Shades of Green: Gross National Happiness
The industrialized world is a funk these days. If it is the worrisome realization that this economic system is beginning to show some serious flaws, then maybe the time has…
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Thoughts on Communism and Capitalism as "Occupy Vancouver" Approaches
“Although Communism may be dead in fact if not name, the conditions that spawned and nurtured it are very much with us today. Large corporations have replaced the noblemen, the…
Motorists Who Slam Transit Levies Have the Wrong Target
This past week - as the debate was raging over whether Metro mayors should vote for a 2 cent hike to the gas tax and a tiny (avg. $23/yr), temporary…
Shades of Green: Muzzling Science and Scientists
Muzzling science and scientists is ultimately an exercise in futility, an effort that inevitably causes more trouble than the initial discomfort of confronting the reality of evidence. History has shown…
Tide Turning Against Premier Photo-op – Even Mainstream Media
Will wonders never cease? Was that a mild reproof of Premier Photo-op in Mike Smyth’s column the other day? Was that a mild criticism of the Liberals in Vaughn Palmer’s…
AG Slams BC Liberals’ Bogus Accounting, Massive Hidden Debt
Forward by Rafe MairWe now know that the BC Campbell/Clark government has deceived the public hugely in their financial statements. Below is a blog from our expert independent economist, Erik…
The Ethical Oil Bait and Switch
In the ongoing campaign to put a positive spin on Alberta’s Tar Sands, proponents have deployed a new rhetorical attack: women’s rights. If you support women’s rights, say conservative pundits…
Dealing with Rigged Game; New Local Issues Page
Two items for you today. I have written a bit lately about civil disobedience and have got some feedback. Civil disobedience must not under any circumstances be violent and it…
Shades of Green: Salmon Farms Killing Sea Lions
If spreading sea lice, diseases and pollution weren't justification enough for removing open net-pen salmon farms from BC's wild West Coast waters, the latest outrage is the slaughter of California…
A Warning From the People to Christy Clark
This is not a threat – just a warning to both senior governments. Something is happening in this province that I’ve warned about for a couple of years – let…
Cartoon: Enbridge Showdown in Kitimat
Check out the latest from our cartoonist and Kitimat resident, Gerry Hummel. The town's council recently hosted a public forum on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, which would end…
Clark’s Answer to Deepening Debt: Pretend Shipping Tar Sands to China Means "Jobs" for BC
Christy Clark, aka Premier Photo-Op, has a big mess on her hands - but, fear not, she’ll let us all muck about in it. The government is in deepening debt…
Shades of Green: A Weather Report – the Local and the Global
The story of three blind men describing an elephant illustrates the shortcomings of trying to understand global climate change by regarding only local weather. One man wraps his arms around…
Site C Dam: The Folly of Choosing Energy Over Food Security
I recently returned from a trip up to Peace River Country in Northeast BC, filming for a forthcoming short documentary on the Campbell/Clark Government's proposed Site C Dam.While I wasn't…
Why Cohen Matters: Salmon Inquiry’s Many Benefits
I attended a fair amount of the recent aquaculture and diseases hearings at the Cohen Commission into disappearing Fraser River sockeye - and like most of the Inquiry's observers and…
Shades of Green: The Sockeye Salmon Murder Mystery
The puzzle of British Columbia's disappearing Fraser River sockeye is unfolding like a classical murder mystery. Suspects abound. Suspicion has fallen on such culprits as atypical ocean predators, unusual algae…
Public Can’t Rely on Government Processes to Stop Takers and Pipelines
This is the third part of a three part series from Rafe Mair on civil dissent. In the last article I discounted the possibility that any hearing into the Enbridge…
Public Can’t Rely on Government Processes to Stop Tankers and Pipelines
This is the third part of a three part series from Rafe Mair on civil dissent. In the last article I discounted the possibility that any hearing into the Enbridge…
Site C: A Bad Deal for British Columbians
EDITOR'S NOTE: This letter was originally published in the Prince George Citizen, in response to a previous article on Site C Dam.I live in the Peace Valley, upstream of the…
Site C Dam: A Bad Deal for British Columbians
EDITOR'S NOTE: This letter was originally published in the Prince George Citizen, in response to a previous article on Site C Dam.I live in the Peace Valley, upstream of the…