Would 7¢ fines deter improper acts of Canadians?
The National Energy Board penalized Enbridge Pipelines Inc. $16,000 in February and $264,000 in March 2015 for four separate incidents in western Canada. The Harper Government set the maximum penalty…
Norman Farrell
Astroturfing, Liberally
Damien Gillis of The Common Sense Canadian talked with Ian Jessop on CFAX1070 about a group that is funded by government and industry. The audio segment is available below. We…
The Life and Hopeful Death of a Pipeline Promoter Talking Point – Guest Post
A Kinder Morgan talking point promoted by the President of the BC Legislature Press Gallery sounds great – until you give it a moment of thought (and a fact check).Brett…
Takin’ care of business, every day and every way
“This project is not ‘run-of-river.’ It involves draining alpine lakes by levels of 60 feet in depth, diverting waterfalls and clearcutting lineal swaths for power lines and penstocks. This will…
Transit referendum and Pandora’s box
When financial numbers involve billions, many of us struggle to gain understanding and perspective. Usually, the beneficiaries of large scale spending are the worst sources of information. Here’s an example.…
"Mix ideological agenda and dubious accounting"
Many British Columbians of my generation were involved directly with the forest industry. As a kid, I lived beside a log dump and, to mother’s futile distress, played regularly on…
RCMP should not stand for Secret State Police
The CEO of Tides Canada issued a copy of his recent letter to RCMP Commissioner Paulson. If anyone doubted the once iconic police agency had become servant to rich industrialists…
Log exports still rising
The latest release from BC Stats demonstrate that log exports continue to rise. The volume (in cubic metres) shipped in January 2015, is 40% above the monthly average during Liberal…
Sales tax war resumed
The good doctor at The Gazetteer diagnoses a similarity between issues underlying the now debated transit sales tax and the late and unlamented HST. RossK is focused on the tax…
With Ian Jessop, CFAX1070, Mar 3
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Political football – winners and losers
Senior governments download responsibility for delivering services but seldom include taxing authorities adequate to match spending demands. The download trend is demonstrated in a report by The Columbia Institute: British…
Everything is awesome
Few students in BC graduate from post-secondary schooling laden with debt, according to Andrew Wilkinson, Minister of Advanced Education in British Columbia. Wilkinson asserts there is no student debt problem.…
Setting priorities
I’ve written about politics influenced by a captured and compliant press. This is from a helpful Canadian Press article published by Macleans Magazine weeks before the last BC election: …A…
Agenda journalism
Black Press political reporter Tom Fletcher, whose wife is a Public Affairs Officer for the BC Liberal Government, occasionally recalls the nineties: The dark decade, the dismal decade, the decade…
British satire continues
I enjoy Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe, a BBC Two satirical program now in a third series. BBC TV is not readily available in North America without use of a proxy…
Frugality, thy name is not TransLink
Opinion researchers Insights West concluded in 2013 that an increase in sales tax was the least favoured funding option for TransLink. Nevertheless, that’s the option preferred by most municipal politicians…
Norm Farrell with Ian Jessop, CFAX1070, Feb 19
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Oh, what a tangled web we weave…
I will comment about BC Budget 2014 after more study but I’ve read a few reports from media stenographers. Studying detail takes more time than rewording notes issued by the…