Shrinking Arctic Sea Ice
Arctic sea ice reached a record low of 3.42 million square kilometres on September 16, 2012, surpassing by 18 percent the record set in 2007 of 4.17 million square kilometres.…
Common Sense Journalism
Rafe Mair’s Landmark Free Speech Case Credited in Salmon Activist Staniford’s Victory
I was delighted to learn recently that my good friend and colleague, leading salmon farming critic Don Staniford, won a major victory in the BC Supreme Court over the aquaculture…
Rafe on Whom to Support in BC’s Upcoming Election
Our position in the 2013 election will be to ask our readers and supporters to please vote for the candidate who is for the environment and has a reasonable prospect…
XL Too Big for Food Safety – Rick Mercer Rant Nails It
The tainted meat scandal that continues to dominate Canadian news headlines has provoked harsh criticism of XL Foods – the company at the centre of the nation’s largest ever meat…
Audio: Damien Gillis Discusses ‘Keepers of the Water’, Carbon Corridor on SFU Radio
Damien Gillis discusses the resistance to the Enbridge pipeline, the recent “Keepers of the Water” conference in Fort Nelson, BC, and the increasing impacts on water, human and animal health…
Rafe Responds to BC Environment Minister’s Enbridge Op-ed
You should read Environment Minister Terry Lake’s op-ed piece in Friday’s Vancouver Sun. If ever you needed proof on the utter incompetence of the Campbell/Clark government this will do it.…
Collective Consciousness and Humanity
ermites and their collective consciousness raise some thought provoking questions about humanity. If termites can only express their true genetic identity in the amassed presence of their numbers — only…
An Ounce of Prevention: Cancer and Environmental Toxins
It is estimated that over 22,000 women in Canada will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and nearly ten times as many in the United States. Almost a quarter…
Harper’s China Syndrome: PM in a Pickle Over Nexen Buyout, Trade Deal
Following an eventful couple of weeks for the Canada-China energy trade file, Stephen Harper finds himself in quite a pickle. The Prime Minster is stuck between his resolute commitment to…
Why Justin Trudeau May be Better for BC than his Father Ever Was
British Columbia is under merciless and massive corporate/political attack which, if not stopped, will change this province much for the worse. To now think that a Prime Minister Justin Trudeau…
Rafe on Clark’s Embarassing Antics in Alberta and Renewed Calls for Wolf Culls
Since Premier Redford supports the pipelines and tanker traffic and is content to have the federal government cram them past BC opposition – and bearing in mind that Premier Redford…
A Sense of the Sacred
A sense of the sacred can arrive unexpectedly. Perhaps it is created by a mirror-calm lake enclosed by rocky hills all bedecked with the orange and yellow of autumn colours,…
Canada’s Carbon Corridor Part 2: From the Sacred Headwaters to Kitimat LNG
Part 2 of the introduction to Damien Gillis’ new series, “Canada’s Carbon Corridor” – and exploration of the interconnected web of major oil, gas, coal, mining and hydroelectric projects across…
Truth and Competency Still Escape Clark Govt on Enbridge File
The joke used to be, “How can you tell when a lawyer isn’t t telling the truth? The answer is when you see his lips move”. Now substitute politician and…
‘Canada’s Carbon Corridor’ Part 1: Connecting the Dots Across Northern BC
I recently returned from a whirlwind tour across northern BC, one of many legs of filming for a documentary and multi-media project I’m co-directing called “Fractured Land”. The people we…
Poetry, Questions and People
A writer and thinker of substance should leave more questions than answers. This is the case with Robert Bringhurst, the author of The Tree of Meaning: Language, Mind and Ecology…
Rafe Challenges Christy to a Debate
I have, for Premier Clark, an offer she can’t possibly turn down. She refuses to call the Legislature into session because it will only make pundits and politicians (presumably she…
Action Urged to Protect Ancient Incomappleux Valley from Proposed IPP
The upper Incomappleux River and its very ancient rainforest are the gems of the Selkirk Mountain Caribou Park Proposal. Having avoided the ravages of logging for years, this special part…
Audio: Damien Gillis Discusses ‘Fractured Land’ Doc on SFU Radio
Damien Gillis discusses the forthcoming film Fractured Land with SFU Radio’s David Swan, along with a recent journey across northern BC to document a number of interconnected industrial projects. The…
Rafe: ‘I Support Captain Paul Watson’
I see that all civilization and some uncivilizations, like the USA, want Paul Watson’s hide. Just so there’s no doubt, I’ve known and supported Paul for over 30 years and…