Rafe Remembers Elijah Harper, Constitutional Stand-off
Brian Mulroney needed political help in Quebec and persuaded all the premiers to support a set of constitutional reforms – labelled the Meech Lake Accord – whereby all the other…
Rafe Mair
Rafe: Clark Will Break Up BC Hydro
Within the next four years, BC Hydro, once as good a power utility as there was in the world, will be broken up. It is, you see, presently bankrupt by…
Rafe: Dix Let Liberals Get Away with Murder
With over two weeks to go in the election, I wrote in thetyee.ca and on this website: “It surprises me that Adrian Dix is playing softball with these issues. This…
Dix Fails to Call Clark on ‘Debt Free BC’ Whopper
On the side of the Christy Clark bus are the words “Debt Free BC”. This statement stands as the all-time whopper in BC history. What is important to know about…
Dix Fails to Call Clark on ‘Debt Free BC’ Whopper
On the side of the Christy Clark bus are the words “Debt Free BC”. This statement stands as the all-time whopper in BC history. What is important to know about…
Enbridge Review Panel’s Skimpy Insurance Requirements Fail to Reassure Public
The news out of the Joint Review Panel looking into the Enbridge pipeline should have a profound effect on us all. One of the conditions is a requirement that Enbridge…
Rafe Mair: What I Want from Next BC Government
I was recently asked by a reader what it is I want, presumably in the way of government. I want a government committed to the preservation of farmland – not…
HST and Pipelines: The Elephant in the Cabinet Room
There is an elephant in the cabinet room and it can only be dealt with if the occupiers of that room don’t oppose any of the proposed pipelines to run…
Oil Pipeline, Tanker Spills not a ‘Risk’ but a Certainty
I’ve got to say it, Premier: you don’t know a damned thing about pipelines and tankers. Do you not understand that the rupture of a pipeline or “accident” with a…
Rafe: We Continue to go Backwards at an Unsustainable Rate
Not only have humans learned no lessons, we continue to go backwards at an unsustainable rate. The past week has been especially hard for this old guy to handle. The…
Rafe: Christy Clark Must Resign
This unholy bloody business called “ethnicgate” started and stayed in Premier Clark’s office. The cabinet minister, John Yap, who ran up on his own sword, lied while doing so saying…
Premier’s Calculations for Pipelines, Fish Farms, Site C Dam Don’t Add Up
Rafe questions BC Premier Christy Clark and her party’s economic basis for supporting projects like a new pipeline and refinery proposal for Kitimat, open net pen salmon farms and Site…
Rafe: Premier Must Have Known About Ethnic Voter Plot
Dear Premier Clark, you knew about the ethnic voter issue from the beginning. You had to. With a program this size – in the hands of your senior adviser; with…
Under the Radar: Howe Sound Gravel Mine an Environmental Catastrophe
Howe Sound is a world-class area. It’s taken a hell of a beating since my Dad, Mom and I fished it back when if you didn’t get a fish you…
Rafe on Christy Clark’s Implosion, Spying on Fracking Opponents
I know “I told you sos” are not popular but I have to say it: I told you so. Clark had been a mediocre cabinet minister at best. She chose…
LNG ‘Prosperity’ Will Always be Just Around the Corner for BC
Exports of natural gas, in liquefied form (LNG), to Asian markets are scarcely a slam dunk proposition. Ms. Clark has promised a “Prosperity” fund, starting in two years, which will…
BC’s Fiscal Mess: Hydro, LNG Numbers Don’t Add Up
The Oil and Has lobby has made it clear that unless government agrees to give 30% capital cost allowances – meaning they want a 30% subsidy on the money spent…
Rafe on Liberals’ Delusional LNG Scheme
The BC Liberal Government’s speech from the throne on February 12 – which hinged on promises of a $100 Billion windfall from BC’s heretofore nonexistent Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) industry…
Vaughn Palmer’s Wrongheaded Defense of Private Power Projects
In a recent column, the Vancouver Sun’s Vaughn Palmer defends gross overpayments to IPPs on the grounds that the contracts were granted at a time when electricity prices were much…
Rafe’s Welcome Letter to New Sun & Province Publisher
Rafe welcomes Postmedia’s new publisher for The Sun and Province, Gordon Fisher. For the past decade, Postmedia’s coverage of important environmental and economic matters for BC – private power projects,…