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Norm Farrell

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.

Powering the future

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Canada West Forum is presenting an online event available without cost on a Zoom livestream, Monday, March 9, 10:15 a.m. Moderated by filmmaker and environmental journalist Damien Gillis, the panel features three highly regarded individuals. They are Glen Clark, Chair of BC Hydro, renewables expert Jae Mather, and energy jounrlist Markham Hislop of Energi Media. The panel will examine the future of energy supplies in British Columbia and the key decisions that must be made to meet rising demand.

Just have a think about energy

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The latest report from Ember, a global energy think tank, says the way we measure energy can distort our understanding of the transition now underway. The paper highlights why accurate energy accounting matters for public policy and decision-making. In the video below, Dave Borlace distills Embers’s work and helps us gain understanding of an issue that affects us all.

Canada’s shameful response to Trump’s Wag the Dog effort

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The contrast with our language on Ukraine is stark. For four years, Canadian officials have rightly called Russia’s invasion an “unprovoked,” “unjustifiable,” “illegal” violation of the UN Charter and of Ukrainian sovereignty. Yet when the United States and Israel launch large scale strikes without UN authorization, Ottawa drops the legal vocabulary entirely. No talk of aggression, no warning about Charter erosion, no insistence on emergency debate in New York. The double standard is obvious: when Russia uses force without lawful grounds, it is condemned as an outlaw; when the U.S. does something legally analogous, we kowtow in an effort to curry favour.

Clean renewables—the cheapest way to create electricity

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Too often, the default approach is to maximize immediate wealth from non-renewable resources and defer the long-term consequences. That choice effectively transfers environmental, economic, and social costs to future generations. The question is not whether better pathways exist. They do. The question is whether governments are prepared to act on them with the same urgency shown in protecting established industries.

BC Hydro must prioritize low-impact renewables

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If B.C. is serious about building a resilient and forward-looking energy system, its public utility must invest more decisively in the innovations already being studied here at home. The University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus has the Laboratory for Solar Energy and Fuels. It is working to develop materials and devices that can convert abundant solar energy into clean electricity or storable fuels. BC Hydro is not listed as one of its research partners.

Join the CWF free housing forum – Monday 9:00 a.m.

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Europeans have been more successful at dealing with housing issues than Canadians. We can learn from them. Please join the Canada West Forum, HOUSING, THE AFFORDABILITY CHALLENGE. It will be livestreamed on Zoom on Monday morning at 9 a.m. A panel of five experts will participate. Among them is one expert from Finland and another from Austria. Panel members will discuss important issues related to housing.

Iron Law of Oligarchy

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An IN-SIGHTS reader reminded me of the work of Robert Michels, a sociologist best known for creating the Iron Law of Oligarchy: All complex organizations—regardless of how democratic they start—inevitably develop into oligarchies, where power is concentrated in the hands of a few elite leaders. It asserts that bureaucratic, technical, and psychological factors force power to centralize, making true democratic control unsustainable.

More American crime

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Over the past decade, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (Ice) has amassed millions of data points that it uses to identify and track its targets – from social media posts to location history and, most recently, tax information. And there’s been one, multibillion-dollar tech company particularly instrumental in enabling Ice to put all that data to work: Palantir, the data analytics firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, the rightwing mega-donor and tech investor.

Lessons from Finland.

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At the Canada West Forum website, you’ll find a video contrasting two very different responses to homelessness. It shows formerly unhoused people in Finland now living securely and comfortably in permanent homes — a testament to that country’s commitment to long-term solutions. The video also examines American efforts to provide compact, temporary shelters — an approach that may offer short-term relief but is far less effective for people facing chronic housing instability. The Finnish model is explained by Juha Kahila, who will be a featured participant in the upcoming online Canada West Forum event, Housing: The Affordability Challenge.

Housing and homelessness online forum – February 23

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Affordable housing is a major problem, with many Canadians struggling with high costs and the inadequate supply of suitable homes. These struggles can impact health, happiness, and financial stability, and may lead to homelessness and a cycle of housing insecurity. Can this situation in Canada be changed? Can we learn from other regions? The answer to both questions is a resounding YES!