The fiscal year ended March 2012 was a good year in the executive suite of this BC public agency. These are averages of the five highest paid executives of that oganization. One […]
Restraint is only for the little people
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.
Nice work, if you can get it
Mark Blucher was appointed interim president and CEO of ICBC in October 2012. He fits the insurance company’s culture of bloated entitlement quite nicely. Blucher joined the company in August 2010 and […]
When politics and science diverge
The Cohen Commission Final Report is available now. I suggest you download the full document because it will probably disappear rather quickly into federal archives to gather dust alongside other costly and […]
Designed to fail – REPLAY
From March 2011, in my humble opinion, this article is worth repeating: Overcrowding at Royal Columbian hospital led to shutting down microwaves in the on-site Tim Hortons doughnut shop. Emergency physicians were […]
ICBC desperately needs real management
Ten months ago, I published Talking tough, empty words and empty head, a piece mocking Attorney General Shirley Bond in her role as lead ICBC overseer. Shortly after, Finance Minister Kevin Falcon […]
One hand washes another
A principle of management states that senior staff lead by example when it comes to ethics and morality. Behaviours of leaders set the values that their followers use. Another certainty is that […]
Rush to secure rewards
With only 27 weeks to oblivion, BC Liberals have limited time to pick forbidden fruit. We know about the failed bid to privatize BCLDB and the flood of high cost private power […]
"Amateurish and sneaky" according to Palmer
According to the Liberals, Lynda Tarras, head of BC’s Public Service Agency, conducted a thorough investigation into Ken Boessenkool’s misconduct with another political appointee. Premier Clark’s Chief of Staff was not asked […]
RCMP prefers to conceal embarrassing information
Four months ago, the Northern Insights article What’s the next dump of grungy news? included this: “In a May internal memo, Commissioner Bob Paulson warned that several salacious incidents were about to […]
Not a Monty Python sketch
The editor of a Canadian faith magazine to MP John McKay, “I have just received an official “reminder” from Canada Revenue that our charitable status may be in jeopardy because of too […]
Liberal bagman gains healthy ROI
Last week, investigative journalist Bob Mackin wrote Premier Photo Op and the $185,000 charter bills “On CKNW AM 980, during The Investigators segment on the Oct. 22 edition of the Bill Good […]
No spectacle of division, not a whit
Vaughn Palmer is pleased with the BC Liberals. His weekend column in the Sun offered this: …the Whistler convention struck me as a relatively happy affair. The public sessions — on the convention […]
Harper’s deputy attacks free speech
The following is from the blog The Sixth Estate, a place that is on my regular reading list, although it’s not on Margaret Wente’s list. The following is the official opinion of the Conservative […]
Pay equity in British Columbia
Guest post regarding Narrows Inlet
Please read through the following article. It’s lengthy but the Environmental Review is the last chance to stop a large, potentially destructive project about 50 miles from Vancouver. It should not proceed. […]
Things that still make you go "Hmmm"
This is a replay of a piece from last spring. It fits today’s subject since it demonstrates that BC’s most senior public officias aren’t playing catch-up. Washington State schools enrol just over […]
New adventures in not-net-zero land
It is a tough time for British Columbia. Natural gas producers are producing more but paying less to government. With bark beetle destruction and boundless raw log exports, the province’s forest industry […]
No doubt about the winner in a contest of one
Ian Reid and Bob Mackin have been the leading journalists examining Paragon Gaming’s past relationship with Pavco. We knew Paragon had an inside track for the proposed casino at BC Place but […]
Platform for hatred
In my childhood long ago, Canadians used ethnic slurs without much thought. My east Vancouver family, not hateful people, disdainfully labelled central and eastern European war refugees as DP’s or Bohunks. In […]
Austerity only for the "plebs"
The most read article at Northern Insights is Adventures in not net zero land. It begins with this: “Helping manage the BC government’s war on school teachers and public education is Deputy […]
in-sights.ca 
The Gordon Campbell/ChristyClarke years did not bode well for BC. The same Developer real estate views are still widely adhered…