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.
Ken Boon, a respected citizen of northeastern BC, is a regular contributor to the newspaper based in Fort St. John. He is concerned about provincial political parties dictating local government policies. This is a recent column by Ken:
Many people are to blame for Site C, a facility that will produce electricity at a multiple of the cost of other clean power systems. No persons in positions of authority were willing to listen to cautionary tales, particularly reports that warned about megaproject madness.
In the Times Colonist, Les Leyne reacted to a recent BC Hydro report about Site C: B.C. Hydro has written the blandest, most blameless account possible. When it comes to burying a […]
Thanks to RanD Hadland at Facebook’s Say “NO” to Site “C” Dam! for drawing my attention to a recent Vaughn Palmer column. The Sun’s pundit mentions BC Hydro’s “pathetic” excuse making when justifying incompetent management of the Site C project…
Gordon Wilson should have been Premier of British Columbia. Instead, Vancouver power brokers of the 1990s wanted a more tractable person waiting to be Premier. Gordon Campbell replaced Wilson as Leader of the Official Opposition, David McLean and Jack Poole were among the money men who shaped the future of BC politics. Despite that setback, Wilson has lived an interesting life.
I hope 2026 will be a good and peaceful year for everyone. My contributions at IN-SIGHTS have become a little less frequent because of good and bad personal issues. I trust 2026 will be different. This blog will soon be entering its 18th year. It has allowed me to become more informed and introduced me to many fine people. I hope IN-SIGHTS will last another 18 years, but my cardiologist may be doubtful.
Who better to represent Canada than Mark Wiseman former senior managing director and global head of active equities at BlackRock Inc. in New York. …Almost anyone?
Found on the internet. As a recent traveller through YVR, I would argue with Jonathan Winters. Getting to the airport is relatively easy; getting through airport to the aircraft is the hard part. Regardless, enjoy these online observations.
With commodification of housing in Canada, homes are treated as investment assets, not just shelter. Investor-led speculation has led to soaring prices, rental increases, and rising homelessness. Housing has been turned into a wealth-extraction tool, impacting low-income families and essential workers most severely…
Professor Patrick Condon compares Vancouver’s adverse housing policies to the highly successful public housing projects in Vienna.
Patrick Condon is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. With UBC law student Thomas Kroeker, he authored The 50 Year Vancouver Experience on Housing Affordability with Adding Housing Density. The paper is republished here with Prof. Condon’s permission.
Billionaires control a massive and growing share of global wealth. The most affluent 1% of adults control roughly half the world’s assets, while the richest 0.001% have three times more than the world’s poorest 50%. The rich accumulate assets at almost double the rate of everyone else, so extreme concentrations of wealth worsen from month to month…
Four months ago, BC Premier David Eby and Housing Minister Christine Boyle received a letter signed by 27 housing and urbanist experts. Text of the letter follows:
I paused to think about changes that have occurred in Vancouver during the past half-century. Most are positive; some are not.
Former RCAF F-86 jet fighter pilot and air transport economist Erik Andersen has firm opinions on Canada’s acquistion of Lockheed Martin F-35 single engine jet fighters. Here, he shares his warning letter to Prime Minister Carney.
Western Canada’s foremost energy journalist has provided information about Eavor’s geothermal project in Bavaria. If the subject interests you, be sure to follow Markham Hislop at Energi Media. It is interesting to […]
This video illustrates how AI is used to spread disinformation. YouTube (Google), Facebook, TikTok, and other social media sites facilitate the publication of falsehoods. It’s all about generating money from increased online traffic. Outrageous and obviously untrue statements are recognizable examples of clickbait.
“Over the past 40 years, many health-care systems that were once publicly owned or financed have moved towards privatising their services, primarily through outsourcing to the private sector. But what has the impact been of privatisation on the quality of care? A key aim of this transition is to improve quality of care through increased market competition along with the benefits of a more flexible and patient-centred private sector.
“However, concerns have been raised that these reforms could result in worse care, in part because it is easier to reduce costs than increase quality of health care.”
Lancet Public Health 2024; 9: e199–206.
Department of Social Policy
and Intervention, University of
Oxford, Oxford, UK
(B Goodair MSc, A Reeves PhD)
I have not been active at IN-SIGHTS for a while, but I intend to resume. Wife Gwen and I have done a little travelling recently, including days in Amsterdam and three weeks in France. During recent months, we have also been involved in home renovations, a task that consumes time, energy, and money…
[…] I generally avoid spending money on American publications, but The Atlantic remains indispensable. Today, staff writer David A. Graham…
Osmatic Power? https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/this-invention-may-change-the-world-of-renewable-energy/vi-AA1R2wm8?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=6957ce9d73ef405c981ba17669f2cae5&ei=32 Ocean solar? https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/this-invention-may-change-the-world-of-renewable-energy/vi-AA1R2wm8?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=6957ce9d73ef405c981ba17669f2cae5&ei=32 Why Australia opted for a multi-purpose wave energy solution. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/this-invention-may-change-the-world-of-renewable-energy/vi-AA1R2wm8?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=6957ce9d73ef405c981ba17669f2cae5&ei=32 Energy megaprojects https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/this-invention-may-change-the-world-of-renewable-energy/vi-AA1R2wm8?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=6957ce9d73ef405c981ba17669f2cae5&ei=32 The…
Innovation? The Earthshot Prize? Why upgrade a building set to be demolished? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dCiycfAK3cM?feature=share https://earthshotprize.org/ Developed in collaboration with leading environmental…
What is Fractional Reserve Banking? This might help. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vQRD8bSXSRs?feature=share
in-sights.ca 
Millions of US, Americans support Trump! He is not an aberration! When Trump is gone there are many more to…