100 B.C. Mounties to probe sex harassment within force, Tamsyn Burgmann , The Canadian Press “British Columbia’s top RCMP officer says he’s talked to hundreds of women who work for the force in British Columbia and they’ve told him the work environment has to change, so he’s appointing 100 Mounties
Continue readingAuthor: Norman Farrell
Blogging regularly since April 2009 on public affairs with focus on BC politics, journalism, the environment and ethical matters in the public arena.
Northern Insight: Independent MLA’s speak out
FORT ST. JOHN – Independent B.C. MLAs Bob Simpson and Vicki Huntington’s visit to the Peace allowed them to see the region’s natural resource face to face, resulting in questions and concerns they plan to bring to the provincial government’s attention. “I raised this issue in the legislature, [and] a
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Guest post from Farmland Defence League
BC Liberals Pat Pimm and Blair Lekstrom have proposed a delegation agreement for the Peace River Valley, a move that is intended to free them of political responsibility for development of the fertile farmland in a region that represents 1/3 of British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve, and effectively deprives the
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Liberal MLA Bloy embarrasses the Legislature
John Horgan, critic for energy, mines and petroleum resources, spoke to the Legislature Monday about directing the B.C. Utilities Commission to do a full and comprehensive review of the Smart Metering Program: ” …during the budget estimates in 2009… I asked [the then Minister of Energy] to give me an
Continue readingNorthern Insight: An opportunity for us to learn
30 year-old William Housty’s powerhouse presentation to the National Energy Board’s Enbridge hearings in his community of Bella Bella. William describes the history, language and culture of his people in fascinating detail – and how the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline and Tar Sands supertankers transiting the waters of his people’s
Continue readingNorthern Insight: USA’s upside-down justice
From Tom Engelhardt‘s Tomgram: Peter Van Buren, Joining The Whistleblowers’ Club “… the strange, embattled world of Obama-era governmental whistleblowers. As a group, they are, after all, just about the only people inside the National Security Complex who ever get in trouble for their acts.
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Canada’s most transparent government
Ian Reid is reporting that thousands of pages of BC Rail documents are newly released under FOI rules. All but five are blank. The word ‘five’ is not a misprint but I think there was a misprint in the BC Liberal platform document that said: “It’s time for a New Era
Continue readingNorthern Insight: What’s up at PavCo besides operating losses?
Whispered leaks say that PavCo’s professional managers are arm wrestling with political hacks who want only happy talk reaching ears of the public. Trouble is, good news at PavCo is mostly spin that won’t hold up to scrutiny. The result, at least until Liberals create a workable survival strategy, is
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Premier Photo Op: Your rich friends mislead
Raise Taxes on Rich to Reward True Job Creators, Nick Hanauer, Bloomberg Businessweek “I’m a very rich person. As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, I’ve started or helped get off the ground dozens of companies in industries including manufacturing, retail, medical services, the Internet and software. I founded the Internet
Continue readingNorthern Insight: A must-read piece
at The Gazetteer where one of RossK’s readers tells an interesting story about PostMedia. It includes this: “…[In the robocall-fest] I would argue that the heavy lifting was still done by the blogosphere, including you and many of those in your own circle. But I think there is still a
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Diet for a dying planet
And You Thought It Was Just ‘Pink’ Slime, Lena Groeger, ProPublica
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Serving the greedy, not the needy
Wading through financial reports of BC’s two main political parties leads me to the conclusion that BC Liberals have lost interest in honest and ethical government and are now focused on lining the pockets of friends and insiders. Private power producers, the oil and gas industry, mining companies, real estate
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Cash for kids
Former Judge on Trial in ‘Cash for Kids’ Scheme, JON HURDLE and SABRINA TAVERNISE, New York Times, February 8, 2011 “SCRANTON, Pa. — A former Pennsylvania judge went on trial in federal court on Tuesday, charged with racketeering, bribery and extortion in what prosecutors say was a $2.8 million scheme
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Scrub, scrub, scrub
TRIUMF, located at the University of BC, is a laboratory for nuclear and particle physics research and related sciences. It is funded in part by the Government of British Columbia. In addition to directing TRIUMF, Nigel Lockyer is a professor at UBC’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. So, why is
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Down this road, no taxes for business
While getting refunds of every cent they pay, business people enthusiastically support you and I paying HST. They aim to relieve themselves of income taxes too. While working people, even those on the brink of poverty, pay income tax, large corporations arrange business affairs to avoid or evade taxation of
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Oxymoronic
Ethical asbestos. Ethical torture. Ethical bribery. Ethical oil.
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Go away, we have something to hide
Benjamin Alldritt, North Shore News reporter invited by the North Vancouver-Lonsdale Liberal Association to “A North Shore Evening with Premier Christy Clark”, gets disinvited by one of Clark’s minions: “I’m sure you can understand that we don’t want comments made in front of a private audience made public,” said Garfinkel,
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Questions for SFU and Wilf Hurd
April 5, I sent an email to Wilf Hurd, Simon Fraser University’s Director, Government Relations, (Contact info), posing three questions: Have you issued a public statement responding to Jonathan Fowlie’s report in the Vancouver Sun stating you caused SFU to pay more than $2,000 spent in BC Liberal Party Fundraisers.?
Continue reading