Journalism without fact-checking
Beware of what you read about BC Hydro in news sites operating to benefit those who aim to privatize billions of public dollars. One example is a Derrick Penner article…
Norman Farrell
20 year demand growth 1/5 of BC Hydro predictions
Three days after the final date allowed by law for making public its Annual Service Plan, BC Hydro made the document available on its website. Electricity sales to residential, commercial…
Democracy is threatened
Elections in the next few months will alter governments in three Canadian provinces, as well as in Washington DC, and in all states of the USA. Justin Trudeau will call…
Little involvement by rank and file members in Lib-Con alliance
Leaders of BC Ununited Liberals and the radical BC Conservatives have been sharing amorous glances for a while. Now beyond come-hither looks, they are consummating the relationship. The political environment…
Outrageous! Is there anything left to be said?
I searched Google to see if Postmedia's Vancouver Sun had reported on this outrageous story. A friend thinks Tyler Olsen is probably BC's hardest working journalist. His tiny team at…
Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade
Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade. This International Day is intended to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples.
Froomkin on political lying and fact-check failures
Froomkin says the party of America's right-wing — this applies in Canada too — abandoned forthright arguments in favor of dog-whistles and disinformation. In a late 2023 Globe & Mail…
The Carbon Tax You May Not Be Aware You Are Already Paying
Over the past few months there has been a lot of rhetoric by the BC United Party and the BC Conservative Party on scrapping the Carbon Tax. Of course, this…
BC NDP in 2024
My conclusion is that the BC NDP wants to do good things, but lacks the courage needed to achieve progressive goals. The party seems to believe that issuing a press…
Conservatives: climate change deniers
BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad told KelownaNow that climate issues are not an existential threat and not a crisis. He said, "Matter of fact, I don't even think it's…
Regulation of the housing industry is imperative
I describe my own family's move onto the property ladder many years ago. The costs are updated to 2024 dollars to demonstrate how out of control the housing industry has…
Yes, we should be very worried
Pat Mccutcheon is running for the BC Greens in Surrey Cloverdale. He recently pointed me to this video and said: "Probably the most powerful & disturbing video I have ever…
Quotations
A reader who communicates regularly sent several interesting quotations that are perhaps relevant in today's world. Some are repeated here...
BC United (formerly B.C. Liberals)
Kevin Falcon returned to politics from his job with one of BC's largest real estate developers. Falcon was a guy who lied about BC Rail being bankrupt and therefore a…
Rage farming
J.D. Blackburn is focused on Pierre Poilievre, but lies and demagoguery are part of the right-wing, conservative playbook. With less than ten weeks before BC's provincial election, expect to see…
The question is…
More than a few people enter politics with a hope of exercising power or advancing their careers. For some, the choice is an economic one. They expect rewards by way…
Captured regulators and petrostates
Marc Lee writes that we live in a petrostate. He examined Cedar LNG. That $5.5 billion project promises 100 permanent positions, which is $55 million for each job. The project…
Simplistic solutions for complex problems — they seldom work
BC Conservatives left a flyer at my door promoting their candidate in a North Vancouver constituency. Were the BC Conservatives to form government, British Columbia would be far different. Not…
Income tax and rising inequality
In the 1960's, tax expert Kenneth Carter headed a Royal Commission that examined Canada's income tax system. Among many other things, Carter's group was asked to report on "changes that…