Gwen and I raised three adult children in North Vancouver. Each lives in our community with seven grandchildren, 12 years and younger. I have worked in accounting and financial management and publish IN-SIGHTS.CA with news and commentary about public issuesv.
Compare the passage of 4 years without a charge against Mount Polley operators to the quick response when a rude 19-year-old released an adult-sized blow-up doll over West Vancouver’s Ambleside beach. He was arrested within two weeks and faces a charge of mischief under Canada’s Criminal Code.
Bloated management of BC Ferries is addicted to empire-building like BC Hydro. With the exception of the Denman Island cable ferry, the company chooses not to build boats for specific needs of its minor runs. The result is oversized and overstaffed boats running substantially below capacity. That situation causes the ferry corporation to reduce trip frequency, a measure that serves residents badly on almost every day of the year.
There is an “extremely high probability” that Site C will be delayed by at least one year according to a comprehensive report prepared by international dam construction expert, E. Harvey Elwin, who reviewed a number of confidential documents obtained by West Moberly First Nations in the leadup to their court application for an injunction to halt work on the project. Mr. Elwin’s report contradicts recent assurances by Energy Minister Michelle Mungall praising BC Hydro for doing “a fantastic job” and claiming the project is on track with its current schedule and budget.
Report of Commissioners for Treaty No. 8 WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, 22nd September, 1899. The Honourable CLIFFORD SIFTON, Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, Ottawa. SIR, — We have the honour to transmit herewith the treaty […]
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.
It’s time to put the fear of consequence back in governance. Since it is obvious that the current checks and balances mean little or nothing, to political organizations, bent on malfeasance while in power…
Some BC politicians are not bright. Either that, or they are thoroughly dishonest. Maybe both. Liberals saw natural gas revenues drop from $11.5 billion in the five years ended March 2011 to $0.8 billion in the five years ended March 2017…
If the feds disclose evidence at a future trial that indicates provincial neglect and dereliction in pursuing crimes associated with gambling, what happens to public trust and support for both the BC Liberals and the BC NDP? The only question might be: Why did each of the two main BC parties hang themselves with their own noose?
Thanks to Richard Hughes for pointing to this video.
John Horgan issued a press release that makes so damn much sense, I’m repeating it almost entirely. British Columbia urgently needs an independent and transparent examination of all private power purchase agreements, including those important portions kept secret…
Rich Coleman flatly says to Mr. Holman that every file in government generates multiple pieces of correspondence. Now, think back to all those times that researchers and journalists used Freedom of Information to request documents and were told there was nothing.
Senior RCMP management failed to deal with many harassment complaints and that is costing taxpayers plenty. A class action settlement originally thought to involve 500 victims and a cost of $100 million, may now include 4,000 female employees. The final cost will be substantial.
When a big financial donor to Liberals wanted to acquire publicly owned BC Rail, Liberals pretended the railway was a money loser with little value and sold it, despite an election promise not to do so. Then, they quietly distributed the railway’s extensive land assets in sweetheart deals with friendly developers. After that, government spent millions of taxpayer dollars to induce guilty pleas and end the infamous BC Rail scapegoat trial.
We know Gordon Campbell crafted a story that people in BC should have enough domestic generation capacity to cover the most extreme shortage of water we could imagine. Like any unethical insurance salesman he consciously omitted telling the public what certainty of supply in a highly unlikely year would cost.
Liberals believed Dirty Money involved “victimless crimes” so they chose to tolerate illegal behaviour that provided a boost to economic activity. The Campbell/Clark Governments were more interested in gaining political advantage. Families faced with unaffordable housing & others affected when thousands died from illicit drugs would describe it differently. The corruption was anything but victimless.
Wind energy has become crazy cheap in the United States: With lowest costs approaching $10 per MWh and lots at under $20 per MWh. Site C power may cost $120 MW.
Bill Good is in the news this week. David Ball wrote about this news reader turned political activist in the The Star Vancouver. In years past, Mr. Good was a favourite subject of this blog, even though he seemed to have little regard for bloggers…
Between 2004 and 2017, the quantity of natural gas produced increased by 64% and the royalties, which once measured over $1.5 billion annually, disappeared.
The recent revelations about the supposed “decision process” regarding continuing with Site C, as detailed by Sarah Cox, are totally unacceptable. The public now knows that there never was any intention… to Stop Site C.
Some may be able to moderate use of electricity from the provincial grid but almost no individual can stop being a BC Hydro consumer. That fact obliges politicians to ensure the company is operated with maximum efficiency for the benefit of every citizen, not the relative handfull that are rewarded by BC Hydro’s misconceived spending plans. Sadly, the Horgan Government does not agree. Utility policies and company management are almost unchanged during the last 11 months and the recently announced review is specious.
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