Stopping Debate – Again!
Under the current government, the BC Legislature seems to have become a necessary evil to be used sparingly or otherwise avoided.In the Liberals first term, Premier Campbell introduced a sweeping…
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A Coal Port in the Storm: Tsunami Risks for Raven Mine Storage Plan
What does Port Alberni have in common with Fukushima, Japan - besides a love for fish? Two things, potentially. First, according to experts from Emergency Management BC, Port Alberni is…
Site C: Simple Questions & Answers
We at the Common Sense Canadian will be dealing with the Site C project in some depth and from the outset we would like to acknowledge the tremendous work and…
Rafe’s Books Nominated for Samara Awards
I’m astonished and hugely flattered to learn that a long time listener and reader of my stuff, Gavin Bamber, has nominated three of my books for recognition as the top…
Shades of Green: Manufactured Doubt
Doubt is the foundation of all science. Every scientific principle and theory, no matter how established and trusted, contains the acknowledged possibility of error. This is the way science works.…
Video: Mainstream Plans New Farm Amidst Tanking Clayoquot Wild Salmon
A proposal from Mainstream Canada - the local subsidiary of Norwegian aquaculture giant Cermaq - for a new 56-hectare open net pen salmon farm in Clayoquot Sound threatens the UNESCO…
Thorium: Nuclear Power’s Last Hope…Maybe
Awhile back I did a piece on nuclear energy and you would have thought I was in favour of hanging petty thieves (that theory belongs to the Harper Conservatives). I…
Shades of Green: The Psychology of Denial
The scientific community has been in a state of constrained panic during the last couple of years as the binding terms of the Kyoto Protocol approach expiry, as a replacement…
How the Campbell/Clark Liberals Brought Real Lying into BC Politics
I have been in politics or commenting on them (same thing) back to the days of WAC Bennett. My first published piece was a criticism of Bennett’s position on the…
Audio – Coop Radio: Damien Gillis on Enbridge, Natural Gas, Foreign Trade Zone
Get MP3 (40.7 MB | 34:00 min)Listen to Damien Gillis' recent appearance on CFRO 102.7 FM's Wake Up With Co-op, discussing key issues reshaping BC's economy and environment - including…
Shades of Green: Salmon Farming – The Tightening Noose
The Norwegian-owned salmon farming industry that has inundated BC's West Coast with open net-pen feedlots invariably defends itself against accusations of causing environmental damage by insisting that no evidence exists…
Gas Pipeline Blazing Trail for Enbridge Gateway Project?
During an eight-minute interview with Fox News' Mad Money host Jim Kramer last week, Enbridge CEO Pat Daniel made a revelation that was at once startling and hardly surprising -…
CoalWatch Letter Seeks Real Public Consultation on Raven Mine
CoalWatch Comox Valley SocietyPO Box 157Union Bay, BC V0R 3B0250-335-2246www.coalwatch.ca May 17, 2011 The Honourable Terry LakeMinister of EnvironmentProvince of British ColumbiaParliament BuildingsPO Box 9047STN PROV GOVTVictoria, BC V8W 9E...
Growth: Time to Remove its Halo
"No belief in industrial society is so pervasive and so essential to it as 'progress' defined in terms of economic growth. It sustains faith in the industrial system and reinforces…
Standing up to Enbridge in an Undemocratic Canada
Last article I spoke of civil disobedience, a legitimate tool of dissent in a democracy when a government makes political decisions without public consultation and to the exclusion of all…
Electoral Reform: An Unfinished Conversation
The recent federal election has once again reignited debate about the need to reform our voting system and a “National Day of Action for Electoral Reform” has been called for…
Rafe on Christy’s Narrow Win, Looking Forward to General Election
What, if anything, do we read into Premier Christy Clark’s narrow win in the by-election? In one sense it can be said that the only important thing is that she…