Marc Lee writes that we live in a petrostate. He examined Cedar LNG. That $5.5 billion project promises 100 permanent positions, which is $55 million for each job. The project also represents a capital expenditure of $3.25 million for each one of the 1,700 Haisla Nation members. The Haisla are borrowing all the funding for its half-share of the project…
BC Conservatives left a flyer at my door promoting their candidate in a North Vancouver constituency. Were the BC Conservatives to form government, British Columbia would be far different. Not better, but definitely different. Here I comment on their policy proposals:
In the 1960’s, tax expert Kenneth Carter headed a Royal Commission that examined Canada’s income tax system. Among many other things, Carter’s group was asked to report on “changes that may be made to achieve greater clarity, simplicity and effectiveness in the tax laws and their administration.” When material changes were implemented in the Income Tax Act, I was a young person working in public accounting. We laughed at the idea that government and its consultants — typically lawyers and accountants — aimed to simplify tax laws. After changes made following the Carter Commission, many taxpayers needed professional accountants more than they ever did.
Dan Rather was a star of the news business for years before he left CBS. From the 1980s to the mid-2000s, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, and Dan Rather were the “Big Three” of TV news in the USA. At the peak, about one in five Americans watched them. Today, about one in twenty Americans see flagship news shows of the legacy networks…
Rutger University professor Wenwen Zhang, wrote a 2018 dissertation that said conceptions of amorality in business literature are diverse and ambiguous. Belief that morality is irrelevant and inapplicable in business results in unethical behaviors, done for the benefit of individuals, organizations and nations. Discarding or downplaying morality is a shortcoming of business education….
My encounter with British Columbia’s brilliant medical practitioners, people who operate with urgent demand for services from young and old, helped by countless support workers who make lives better for us all.
Conventional wisdom says that economic disparities lead to political violence, or mildly violent collective actions. Yet few politicians anywhere are willing to address root causes of social difficulties. It is so much easier to accuse disaffected people of being indolent, abusive, drug-ridden lawbreakers. Those positions gain political success in many places. The Australian Institute of International Affairs noted confusion about the level of American support for Trump and the political party he captured and dominates:
Pierre Poilievre and other conservatives promise to be tough on crime. “Jail, not bail,” says the man who aspires to be Canada’s next Prime Minister. The John Howard Society is a non-profit that offers a more balanced and less political view of crime than Poilievre. In 2023, the agency wrote about major media claims that violent crimes had increased to a level not seen since the days Stephen Harper’s Conservatives held power.
I have been reading about the history of British Columbia’s forest industry. I lack thorough expertise, but I think it is fair to say that short-term thinking by self-interested industrialists and politicians has caused serious damage to public assets that were vital building blocks of this province…
Wife and I stopped for food after attending a grandson’s Little League baseball game. She ordered a coffee with cream, but the only stirring utensil presented was a large soup spoon. A phrase from a 1928 song by James Stevens came to mind. I suggested Gwen could stir the coffee with her thumb. Alas, she had not been a logger. It’s not a great song, but the lyrics might bring a smile…
New research shows that the brain is more like a muscle – it changes and gets stronger when you use it. Scientists have been able to show how the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn. Most people don’t know that when they practice and learn new things, parts of their brain change and get larger just like muscles. This is true even for adults. So, it’s not true that some people “just can’t learn”. You can improve your abilities as long as you practice and use good strategies.
World Marks Full Year of Average Temperatures Above 1.5C Target
Frank Graves says we live in an era which sees a crisis of both trust and truth… Disinformation is polarizing our society in ways that we have never seen… But Graves is optimistic about the future. find it difficult to share his hopefulness and confidence in the future.
Large enterprises often fail to respond effectively when facing challenges. Professional people find it difficult to say that they may have been wrong. Passing the buck is a primary defence for responsible persons. Protecting the enterprise and its managers is more important than dealing fairly and truthfully with the public. Any innocent party damaged by wrongful acts is acceptable collateral damage.
It took a very long time and extraordinary public outrage before the UK government decided to allow a competent examination of the post office scandal. If transparency were an absolute principle, fewer scandals would arise.
So BC taxpayers currently paying close to $3 billion a year in carbon tax must result in lower production of natural gas, right? Maybe not.
Environmental Defence Canada says climate change is one of the main reasons why food prices are increasing. There are other factors too, but some of the prices in 2024 are shocking. Today I paid $16 for a small basket of BC raspberries and $1.50 each for local corn. Earlier I noted red onions at $3.50 a pound…
The real need is for the province to appoint a royal commission with broad ability to investigate financial and engineering problems with all megaprojects. The inquiry should be able to compel public officials to explain processes that result in massive cost increases and troublesome delays.
All senior public servant involved in the approval or management of megaprojects that consume vast sums should demonstrate detailed knowledge of Professor Flyvbjerg’s work. Many works would not be approved and billions of dollars would be saved. Of course, our approaches to management of megaprojects will not change. Political leaders have half-heartedly addressed widespread concerns about fiscal irresponsibility and the influence of lobbyists. That is, if they have addressed the concerns at all.
If the public interest is ever to be served, the power and influence of lobbyists must be reduced to near-zero and the ability to slip easily between the regulators and the regulated must end. Don’t expect that to happen though. The people who make the rules are also the people who benefit by having lax rules.
Some believe that wealth creation should be the paramount goal of a nation. In Canada, many of those people are political operatives opposing effective actions to mitigate climate change. A 2024 publication by The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) may give pause to climate science revisionists…
I would like to see a calculation that subtracts all the government subsidies, tax breaks, environmental destruction, etc from the…
When a parcel is offered for auction, companies must pay a minimum amount to acquire the rights to explore for…
That looks bad, and I suspect that it is; I think I understand the meaning of "competitive auctions" and "administrative…
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Thanks, Norm, for continuing to pound the drum about the giveaways in the oil and gas extraction industry. Aside from…