The eastern media had much to say recently about conflicted journalists. On the west coast, even CKNW’s Sean Leslie, a newsman who knows the subject, weighed in on Evan Solomon’s difficulties at […]
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.
P3 primer for British Columbia
A May 2015 article by Vaughn Palmer reminded me of an article on public partnership first published here in 2013. Palmer’s column included this: “Among the eyebrow-raising details was the disclosure that […]
Secret LNG negotiations revealed
Adrian Raeside, one British Columbia’s fine editorial cartoonists, probably says more in one panel about the state of LNG negotiations that my words could ever achieve. Reproduced here with his kind permission. […]
Not last in sparkle ponies – updated
Statistics Canada reports weekly earnings by province (Table 281-0027) and it seems that if Christy Clark aims to lead average British Columbians in a race to the bottom, she is succeeding. In […]
Socialist hordes at the gates, this time for real
Liberal pals in corporate media can be counted on to repeat socialist disaster myths from the nineties but they go strangely silent when BC Liberals promote foreign owned socialist enterprises. They are hostile to public enterprise when the owner is British Columbia but BC Liberals show unbounded enthusiasm for investing borrowed money in ventures owned by undemocratic and corrupt foreign governments. That might make sense if there was to be a certain flow of significant economic benefits and a commitment to clean renewable energy. Perhaps it is because Premier Clark and Minister Coleman prefer deeds done in the shadows, particularly if the shadows are overseas.
Hudson Mews v. Portland Hotel Society
I was reminded of this item from July 2014 after hearing Michael Campbell’s latest rant on CKNW. He suggested too little attention had been paid to inappropriate spending at the Portland Hotel Society […]
How a people live
The trailer for Lisa Jackson‘s fine documentary: How a People Live, the story of the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations of BC. The full 45 minute documentary is available through the CBC Player. I recommend […]
Enablers of misconduct, "if it is done here"
The current FIFA scandal illustrates a human behaviour that allows criminal behaviour to succeed. By nature, people tend to ignore the misconduct of others if preventing or revealing it extracts a higher […]
Horgan speaks to the Premier
Hansard, May 28, 2015 The notion of a Debt-free British Columbia — hard to imagine when you’ve seen $135-billion increase in debt and contractual obligations under the B.C. Liberal watch. But somehow, […]
C of C head suffers annoyance and anger
REPLAY, first posted Sept.15, 2011 This piece below from months ago came to mind when I thought about certain prominent reporters who are travelling this week. According to Bill Good, it’s their […]
Malfeasance depends on wilfull blindness of many
Following arrests of top soccer officials, The Guardian called Wednesday the “ugliest day in the history of the beautiful game.” However, at this stage, the criminal charges involve only the Americas, a […]
Farrell and Jessop on CFAX1070
The audio file below is a recording of my time with Ian Jessop May 26. We talk about credit rating agencies, provincial debt, contractual obligations, resource taxation and transit funding but we […]
Transit referendum result already determined?
The campaign is unfair, the result may be a fraud. A year ago, the 2013 annual report and audited financial statements were in public hands. The independent auditor’s report was signed in […]
Recalling BC pioneers
This item is recycled from the summer of 2010. I was reminded of it after a Twitter exchange about natural resource revenues and the lack of transparency surrounding them. This is not […]
The outrageous special deal for Basi and Virk – REPLAY
First published January 7, 2011: A reader pointed us to a recent BBC News report about a British politician convicted of financial fraud. Please compare this legal action to outrageous conduct witnessed […]
Gordon Campbell making history – REPLAY
First published in December, 2009 History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.– Edward Gibbon, English historian of Rome (1737 – 1794) Doug McArthur […]
You are not special
A thoughtful message to new graduates: the 2012 Wellesley High School graduation speech delivered by David McCullough, Jr., son of the famous American writer, historian and broadcaster.
"You cain’t pray a lie" – H. Finn
Canadian Press, April 7, 2013: [Premier Christy] Clark told a Vancouver Island economic summit her government’s highly touted September 2011 jobs plan — with its focus on increased trade with China and […]
"Jobs, jobs, jobs" Or, maybe not
. The audio file above is a recording of my time with Ian Jessop May 12. We talk about jobs and natural resources but we don’t deliver BC Liberal talking points like […]
Myth busting
Andrew Nikiforuk wrote advice for Albertans in his recent article Eight Steps to Reform the Broken Petrostate: Behave like an owner: Alberta’s oil and gas resources belong to Albertans. The Tories’ “strip […]
in-sights.ca 
The Gordon Campbell/ChristyClarke years did not bode well for BC. The same Developer real estate views are still widely adhered…