How You Can Help Prevent the Ratification of the Canada-China FIPA
In recent weeks, numerous campaigns have been launched to take on the Canada-China trade deal known as FIPA – most involving online petitions. Yet there is an official avenue for…
Common Sense Journalism
Rafe on Webster Winner Shiral Tobin and the Decline of CKNW
CKNW’s collapse since 2003 has been catastrophic. Whereas they had a 15%+ of radio listeners in those days (I was about 20%) they now have a 9% share running third…
The New Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis that occurred just over 50 years ago can provide us with some important insights about ourselves and how we might address the global environmental challenges unfolding…
URGENT FIPA UPDATE: Public Comment Period Still Open for Canada-China Trade Deal
The final Environmental Assessment report for the controversial Canada-China FIPA trade deal has not been completed AND there is still time for input from Canadians! We urge our readers to…
Rafe: Cohen Commission Report Rightly Targets Salmon Farms, Precautionary Principle
There are several things that jumped out at me with the Cohen Commission Final Report, released yesterday. The first is that my faith in Bruce Cohen as expressed on CBC’s…
Did Enviro Groups Drop the Ball on Canada-China Trade Deal?
An in-depth, out-of-the-box, common sense analysis and discussion paper issued on the day of the expected FIPA ratification. Over the past month we have seen an incredible flurry of concern…
Video: Justice Cohen Gets Tough on Fish Farms – Inquiry Report Released
Watch video from today’s press conference on the release of the long-awaited final report from the Cohen Commission into disappearing sockeye. Justice Bruce Cohen focused much of his attention on…
No Economic Need for Terminal 2 at Roberts Bank
Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) is moving forward with plans to extensively dredge the environmentally-sensitive estuary of the Fraser River to build another man-made island for a new terminal with 3…
Otto Langer Unleashes on Salmon Inquiry, DFO, Harper on Eve of Report
I often noted half way through the Cohen Commission hearings in Vancouver in 2011 that I would not hold my breath for the Cohen Commission to make any real impact…
Premier Clark Supports Canada-China Trade Deal, Abandons BC’s Constitutional Rights
Rafe on BC Premier Christy Clark’s support for controversial Canada-China Investment Treaty (FIPA). In letter from Clark welcoming delegates to the 2012 Canada-China Investment Summit, Clark wrote, “I very much…
The Ethics of Politically Impossible
We have the technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to avoid the serious environmental consequences of raising the global temperature above 2°C. We even have an economy that can…
Time the NDP Came Clean on Dirty Fracking, Gas-Powered LNG Plants
In a breathtaking turnaround, Premier Clark has decided that when natural gas power is used to concentrate natural gas into a liquefied form it is no longer a nasty old…
Video: Pipelines "Job Killers" – Energy Workers Union Leader @ Defend Our Coast
Watch this powerhouse speech from Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union at the Defend Our Coast rally in Victoria explaining why his members are “diametrically opposed”…
Maude Barlow, Bill McKibben to Talk Oil and Gas Pipelines in Burnaby
Council of Canadians Chair Maude Barlow and 350.org founder Bill McKibben will lead a discussion about oil and gas pipelines and tankers in Burnaby this Thursday evening. The event is…
Alexandra Morton Receives Two Academic Honours, Forces Farmed Salmon Recall
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for salmon biologist and anti-fish farm activist Alexandra Morton. In between receiving two prestigious academic honours on opposite sides of the country, she…
Video: Rafe Mair Honoured with Wilderness Committee’s Eugene Rogers Award
The Wilderness Committee, Canada’s largest member-based environmental organization, honoured hall of fame broadcaster and co-founder of The Common Sense Canadian Rafe Mair with its annual Eugene Rogers Award for outstanding…
Northern BC Mayor Pushes for Transit on Highway of Tears
Much of the recent media attention on the Highway of Tears has been about how amazing technology allowed police to solve a crime decades after it was committed and years…
The Enbridge Corporate Character
This is the poverty of ethics that undermines the credibility of any promises made by Enbridge. The $500 million in additional improvements came only when the possibility of a failed…
Navigable Waters Protection Act Under Attack…Again
The Harper Government plans to further roll back the historic Navigable Waters Protection Act in this year’s omnibus budget bill. The new proposed changes to the Act follow serious cuts…
Oil, Cancer and Bicycles: Enbridge Ride Sparks Emotional Debate
We can no longer muzzle debate about cancer research and prevention with taboos designed to protect the status quo. The discussion must certainly be imbued with compassion and sensitivity to…