It is often said that we are unable to pay for healthcare (including dentistry and prescriptions) and other social programs. But, political leaders seldom say that business subsidies and corporate tax reductions are unaffordable. Why do the majority of Canadians tolerate a system that rewards the wealthy and fails to serve the needy?
They won; we lost
Financial elites have waged a decades-long campaign of self-interest against Canadians. They won; we lost. The most important front has been action to control mass media and reduce the influence of progressive voices heard by the general public…
Wrongdoing? Nevermind!
If your house is burglarized and cherished possessions stolen, don’t call police. Cost of an investigation is likely more than the cash value of items stolen. That’s might be the advice you’d receive from a Liberal member of the BC Press Gallery…
Facts matter
The BC Press Gallery has been a private club, reluctant to admit new members. Emma Gilchrist, co-founder of The Narwhal and Executive Director of its predecessor Desmog Canada, had media privileges blocked at the Legislature by Tom Fletcher, then Press Gallery president. Fletcher, the Black Press advocate for climate change denial and right-wing libertarianism, concluded that Desmog was an “advocacy organization and not a media outlet.” As a result, Emma Gilchrist’s organization was not eligible for journalistic accreditation at the Legislature.
Misinformation, disinformation, contempt for truth
In-Sights reader Hugh asked my opinion of a Tom Fletcher article. In it, the former head of the Legislative Press Gallery belittles the analyst who correctly estimated consumer losses from BC Hydro’s private power acquisitions are costing many billions of dollars. The Liberal ally and right-wing advocate complains BC’s NDP Government is moving away from previous energy policies…
Breathless
Following Liberal defeat in the Nanaimo byelection, Global TV reporter Sarah MacDonald talked to Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson for the 11pm newscast. Breathlessly, she asked what is probably the worst question in the history of BC political reporting…
Merv Adey – UPDATED Oct 13/2018
Check out the fine work on electoral reform by Merv Adey 2018 fellowship recipient Andrew Seal. It’s a fabulous five part series published by The Tyee. We’d like to raise additional funds to initiate the next fellowship. You can be sure it will support a comprehensive examination of a subject important to all British Columbians.
Economic illiteracy in Canadian media
The Fraser Institute declares Tax Freedom Day each year. It is an inaccurate trick to further interests of the millionaires and billionaires for whom the “charity” works. Many of those people use overseas tax shelters so their tax freedom day falls in January. Don’t expect Fraser Institute to mention Earth Overshoot Day, “the date when we (all of humanity) have used more from nature than our planet can renew in the entire year.” Do not expect Canada’s mass media to pay much attention either
Bitter old man
A person shilling for the pension funds management business complained about my recent article revealing extravagant salaries at the BC Investment Management Corporation (BMI). He wrote that I was a bitter old man…
Good news, bad news
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…
Unreliable narrators
In British Columbia, ethical rules of news gathering are not always followed. Some offences are minor, others are significant…
Postmedia distortions
Postmedia’s Colby Cosh demonstrates the truth of Jefferson’s quote, “The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”
Announcing the Merv Adey Memorial Fellowship
Merv Adey was a passionate British Columbian and a regular and welcome fixture in social media. Following his passing in 2017, a group of his friends sponsored a fellowship in his name to promote journalistic excellence and insightful debate on electoral reform.
Real news reshaped, redefined and side tracked
Because many traditional news sources have been sidetracked by political, commercial and personal interests, acquiring accurate information is now more time-consuming. People with other priorities are vulnerable to lies of commission and lies of omission. Postmedia’s obfuscating political reporters are experienced practitioners of new style journalism.
Shilling for dollars
I made reference to BC Legislative Press Gallery members producing commissioned articles. These are public relations pieces intended to serve particular needs of government or entities doing business with government. It is the kind of output that will ultimately be replaced by automated journalism. Mike Smyth’s recent Province column provides an example… Were Smyth not shilling for private producers, he could be a champion of reducing power consumption through increased energy efficiency. However, there are no industry or environmental groups in BC with sufficient funds to push conservation as a serious alternative to generating more power, whether by hydro, wind, solar, tidal, geothermal or any other technology.
CBC offered “pure propaganda”
If one looks at economic disasters of the past, one thing is certain. Warning signs were obvious to people who paid close attention but were ignored by the rest. You can be sure that Erik Andersen’s concern arises from paying attention to rising debt levels and how the ordinary public will ultimately be left with an unaffordable burden.
Postmedia’s colours
Rafe Mair was a man with long experience in government, journalism and political activism. He warned us of the consequences after Canada’s largest newspaper chain crawled in bed with the fossil fuel industry.
R.I.P. Rafe Mair
Today is another sad day. We’ll no longer connect directly with Rafe Mair and hear his stories and his passionate advice. He knew this day was approaching but he intended to make his last years meaningful. And, they were. In 2017, Mr. Mair was finishing another book and he was a regular contributor to online journals. Beyond that, seeking to both inform and provoke, he broadcast a regular series of emails to people on his lists…
Plug pulled on LNG
The BC Business Party told many contemptuous lies during its tenure but ones involving LNG were the largest. The captured corporate media crew in BC’s Legislative Press Gallery facilitated Liberal untruthfulness by failing to look behind or beyond government press releases. Attentive research would have convinced any objective researcher that government was telling tall tales when it projected an almost $3 billion a month increase in in gross domestic product (GDP).
Behind the ostensible government
Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.
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