BC HYDRO Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead
Norm Farrell calls a spade a spade, always has. The handling of the Site C Dam project has been an exercise in deceit and conflict from the outset. Both the…
Norm Farrell
NEB – not what government claims it to be
Greg Rickford, Conservative Minister of Natural Resources Canada, a lawyer with eight months experience running a department of government, spoke recently about the National Energy Board at the Economic Club…
Similarities, including the price
For roughly the same amount Pavco paid for modifications to BC Place, Poland built, from the ground up, Stadion Narodowy, an 58,145 seat arena and conference centre with similar retractable…
Heroes and victims
Being troubled by patriotic zealotry and glorification of war, I feel vaguely discomforted by Remembrance Days, particularly when craven politicians take centre stage at memorials. While struggling to find words…
If the numbers are not known, invent them
Reviewing BC Ferries financial statements this week, I was reminded of a radio interview I heard early in the tenure of the current BC Ferries CEO. That was shortly after…
Solar power heating up
Here comes the sun, Mother Jones, November 2014 “Last week, an energy analyst at Deutsche Bank came to a startling conclusion: By 2016, solar power will be as cheap or…
Special treatment for special friends
Andrew MacLeod of The Tyee is reporting that BC Government officials aim to exempt natural gas producers from requirements they contribute to an industry fund that would pay to clean…
NEB sham exposed
It is been long apparent that the National Energy Board is not an industry regulator. It is an industry facilitator that is staffed by people who serve the fossil fuel…
Should BC taxpayers promote fossil fuels?
If British Columbia continues to encourage the production and transport of coal, gas and oil, we are blowing poisons into the faces of earth’s future generations. I know something about…
Different ways, different results
Note 11 from a study by John Calvert and Marjorie Griffith Cohen of Simon Fraser University, Climate Change and the Canadian Energy Sector: “In this regard it is interesting to…
"…A lot more electricity being needed."
British Columbians are fortunate to be guided by wise and experienced leaders, people able to analyze events and foresee the future in ways that more practised experts cannot. One of…
Ready, fire, aim
Andrew MacLeod provided the title above in a Thursday Tweet linking to his column in The Tyee. Slots on Ferries a Complicated Bet, Warned Finance Ministry: “After Transportation Minister Todd…
Official opposition on resource development
John Horgan in the Legislature, October 8, 2014: “…Three years ago the Premier told B.C. families that she would make B.C. a leader in private sector job creation. Three years…
Words and meanings
BC Liberal Throne Speech: “The core services this government provides need to be protected, and the inescapable truth is that they can only be protected if we can afford them.”…
Repeaters, not reporters
Ever notice that corporate media seems to speak with one voice? On balance – or rather, on lack-of-balance – they do. It is the voice of big business. Vaughn Palmer,…
Pretending less is known than we know
At times, I wonder if mainstream political journalism in BC is written by the uninformed for the uninformed. Gary Mason provided an example to consider when he commented on the…
$6.2 million inducement ended BCR corruption trial
A study¹ reported in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology examined plea bargaining and innocence. It revealed, “…that more than half of the innocent participants were willing to falsely…
Reporters as stenographers
Two years ago, the corporate media published headlines about ferry subsidies. This report, which came during fiscal year 2013, was enough to stir the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation into action. They…