To the left is a donation button linked to PayPal Secure Payments. An explanation of why you’re asked to use it follows. Note: any amounts not expended directly in furthering this project will be returned to contributors July 31, pro rata. A number of bloggers plan a blog aggregation website featuring regular commentary
Continue readingAuthor: Norm Farrell
Northern Insight: Bloggers 1 / BC Pro-media 0
Excellent piece in the Globe & Mail by Eric Grenier (@308dotcom) on why he expects no irregular polling results in the BC election, as seemed to occur in Alberta last April. Why the B.C. NDP aren’t likely to see a Wildrose-like collapse “…Add to that the fact that the polls
Continue readingNorthern Insight: A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money
Was the Royal Bank of Canada hurt by public consternation about exporting jobs, importing foreign workers and telling tall tales about the actions? Only slightly, and only briefly, as their stock price reflects: That does not mean that individuals cannot apply continued pressure on the Royal Bank and their CEO,
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Not told by Canada’s corporate media
Fiscal record of Canadian political parties, Toby Sanger, The Progressive Economics Forum: “With all the recent news stories — as well as alarm raised by other leaders — about the fiscal and economic impact and record of NDP governments, I decided to take a look at and review the fiscal
Continue readingNorthern Insight: From the audit of carbon neutral government
“… [Carbon] offsets can only be credible in B.C. if, among other things, the revenue from their sale is the tipping point in moving forward on a project. It must be an incentive, not a subsidy, for the reduction of GHGs. Yet neither project was able to demonstrate that the
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Failure perfectly OK with BC Liberals
Yesterday, British Columbia’s government refused to release a report from the Auditor General that examined Pacific Carbon Trust, a crown agency set up to pass funds from schools, hospitals and other public institutions to private companies that claim to reduce emissions. Today, we understand why Liberals tried to prevent release
Continue readingNorthern Insight: The Senate: Study, Snooze and Spend
Between 2008 and 2013, the Canadian Senate was in session an average of 74 days a year. With other priorities and other careers, most Senators fall short of perfect attendance. Some – including Brazeau, Dallaire, Massicotte, Wallin, Braley and Brown – have fallen well short. While the Senate’s 105 unelected
Continue readingNorthern Insight: BC the land of Fantasy Gardens once again
I planned to keep an eye on the BC Liberal throne speech and add my comments about Premier Photo Op’s pre-election prescription for prosperity. I won’t bother though because Vaughn Palmer wrote one paragraph that says everything that needs to be said. Here is Palmer’s version of Clark’s throne speech,
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Truth and Premier Photo Op remain strangers
David Akin’s On the Hill, November 2/12, Latest job numbers: BC is number one — in job losses ” ‘I’m going to run on (being) number one in job creation,’ BC Premier Christy Clark told the Liberal Party of BC convention last Saturday, boasting at one point that BC had
Continue readingNorthern Insight: More ROTFL
A while ago, long tenured radio talker Bill Good told us he was offended by suggestions that certain callers get special treatment and easy access to CKNW air waves. He then spoke with a number of regular callers who confirmed that what Mr. Good had said was true. This is
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Job Openings – B.C. Liberal Party
The prospect of more than $100K in compensation, an extraordinary pension plan, living allowances, expenses and generous payments for special duties assigned by party leaders appear not enough to fill the slate of BC Liberal candidates, despite there being only three months until election time. Times Colonist ace Rob Shaw
Continue readingNorthern Insight: "This government has problems up the wazoo"
Two weeks before Sukh Dhaliwal was acclaimed BC Liberal candidate for Surrey-Panorama, he was served with six charges of tax evasion. Province columnist Mike Smyth wrote in November that the former Liberal MP was seen, “…as a star candidate for Team Christy.” Now, the party is looking for a new
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Aiming for a low wage economy
Christy Clark says The BC Jobs Plan is working and remains a sound strategy for our economic future. Oh really? For whom is it a sound strategy? Let us look at some numbers. Source: Stats Canada CANSIM table 281-0049 Over the last four years, BC ranked 7th in job growth,
Continue readingNorthern Insight: P3 primer for British Columbia
Since the beginning of time, the public built facilities in partnerships with private industry. Typically, government determined needs according to its priorities, hired consultants for design and tendering, awarded work to the lowest bidder and financed with its usual sources, typically the lowest cost borrowing available. As long as all
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Enbridge: bad corporate citizen
From BigCityLib Strikes Back: Two and a half years after the costliest oil pipeline spill in U.S. history, the company responsible for the disaster is balking at digging up oil that still remains in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. The cleanup has been long and difficult because the ruptured pipeline was carrying
Continue readingNorthern Insight: North Coast no place for bitumen tankers
By Adrian Raeside As a diesel mechanic, after service on WWII troop ships, my father worked on coastal vessels in British Columbia. I recall times when he returned home still shaken by gigantic storms of BC’s north coast. Now, we have the NEB, staffed entirely by drylanders, mostly from Alberta,
Continue readingNorthern Insight: The Liberal record in BC
The REAL BC Liberal Record from Rainlander on Vimeo.
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Survival skills
Dr. Mike Webster offers an interesting piece at Re-sergeance.net. Surviving the RCMP (?) talks to police members who see themselves as victims of toxic workplaces but Webster reminds that people are not powerless to affect their situations or themselves. He notes the ancient dictum that “It’s not the things in
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Feet of clay
After Laura Robinson‘s September exposé in the Georgia Straight, John Furlong held a widely reported news conference where he defended himself categorically and accused the reporter of inaccuracy and “shocking lack of diligence in researching the article.” He also claimed that Robinson was involved in a personal vendetta against him and said
Continue readingNorthern Insight: BC political alignments remain stable
When the watercarriers report that massive government advertising is making a material difference to BC Liberal fortunes, be inclined to skepticism. Last November, Stephen Smart, CBC’s Liberal correspondent, said Angus Reid’s poll gave new hope to the Clark government. Except an analysis of decided and leaning voters suggested nothing much
Continue reading