The tragedy of liberal environmentalism
Illustration by Ian Whadcock I’ve spent much of my adult life reading about increasing rates of biodiversity loss. Academic journals, environmental organizations and even the popular press re-affirm that we…
May 2017
Heartwood: How Vancouver Island lost 90% of its ancient rainforest
In Part 1 of this new 3-part mini-series titled Heartwood, filmmaker Daniel Pierce explores the endangered old-growth forests of Vancouver Island. Despite the reality that less than 10% of the…
Globe and Mail: Christy Clark was “warm,” “friendly,” “respectful,” “handled [Linda] well”
Dear Team BC NDP: a hashtag, and a lot of fake Twitter outrage, does not a winning campaign make. Check this out – the Globe and Mail is calling you…
Enlightenment values? No thanks (repost)
Immanuel Kant: “The blacks are very vain but in the Negro’s way, and so talkative that they must be driven apart from each other with thrashings. Read the rest of…
What does it mean for Chevron when glaciers have the right to sue?
Wednesday, May 3, 2017 Last month, several major natural features were recognized – by governments and courts – as legal persons. First, the New Zealand government enacted a new law…
Follow the money
We just had a Daisy staff lunch – in part, to welcome the newest member of the team, Madi Fuller – and talked a lot about this shocker, from CP:…
Air Rage – the 800 Pound Gorilla in the Shiny Aluminium Tube
We’ve long known that congestion kills. Put too many rats in too small a space and they’ll start attacking each other. To airlines, we, you and me, have become their…
A Dam Big Problem: Fracking Companies Build Dozens of Unauthorized Dams in B.C.’s Northeast
A subsidiary of Petronas, the Malaysian state-owned petro giant courted by the B.C. government, has built at least 16 unauthorized dams in northern B.C. to trap hundreds of millions of…
Ten (very personal) reasons why I want the BC NDP to lose
I’ve gotten a few emails from folks who are genuinely puzzled as to why I support Christy Clark’s BC Liberals. So, here’s ten reasons. Friendship. From 1990 to 1993, I…
LawFact of the Day: Family Law
Here is your daily LawFact from Wise Law for Wednesday May 3, 2017. Today we are talking about Family Law. The amount of child support payable by a non-custodial parent…
Large Corporations form the B Team to be Carbon Neutral by 2050
The B Team is a collection of some of the largest companies in the world who want to see the world be a better place. They have agreed to make…
More spending on new hospitals and new beds? Nope
Hospital funding: There is something off about the provincial government’s Budget claims on hospital capital funding (funding to build and renovate hospital beds and facilities). For what it is worth…
Three Kinds Of Conservatism
George Monbiot writes that there are three kinds of conservatism: Conservatism takes three main forms. Inclusive conservatism seeks to protect objects of value for the benefit of everyone. These might…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Dan Levin writes that Christy Clark and her B.C. Libs have turned British Columbia into a haven for capital to run wild without…
Speechwriters and old soldiers never die.
This writer would have serious doubts taking on writing speeches for an old soldier such as Canada’s defence minister Harjit Sajjan. There are a series of problems involved, not the…
What Is a Left-Leaning Green to Do?
With less than a week to go before election day and polls tightening across British Columbia, I find myself in the all-too-common predicament of dreading the electoral options before me.…
Harjit Sajjan and the Opposition’s Dirty Game
It may be the most overhyped story to hit the Commons in a long long time. And the most racist.But the Cons are desperate to find something, anything, to try…
Infighting Amongst Canadian Islamophobes: Part 2
The Islamophobic groups ARC have been following for the past few years really like rallies and protests. They also seem think that these events are of great historical significance and…
As the temperature rises, so will the risk – some thoughts on the Fort Mac Wildfire, one year ago today
PHOTOS: Cars full of refugees from the Fort McMurray Wildfire flee the flames on May 3, 2016. (Wikipedia) Below: Premier Rachel Notley, then Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee, and Opposition…
A tale book-ended by 2 Trudeaus: Canada’s foreign aid since 1970
Soon after the 2015 federal election, Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau affirmed that Canada was “back” as a “compassionate and constructive voice in the world” after a decade of Conservative governments.…