Petroleum and Natural Gas Rights (and wrongs)
The BC NDP remains committed to expanding fossil fuel production. In BC, the industry paid millions of dollars to lobbyists and politicians. The rate of return on that investment was…
Horgan, John
Doing the right thing
British Columbia could be in the sixth year of the PowerBC program had John Horgan been sincere when he announced it in 2015. Instead, the NDP government and public institutions…
Groupthink
Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when the desire for group consensus overrides people’s common sense desire to present reasonable alternatives, critique a position, or express an unpopular opinion. Here,…
Megaprojects: over budget, over time, over and over again
John Horgan’s five years as Premier will cap a 30-year career in provincial politics. While current opinion polls show satisfaction with his leadership, history will discount the blarney and examine…
Planning fallacy
John Horgan’s crew had a truckload of hard hats ready to go when they formed government in 2017 and the last thing they intended to do was alter the controversial…
Numbers speak
Climate science is not accepted by the British Columbia government. BC NDP promises “environmentally responsible development of BC’s energy resources” and while that sounds reasonable, BC’s Public Accounts reveals the…
Volte-face
Years from now, after physical frailty or political transience has ensured John Horgan’s removal from the cabinet meeting room, a political opponent or a savvy journalist will definitively explain Premier…
R.I.P. NDP principles
Shortly after June 30, 2017, John Horgan revealed his true self and buried BC NDP political perspectives alongside its principles. He is duplicating BC Liberal policies in important matters.
Site C bywords: misinformation and secrecy
Misinformation and secrecy have become the bywords at BC Hydro and at the Premier’s office and the provincial energy ministry. Because the decision makers involved with Site C are determined…
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead
When the project assurance board was populated by insiders and avid Site C cheerleaders, inevitably, it would fail to protect the public interest. Everyone involved knew that but were satisfied…
NDP Cabinet needs a reality check
Harry Swain, having served as chair of the federal-provincial review panel for Site C, is qualified to provide a project analysis. The BC NDP caucus should pay attention because Premier…
On paper, he’s great
Politicians like John Horgan understand the value of scholarly prescriptions for leadership but their actions are tempered by a preference for secrecy and political expediency and the need to reward…
Future generations will decry what we’re doing
Subsidizing natural gas production by ending industry payments for rights and royalties, while the government is also offering billions in electricity subsidies is indefensible. But the most serious issue is…
Why we’re voting
It is easy to conclude why Premier John Horgan ignored BC’s established pattern of general elections every four years. The BC NDP was riding high in the polls but a…
2020 election
A close observer of BC politics recently asked if I expected John Horgan to call an election before the scheduled date 13 months from now. My quick response was yes,…
Site C: Government failure to safeguard the public interest
That Ralston, Horgan and colleagues knew about cost pressures and risks three years ago and chose to proceed shows the NDP wholly owns this fiasco. Had Site C been stopped…
Next generation wind energy
Those of us who opposed construction of the Site C dam—including the BC NDP until May 2017—argued that rapid advances in alternative energy systems meant flooding the Peace River valley…
Ruled by climate change deniers
Both the Horgan and Trudeau governments made symbolic commitments to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Neither was sincere. Horgan passed UNDRIP into BC law…
Delusion, deception, inertia
Faced with a choice between respecting Supreme Court confirmed indigenous governance and serving foreign financial interests (Shell, Petronas, and PetroChina), BC NDP joined with the land polluters, not the land…
Vaughn Palmer, noted engineer and road-builder
Today, a poll from Mario Canseco’s Research Co. reported, “The governing New Democratic Party (NDP) is the top choice in British Columbia’s current political landscape…” This might explain why some…