The NDP’s 7% problem
The NDP's biggest problem electorally isn't a question of policy or values or leadership or connecting with voters or just about anything else perennially brought up to explain their difficulties…
November 2014
Dirty Tricks
“Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don’t have brains enough to be honest.” – Benjamin Franklin Dirty tricks are a part of politics. Why do otherwise smart…
AlphaBeatic: Big Telecom wants to kill indie high-speed Internet
An upcoming CRTC hearing will decide the future of independent high-speed Internet in Canada. Learn more below, and find out how you can pitch in to save indie ISPs at…
The Conservatives sabotage NAFTA
The road to the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began under a Conservative government and has been championed by Conservatives ever since. Surprising then that they should treat it…
The NDP’s 7% problem
The NDP’s biggest problem electorally isn’t a question of policy or values or leadership or connecting with voters or just about anything else perennially brought up to explain their difficulties…
In Tuesday’s Sun: hear both sides, or end it
In Latin, it’s called “audi alteram partem.” That is, “hear the other side.” It’s a principle of what is referred to as natural justice. Put simply, natural justice offers citizens…
Frances Kelsey Will Be Remembered
Frances Oldham Kelsey Born 24 July 1914 (age 100) Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Died November 24th, 2014 Occupation Physician, FDA employee Known for preventing thalidomide from coming to market in…
Tech on the Side: Airbnb vs Uber and the power of mobile
Airbnb and Uber are similar in many ways. They both use tech (particularly mobile) to solve a distribution problem and they are both market darlings with skyrocketing valuations. They are…
Tech on the Side: Airbnb vs Uber and the power of mobile
Airbnb and Uber are similar in many ways. They both use tech (particularly mobile) to solve a distribution problem and they are both market darlings with skyrocketing valuations. They are…
Tech on the Side: Airbnb vs Uber and the power of mobile
Airbnb and Uber are similar in many ways. They both use tech (particularly mobile) to solve a distribution problem and they are both market darlings with skyrocketing valuations. They are…
Could Bell get kicked out of Apple’s AppStore for breaking the rules and rigging the rankings?
If you’re an enormous telecom conglomerate, and you release a new app to unfavourable ratings, what do you do? You could invest some of your vast resources into listening to…
Citizenship That Speaks Loudly
Although we live during a time when the term ‘citizen’ has been largely supplanted by corporate misnomers like ‘stakeholders’ and ‘customers’ and ‘taxpayers,’ the concept of citizenship still lives in…
The least wonderful time of the year.
Welcome, shoppers, to the most frenzied time of the year, when most of what used to be called ‘spare time’ is taken up by shopping, planning your shopping list, scanning…
Tech on the Side: Airbnb vs Uber and the power of mobile
Airbnb and Uber are similar in many ways. They both use tech (particularly mobile) to solve a distribution problem and they are both market darlings with skyrocketing valuations. They are…
Canada continues to occupy stage right
Canada’s position on the world stage continues to embarrass and disturb. On Nov. 4, Canada, along with Ukraine and United States, voted against a draft resolution entitled “Combating glorification of…
VIDEO: Maybe the People on Burnaby Mountain Aren’t Who We Should Be Worried About
This video, by comedian Scott Vrooman, originally appeared on the Toronto Star. American energy corporation Kinder Morgan filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against five pipeline protestors in Burnaby, B.C., because apparently…
CGE models and carbon tax incidence
A colleague of mine pointed out a relatively new paper about the distributional impacts of BC’s carbon tax. In my work, we look at actual energy expenditures by different household…
Pat Quinn, Former Canucks Coach, Remembered
Legendary hockey coach died on Sunday at the age of 71 News of the death of legenday NHL coach Pat Quinn prompted an immediate outpouring from friends and fans on…
LNG, fracking and BC’s Energy future: Victoria multimedia discussion
Join The Common Sense Canadian’s Damien Gillis and Council of Canadians’ Leila Darwish for a multimedia discussion about BC’s energy future – this Wednesday evening in Victoria. Gillis, who is…