Gwen and I raised three adult children in North Vancouver. Each lives in this community, as do our seven grandchildren. Before retirement, I worked in accounting and small business management. Since 2009, I have published commentary about public issues at IN-SIGHTS.CA.
Beware of what you read about BC Hydro in news sites operating to benefit those who aim to privatize billions of public dollars. One example is a Derrick Penner article published by Postmedia. The Vancouver Sun headline screams that BC Hydro cannot deliver the electricity this province needs. The source of that claim is a group funded by private industry, a group that promotes unregulated private business and works to undermine BC’s main public utility…
Three days after the final date allowed by law for making public its Annual Service Plan, BC Hydro made the document available on its website. Electricity sales to residential, commercial and industrial customers in fiscal year 2024 were 0.34% higher than in FY 2023, and 8.45% more than 20 years before. Observers may have noted that for many years, BC Hydro has been predicting 40% growth in 20 years.
Elections in the next few months will alter governments in three Canadian provinces, as well as in Washington DC, and in all states of the USA. Justin Trudeau will call a Canadian federal election in less than a year. Journalism we can trust is vital at all times, especially in late 2024 and early 2025. Voters can find endless information from many sources, but we need accurate and thorough information to make informed decisions. Democracy cannot survive if voters are uninformed or misinformed.
Leaders of BC Ununited Liberals and the radical BC Conservatives have been sharing amorous glances for a while. Now beyond come-hither looks, they are consummating the relationship. The political environment in the province is close to where it was during the Campbell/Clark years. A right-wing coalition opposes the centrist NDP. One difference: the big business alliance now wears nametags that say conservative instead of liberal. Another distinction is the shift toward the alt-right.
I searched Google to see if Postmedia’s Vancouver Sun had reported on this outrageous story. A friend thinks Tyler Olsen is probably BC’s hardest working journalist. His tiny team at Fraser Valley Current keeps delivering news that larger organizations miss or ignore. Perhaps it is because FVC doesn’t simply rewrite talking points issued by politicians and corporations.
Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade. This International Day is intended to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples.
Froomkin says the party of America’s right-wing — this applies in Canada too — abandoned forthright arguments in favor of dog-whistles and disinformation. In a late 2023 Globe & Mail article, political reporter Campbell Clark wrote about Pierre Poilievre telling lies when the Conservative leader claimed that the Canada-Ukraine free-trade agreement would force Ukraine to adopt a carbon tax. That was untrue. But nowhere does it say bluntly that the Conservative leader was lying. The Globe’s headline writer avoided the harsh description and wrote, “Pierre Poilievre tells tales.”
Over the past few months there has been a lot of rhetoric by the BC United Party and the BC Conservative Party on scrapping the Carbon Tax. Of course, this is low hanging fruit and makes for easy political messaging. There is, however, another carbon tax that you may not be aware you are already paying and will continue to pay until, globally and locally, we reverse the effects of climate change.
My conclusion is that the BC NDP wants to do good things, but lacks the courage needed to achieve progressive goals. The party seems to believe that issuing a press release about a policy objective is just about as good as achieving that goal. BC NDP has not published a platform as August 21. I will update this page when they do.
BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad told KelownaNow that climate issues are not an existential threat and not a crisis. He said, “Matter of fact, I don’t even think it’s our largest issue that we need to deal with on an environmental side. There are much more pressing issues that we should be focused on.”
I describe my own family’s move onto the property ladder many years ago. The costs are updated to 2024 dollars to demonstrate how out of control the housing industry has become. The only solution is strict regulation.
Pat Mccutcheon is running for the BC Greens in Surrey Cloverdale. He recently pointed me to this video and said: “Probably the most powerful & disturbing video I have ever seen on climate change. Renowned climate scientist, Johan Rockstrom, lays it all out in this July 2024 TED Talk.
A reader who communicates regularly sent several interesting quotations that are perhaps relevant in today’s world. Some are repeated here…
Researchers have proven, scientifically, that humans are all one people. The colour of our ancestor’s skin and ultimately my skin and your skin is a consequence of ulta-violet light, of latitude and climate…
Kevin Falcon returned to politics from his job with one of BC’s largest real estate developers. Falcon was a guy who lied about BC Rail being bankrupt and therefore a good choice had been made when it was offloaded to a BC Liberal donor. The tool of big business took on a new name: BC United Party, sometimes referred to BCUP.
J.D. Blackburn is focused on Pierre Poilievre, but lies and demagoguery are part of the right-wing, conservative playbook. With less than ten weeks before BC’s provincial election, expect to see numerous examples on display. I quote from Blackburn’s article…
More than a few people enter politics with a hope of exercising power or advancing their careers. For some, the choice is an economic one. They expect rewards by way of salaries, allowances, expense accounts and pensions. However, some politicians see wrongs and want to make them right. BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau is one of those…
Marc Lee writes that we live in a petrostate. He examined Cedar LNG. That $5.5 billion project promises 100 permanent positions, which is $55 million for each job. The project also represents a capital expenditure of $3.25 million for each one of the 1,700 Haisla Nation members. The Haisla are borrowing all the funding for its half-share of the project…
BC Conservatives left a flyer at my door promoting their candidate in a North Vancouver constituency. Were the BC Conservatives to form government, British Columbia would be far different. Not better, but definitely different. Here I comment on their policy proposals:
In the 1960’s, tax expert Kenneth Carter headed a Royal Commission that examined Canada’s income tax system. Among many other things, Carter’s group was asked to report on “changes that may be made to achieve greater clarity, simplicity and effectiveness in the tax laws and their administration.” When material changes were implemented in the Income Tax Act, I was a young person working in public accounting. We laughed at the idea that government and its consultants — typically lawyers and accountants — aimed to simplify tax laws. After changes made following the Carter Commission, many taxpayers needed professional accountants more than they ever did.
When men were men and women were women... and the Pope wasn't deemed too dangerous to lead 1.406 billion Catholics..…
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It speaks ill of how the world has been reduced to internet memes, likes and followers as the Trump crime…
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If you require high standards a good place to look for clarity is Liz Oyer. Liz - Blanche takes down…