Dr. Norman Spector, is a highly educated individual with experience at the highest levels of government service. After serving as Deputy Minister for BC Premier Bill Bennett, he was Secretary to the […]
LNG in Howe Sound – Dr. Eoin Finn
Eoin (Owen) Finn B.Sc.,Ph.D., MBA, a 30 year resident of Bowyer Island, Howe Sound, retired KPMG consultant. From Vancouver Observer From the Spring 2014 edition of Rising Tide, a newsletter of Living […]
Would 7¢ fines deter improper acts by citizens?
A fine of $100,000 to Enbridge is equivalent to a fine of 7¢ to a Canadian earning median income. Looking at net assets, a fine of $100,000 to Enbridge is equivalent to a fine of 45¢ to a person at the Canadian median. Finland is a nation that believes in both progressive taxation and progressive punishment. A millionaire businessman was fined €54,000 ($73,000 CAN) for speeding. It is part of a tradition of “progressive punishment” that considers ability to pay.
Liberal astroturfing
Damien Gillis of The Common Sense Canadian talked with Ian Jessop on CFAX1070 about a group that is funded by government and industry. The audio segment is available below. We should pay […]
The Life and Hopeful Death of a Pipeline Promoter Talking Point – Guest Post
Note: Today, Northern Insight features a contribution from freelance writer and journalist Brett Mineer, winner of the 2011 Jack Webster Foundation award for Best News Reporting of the Year – Radio. His […]
Takin’ care of business, every day and every way
“This project is not ‘run-of-river. It involves draining alpine lakes by levels of 60 feet in depth, diverting waterfalls and clearcutting linear swaths for power lines and penstocks. This will permanently industrialize a local pristine fjord for the sole purpose of private profit.”
Transit referendum and Pandora’s box
When financial numbers involve billions, many of us struggle to gain understanding and perspective. Usually, the beneficiaries of large scale spending are the worst sources of information. Here’s an example. A “fact-check” […]
"Mix ideological agenda and dubious accounting"
Many British Columbians of my generation were involved directly with the forest industry. As a kid, I lived beside a log dump and, to mother’s futile distress, played regularly on log booms. […]
RCMP should not stand for Secret State Police
The CEO of Tides Canada issued a copy of his recent letter to RCMP Commissioner Paulson. If anyone doubted the once iconic police agency had become servant to rich industrialists and governing politicians, uncertainty was removed by its decision that a mostly foreign-owned industry needed protection from legitimate discussion of public policy by Canadians. There is an irony involved in the RCMP suggestion that a respected organization staffed and supported by people aiming to preserve the livable space of our nation is allied with extremist criminality.
Log exports still rising
The latest release from BC Stats demonstrates that log exports continue to rise. The volume (in cubic metres) shipped in January 2015, is 40% above the monthly average during Liberal years and […]
No celebration of another contract to foreign ship builder
The following was first posted here December 19, 2012. It is a reminder that TransLink is not always aligned with serving British Columbian workers’ long term interests, despite the present position of […]
Sales tax war resumed
The good doctor at The Gazetteer diagnoses a similarity between issues underlying the now debated transit sales tax and the late and unlamented HST. RossK is focused on the tax ‘shiftyness’ involved […]
With Ian Jessop, CFAX1070, Mar 3
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Spending billions without evidence?
//storify.com/Norm_Farrell/new-story/embed?header=false&border=false//storify.com/Norm_Farrell/new-story.js?header=false&border=false[View the story “New Story” on Storify]
Who is being served by TransLink?
//storify.com/Norm_Farrell/circles-of-spin/embed?border=false//storify.com/Norm_Farrell/circles-of-spin.js?border=false[View the story “Circles of Spin” on Storify]
Everything is awesome – UPDATED
Few students in BC graduate from post-secondary schooling laden with debt, according to Andrew Wilkinson, Minister of Advanced Education in British Columbia. Wilkinson asserts there is no student debt problem. He claimed […]
Political football – winners and losers
Senior governments download responsibility for delivering services but seldom include taxing authorities to match spending demands. The download trend is demonstrated in a report by The Columbia Institute: British Columbia’s government prefers […]
Setting priorities
I’ve written about politics influenced by a captured and compliant press. This is from a Canadian Press article that Liberals found helpful, published by Macleans Magazine weeks before the last BC election: […]
Agenda journalism
Black Press political reporter Tom Fletcher, whose wife is a Public Affairs Officer for the BC Liberal Government, occasionally recalls the nineties. He wrote: The dark decade, the dismal decade, the decade […]
Hey Tom Fletcher, whose energy policy is nonsense?
The work of Tom Fletcher is a subject today and the article about agenda-driven journalism is drawing large readership. The Black Press writer offered a defence to one reader today. In it, […]
Yes, I fully agree with this summary. I am also reminded of, what seemed to be, the suspect (and possibly…