and molested boys, he continued for years because people around him stayed quiet. In 2009, Sara Ganim, then a 22-year-old writer for a small newspaper, sussed the importance of rumours involving the Penn State icon. Three years later Sandusky faced 30 to 60
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Delay, legislate, litigate, repeat
Reasons for Judgment, Madam Justice S. Griffin, January 2014 The hearing before this Court follows on the Court’s declaration on April 13, 2011 that legislation interfering with teachers’ collective bargaining rights was unconstitutional as a breach of s. 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees freedom of
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Losing the news
Pulitzer Prize winner Alex Jones wrote the 2009 book Losing the News: The Future of the News That Feeds Democracy. In it, he examines “authentic journalistic objectivity” and finds “a crisis of diminishing quantity and quality, of morale and sense of mission, of values and leadership.” A few excerpts: “Objectivity
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Why have our trees have lost half their value?
BC Stats released an updated report ‘British Columbia Origin Log Exports’ and I extracted data to produce these graphs. The statistics show the volume of raw logs leaving the province continues at record levels. This demonstrates the average monthly volume of exports over time. I’ve written much about the subject
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Thoughts on Education From the Inside
By Brad Farrell High school teacher and concerned parent “What do you do for a living?” A question. A common question. One people ask to start a conversation. One that comes up when meeting new people. One I’d bet most of you have heard, probably many times. One I hesitate
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Questions asked
If I presented you a professional who holds three university degrees, one a masters, a variety of professional development certificates and has 22 years’ experience, what would you say that person should expect to earn in salary? If I told you that professional is a teacher, would your answer change?
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Let them die and decrease the surplus…
Paul Willcocks writes a blog with the perceptive eye of a skilled and experienced journalist and editor. I suspect Vaughn Palmer might exclude Paul from his description, “Nincompoops ranting in their underpants is the term for people blogging, for me.” Paul’s latest contribution at Paying Attention has a title designed,
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Shill, sham and flimflam
Perhaps Vaughn Palmer has a Red Telephone, a hotline for when BC Liberals want news initiated, altered or decried. The record is public and to evaluate, readers need simply ask, “Who and what is served by Palmer’s work?” The pundit often has no intention of giving a whole story, with
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Assume the position, please
Reader who goes by the name of Hawgwash left this comment at the earlier article, Subsidies for some, higher fees for others, “I see Vaughn Palmer is actually touching this topic and even with the slightest hint of skepticism. I do though think he left the heavy lifting to you
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Special treatment for special people
I write here about natural resource giveaways that amount to billions of dollars. Meanwhile, the Premier stands in the Legislature to justify monthly clawbacks of $187 from a disabled single parent whose family must live on far less than Christy Clark pays for her only child to attend Vancouver’s St.
Continue readingNorthern Insight: With Ian Jessop CFAX1070, May 14
We discuss the province’s natural gas revenue, BC Ferries and log exports. Gadget Google – Lecteur multimédia de Google – http://www.liens-du-vin.ch/google-audio_player-script.htm
Continue readingNorthern Insight: BC Ferries still owed $25 million 2nd mortgage
Under leadership of CEO David Hahn and Board Chairs Elizabeth Harrison and Don Hay, in a deal negotiated before completion of construction, BC Ferries lent a real estate developer almost $25 million for The Atrium, a Victoria commercial development. The loan was secured by a second mortgage, even though, when
Continue readingNorthern Insight: John Horgan on resource revenues
This is from Ian Jessop’s CFAX1070 program, May 9, about 1:45pm Gadget Google – Lecteur multimédia de Google – http://www.liens-du-vin.ch/google-audio_player-script.htm
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Ferries’ future foretold
In a month or three, BC Ferries will publish statements of its financial position and information about remuneration earned by the top executives. I had someone look into a crystal ball and we’ve determined that in 2014, as in all years prior, the ferry execs achieved key financial targets, improved
Continue reading