"Jobs, jobs, jobs" Or, maybe not
Your browser does not support this audioThe audio file above is a recording of my time with Ian Jessop May 12. We talk about jobs and natural resources but we…
Natural Resources
Myth busting
Andrew Nikiforuk wrote advice for Albertans in his recent article Eight Steps to Reform the Broken Petrostate: Behave like an owner: Alberta’s oil and gas resources belong to Albertans. The…
Flawed analysis
Following the passing of Alberta’s Conservative party, Macleans writer Colby Cosh described a drawn-out illness that made the result inevitable. Followers of British Columbia politics will recognize symptoms also found…
Give them what they wanted, then give them even more
Your browser does not support this audioIn April, listeners to Ian Jessop’s CFAX1070 program heard about how government pays more to facilitate mining than it receives in direct payments for…
Hard hitting journalism by Black Press
Mount Polley Mine meeting important to attend, by Ken Wilson, Williams Lake Tribune (Black Press), Apr 17, 2015 Over the years companies, governments, and those in-between have created some major…
Liberal transparency: secret agreements, no oversight
If politicians become so focused on reaping rewards for themselves, their friends and associates, they begin to act as British Columbia Liberals are acting now. Like furtive night prowlers, government…
Would you trust a prevaricator with $128 million?
Less than three weeks ago, a 2,100 ft² house on a 3,350 ft² lot in east Vancouver sold for $2.2 million although the asking price was $1.6 million. Two weeks…
Takin’ care of business
For each $1 million of Nestle branded water sold, BC is paid about $2. Mind you, this is a better rate of return than the province gains from resource companies…
Changes inevitable for Teck Resources
Teck Resources and its associates invested more than $2.25 million in contributions to political friends in British Columbia. That was a good deal for BC Liberals but, whether or not…
Astroturfing, Liberally
Damien Gillis of The Common Sense Canadian talked with Ian Jessop on CFAX1070 about a group that is funded by government and industry. The audio segment is available below. We…
"Mix ideological agenda and dubious accounting"
Many British Columbians of my generation were involved directly with the forest industry. As a kid, I lived beside a log dump and, to mother’s futile distress, played regularly on…
Sales tax not only way to pay for public services
CCPA Budget Submissions Natural Resource Royalties Reform, Iglika Ivanova, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, October 2014 BC used to collect well over $1 billion per year from natural gas royalties,…
Two oil economies: Norway and Alberta
NORGES BANK Using the Bank of Canada’s average rate of exchange for 2014, a Norwegian krone has been worth $0.1757 CAN. That results in a fund value of $1,165,769,500,000 Canadian,…
Anything wrong with this picture?
Canada’s governments say that natural resources are driving economic growth across the country. They just don’t specify which country. Resource companies don’t want to pay mining, income, sales and property…
PDF version of preceding article
I’ve had a number of requests for copies of this article by people wishing to share the information. Readers can download a copy from SCRIBD. Sorry poor people
Sorry poor people, we have other priorities
Source: British Columbia Public Accounts Source: British Columbia Public Accounts Clearly, government revenues from natural resources have declined substantially in recent years. This is in spite of rising metals and…
Understaffed and incapable, by design
In The Tyee, Scot McCannel, executive director of the Professional Employees Association, asserts, The B.C. government has slashed professionals in the public service to the point where it doesn’t have…
Plus ça change…
Suzanne Methot reviewed Farley Mowat’s Walking on the Land, which was published in 2000. From that review: “Farley Mowat detailed government treatment of the Ihalmiut, First Nations people in Canada’s…