truthiness n. informal the quality of seeming or being felt to be true, even if not necessarily true.
Truthiness
Crime on the streets and in the suites
Canadian governments spend more than $20 billion a year on criminal justice. Little of that money is aimed at white collar crime.
2005→2016 IPP purchases ↑↑ $835m ↑↑
BC Hydro has three particularly important types of customers. These consumers, all inside British Columbia, are categorized as: Residential, Commercial and light industry, Heavy industry. There are others outside the province but BC […]
Guest editorial
BC Liberal government insisted they not be allowed to entertain other more environmentally sound and less expensive systems. Seems Ms. Clark has a list of eligible corporate sponsors for contract dispersals…
BC Hydro encore
At my Tyee article BC Hydro: From Public Interest to Private Profits, a couple of commenters associated with BC Hydro and the Liberal Party dispute statistics. However, the numbers I use are from BC […]
BC Hydro: From Public Interest to Private Profits
An almost quote from James Boren, “Every Liberal has a right to fuzzify, profundify and drivelate. It’s a part of our freedom of speech…If people can understand what is being said in Victoria, they might want to take over their own government again.”
Journalism 101
A reporter’s job is to get as close to the truth as possible, overriding personal biases and sifting through a rising churn of spin and lies to explain what happened and why it matters. At its highest levels, journalism informs (via scoops and insights that would otherwise be unknown), provokes (via new thoughts and action), and holds powerful people accountable (with no fear or favor).
Labour Day – Canadian heritage moment – Rerun
In modern times, the Canadian union movement has lost influence but not relevance. It is easy to forget that unions enabled a broad middle class. Workers in unionized company towns in BC’s 20th century resource economy set the bar for others. They showed how positive full employment with good wages enables high quality life for the entire community.
Taxpayers as bagholders
Normzig, “No matter how many speeches are made or how many permits are issued and how many rainbow forecasts are shown, the only way BC is getting LNG plants anytime soon is […]
No puppies, no kittens, no coverage
Perhaps a TV news anchor revealed more than he desired Friday. On Twitter, Chris Gailus explained why Global TV would not cover what might be one of Vancouver’s most significant news stories this decade: …it’s not a […]
Behind the ostensible government
Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.
Disvalue for money
In its last fiscal year, BC Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) paid its top five executives $7.25 million. In its last fiscal year, Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) paid its top five executives $1.76 million. In Victoria, CEO Gordon Fyfe is paid almost five times the amount paid Gary Bruebaker, WSIB’s Chief Investment Officer…
Damn the torpedoes…
Leaders cannot keep marching in the same direction simply because they have invested heavily in a particular course of action. Instead, leaders must react to changing conditions and be willing to shift direction accordingly, perhaps even to pivot one hundred eighty degrees if the situation warrants it. This is not a complex direction but it doesn’t resonate with the small minds running government in Victoria. Regarding BC Hydro, they’ve become overly committed to announced policies despite consistently poor results and clear evidence of failure.
Conflict, was ist das?
Conflict of Interest Commissioner has been unable to answer questions posed by journalist Bob Mackin. Of course, Fraser has only a handful of staff members to assist him so communicating with inquiring reporters is nigh impossible. When one man has only a single Executive Co-ordinator, one Executive Administrative Assistant, one Legal Officer and a single research assistant and faces one, two, even three formal opinions to be issued each year, some time saving moves are required.
Power from the powerful
Politically connected individuals took advantage of citizens’ desire for clean, renewable energy and the Liberals wrote contracts with “lucky firms” that bore no relationship to market prices, guaranteed massive private profits and ensured all financial risks stayed with the public. The contracts in British Columbia last as long as sixty years and allow prices that are as much as 5x market value. In addition, the contracts have annual inflation escalators, a privilege allowed no other commercial segment. All taxpayers get is more power to sell at a loss.
Recent Comments