Justin Trudeau speaks at the Paris climate talks – flanked by Canadian premiers (Province of BC/Flickr) “They hang the man, and flog the woman, That steals the goose from off the common; But let the greater villain loose, That steals the common from the goose.” I’ll not waste too many
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The Common Sense Canadian: Fate of BC’s ancient forests is a question of “values”
Craig Pettitt of Valhalla Wilderness Society in the Incomappleux Valley How do we value wilderness? What metrics should we apply to an 1,800-year-old tree, or the tiny lichens that make their home on it? What numbers do we input into our calculator – ecosystem services rendered, tonnes of carbon sequestered, cubic metres
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe: Trudeau will have hell to pay in BC if he approves Kinder Morgan
Recent Vancouver rally against Kinder Morgan (Photo: David Suzuki Foundation/Facebook) None should be in the slightest surprised at the anti-British Columbia stance of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals. As Talleyrand famously noted when, after the fall of Napoleon the Bourbons were restored, “they learned nothing and forgot nothing”. Thus it
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Clark’s big loss to teachers is an opening for NDP’s Horgan…at last
BCNDP Leader John Horgan (Flickr/BC NDP) and Premier Christy Clark (Flickr/Province of BC) You have to feel sorry for John Horgan, the BC NDP leader. He has had a hell of a time getting traction and seems unable to find an issue he’s comfortable with. Even when a decent one
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Canada’s Health Care ranked 30th in world by WHO – Time to admit we have a problem
Photo: Bob M~ / Flickr CC Licence Well, we’ve let it go a very long time – perhaps for so long that a better brand of chaos is all we can hope for with reform. I’m talking about our health care system in this country. Canadians recently learned that the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Canadian academics’ open letter to Wallonia on CETA deal
Read Canadian academics’ letter to the Parliament of Wallonia and the people of Belgian. The academics expressed their support for Wallonia’s continuing rejection of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement or CETA. The post Canadian academics’ open letter to Wallonia on CETA deal appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Book Review: Beyond Banksters – Resisting the New Feudalism
Bankers Hall in Calgary (Bernard Spragg, NZ / Flickr CC Licence) Something strange was happening in the world and until a social event in November, 2011, I was having trouble putting my finger on it. That was the night some friends held a roast for me to celebrate my 80th
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Central Coast diesel spill response slow, ineffective, serious damage done: Heiltsuk
The Nathan E. Stewart fuel barge and part-sunken tug the morning of the incident (Jordan Wilson/Pacific Wild) Judging by official statements in the aftermath of the ongoing Central Coast diesel fuel spill, the response to the disaster was relatively effective and damage minimized – a PR line largely soaked up by the mainstream
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe: How our “democracy” really works – the charade of party politics and whipped caucuses
Christy Clark being sworn in as Premier of British Columbia in 2011, surrounded by her cabinet (Province of BC/Flickr) Well, it’s the political silly season again, when we democratically come together to decide by secret ballot who will govern us for the next four years. It’s a system we’ve used
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Heiltsuk call for tanker ban to include fuel barges amid ongoing leak in Great Bear Sea
Sunken tug towing Nathan E. Stewart (Image submitted) A 10,000 tonne US-owned fuel barge, the Nathan E. Stewart, ran aground in Seaforth Channel on BC’s central coast early this morning and the tug that was towing it is now leaking fuel into the highly sensitive marine environment of the Great Bear
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Pipelines being driven by private equity firms through ratings agency they now own
Former federal cabinet minister and Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, whose recent work with a major private equity firm has him acting as a strong advocate for multiple pipelines. (Canada2020/Flickr) By Joyce Nelson You may have caught the Sept. 12 headline in the Globe and Mail, the Edmonton Journal, etc: “Canada
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe: With LNG approval, Trudeau govt shows true colours…but we shouldn’t be suprised
Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna with Industry Minister Jim Carr (left) and BC Premier Christy Clark (right) announcing the federal government’s approval of PNWLNG (Province of BC/Flickr) Developing a climate plan to meet Canada’s Paris Agreement commitments is a challenging but achievable task for the federal government. Doing so
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe: Why Judges should be judged too
I’m a lawyer by trade and recently helped celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UBC Law Class of 1956. Like all of my classmates, I am very proud of our Class, one of those of those extraordinary comings together of individuals who somehow become an identifiable entity. Out of the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Why Donald Trump will probably beat Hillary Clinton
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (Gage Skidmore / Flickr CC Licence) Of course Donald Trump could beat Hillary in November. I think he will, but before going further, let me say that this would be any enormous worldwide tragedy and we must pray that there is a God and He
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Justice for Peace Caravan tells Trudeau: Keep your promises to First Nations
Members of the Treat 8 “Justice for the Peace” Caravan (Photo: Gary McNutt) Submitted by Andrea Palframan On September 12, the Federal Court of Appeal in Montreal will hear the latest legal challenge to the massive Site C hydroelectric dam already under construction on Treaty 8 territory in northeast British Columbia.
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC Greens sullied by friendship with Liberals
BC Premier Christy Clark (Province of BC/Flickr) and Greens Leader Dr. Andrew Weaver It’s always difficult to lose a friend even, perhaps especially when it is mostly a friend of convenience. Friendship covers a lot of ground, all the way from that which leads consenting adults into the sack through
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Opinion: Environment & Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna gets failing report card
Environment & Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna (Mike Gifford/Flickr cc licence) The following is an op-ed by Dr. Eoin Finn – B.Sc., Ph.D., MBA In October 2015, SFU Energy and Materials Research Group Professor Mark Jaccard published a report titled “Canadian Climate Policy Report Card: 2015”. In part, it is a
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Electric Vehicles are set to take off…so why is Trudeau still pushing pipelines?
Tesla Model 3 at March 2016 unveiling (Steve Jurvetson/Flickr) In my previous March 2016 article “Pipelines to Nowhere“, I made the point that the proposed Canadian pipelines are about increasing the international supply of petroleum when all the signs are that demand fossil fuels are levelling off over the longer
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe: How it became offensive for women to wear too much clothing
Photo: Flickr CC Licence / Flood G Yes, yes, yes, I know, Mr. Editor, we’re in the last stretch before the last stretch just before a big, real last stretch going into next May’s election and I should be thinking wall-to-wall BC politics. Well, sir, I’m not going to do that
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Filmmaker exploring new vision for forestry with video series
In 2012, I took a fateful trip to Cortes Island – a northern gulf island three ferry rides away from Vancouver – to document the Cortes community’s fight to fend off an impending logging operation by coastal timber giant Island Timberlands. Community members took us deep into the woods privately
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