“Legislative Bureau Chief” Stephen Smart reports regularly on the British Columbia government. The “year-end views” interview with Premier Clark is but one example. Mr. Smart is married to Rebecca Scott, a Communications Officer for the Premier and her Deputy Press Secretary. CBC practice guidelines state, “We are independent of all
Continue readingTag: accountability
Northern Insights / Perceptivity: Equality before the law, maybe not
News item from the streets of America: Due to harsh sentencing, a disproportionate number of young Black and Hispanic men are likely to be imprisoned for life under scenarios in which they are guilty of little more than a history of untreated addiction and several prior drug-related offences. News item
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Untruthful minister must resign
McRae at BC farm of Norwegian company Greig Seafood British Columbia Hansard, October 20,2011 Minister of Agriculture Don McRae: “I’m pleased to say that over 5,000 samples have been tested for ISA in the last several years. How many came back positive? Let me think about it for a sec.
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Department of nothing much changes
BCCLA files complaint after RCMP Detachment Head comments “The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is filing a complaint after the head of the Langley RCMP made comments that could interfere with the independent review of the police shooting death of Alvin Wright. Wright, who had no criminal record, and no history
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Conservatives Betray Canadians with U.S. Steel Deal
DECEMBER 12, 2011 | MEDIA RELEASE TORONTO – The Conservative government has betrayed working families in Hamilton and Nanticoke by dropping its court case against U.S. Steel despite the company’s clear violations of federal law. …Read More
Continue readingImpolitical: Contrasts
Here in Canada we have media reports on Rahim Jaffer breaking the lobbying rules but there being absolutely no consequences. Shepherd says she sent the file to the RCMP because she had reasonable grounds to believe Jaffer and Glémaud broke the rules, and the RCMP decided not to proceed. “The
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the need to make sure that any lobbying legislation in Saskatchewan doesn’t merely create new ways for an already-insular government to peddle access and shut out dissent. For further reading, Murray Mandryk has discussed the issue as well in a couple of recent columns. And I’ve posted before
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Murray Dobbin comments on how the NDP can turn economic issues from a perceived weakness to one of the party’s core strengths over the next election cycle: There is a long way to go for the NDP to establish itself as a serious
Continue readingLawrence Martin on Harper’s proto-fascism | #cdnpoli
Under this PM, the state is everywhere – The Globe and Mail: ‘via Blog this’ It doesn’t make up for the fact that it still publishes Wente, but every now and then the Globe manages to do something worthwhile. My only quibble with Martin, other than that he still hasn’t
Continue readingEverybody loves a SIRCus
> In response to media reports that CSIS had been complicit in the detention of Canadian citizen Abousfian Abdelrazik in Sudan, outgoing CSIS director Jim Judd requested that CSIS watchdog and review panel, the Security Intelligence Review Committee, “investigate and report on the performance of the Service’s [CSIS’s] duties and
Continue readingIt’s Your Turn PMO
It seems that the NDP has given the Conservative government a well deserved slap in the face. After weeks of hounding CBC to produce documents about their internal operations, likely to give competitors an inside look at how the Crown Corporation operates, a question has now been put on the order paper
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – With prorogation looking like it’s bound to be back on the table fairly shortly, Lori Turnbull offers a worthwhile suggestion to end the Cons’ abuses: The 2012 prorogation would be substantively different. First, there is no obvious political land mine to avoid. Second,
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: A simple truth
For British Columbia Liberals, the BC Rail/Basi/Virk story is like a slow growing cancer. Left unresolved, it is metastasizing, nudging the afflicted party toward an inevitable conclusion. I’ve tried to understand why Liberals, or at least ethical members within the party, have not demanded an end to this distress through
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Moving forward by ignoring errors
Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com: “The UC-Davis Chancellor responsible for the pepper-spraying of her students, Linda Katehi, today went on Good Morning America and explained why she should not resign or otherwise be held accountable: “we really need to start the healing process and move forward.” On a radio program in the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Brazilian Officials Investigating Chevron Oil Spill Off Coast
oil slick.jpg Law enforcement agencies in Brazil announced today that they would begin investigating the cause of an oil spill that occurred off the coast. Chevron's Frade Well off the coast of Brazil has been leaking for more than a week. From the start, Chevron tried to downplay the significance
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Frances Russell laments Stephen Harper’s determination to replace democracy with court rule: Pierre Trudeau started it. Stephen Harper is finishing it off. The “it” is the effective demise of parliamentary democracy and the installation of “court government” ruled by an all-powerful prime minister
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: BC Tap Water Alliance Calls for Resignation of Energy Minister Coleman Over Fracking
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The B.C. Tap Water Alliance (BCTWA) called today for the resignation of British Columbia’s Energy Minister Rich Coleman. The demand comes on the hee…
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: A billionaire’s views on lost democracy
There is little wonder uber-wealthy invest in politicians because the yields can be high. Two decades ago, California developer Charles Keating gained infamy by looting Lincoln S&L of $1-billion, an amount that was shocking in its time. Regulator…
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: Integrated Reporting: Experiences from KPMG, PwC, Experts, Practitioners
What is integrated reporting? What are the benefits and what’s involved in its adoption? We survey views from PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and talked to Michael Krzus, the author of One Report: Better Strategy through Integrated Reporting. Joanne Westwood of Vancity shared with us their practical experiences.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: October 18, 2011
There hasn’t been as much reporting on the Cons’ re-introduction of copyright legislation as there was at some other points when previous incarnations were up for discussion. But Tuesday, October 18 saw second-reading debate in Parliament on the bill -…
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