So how much is too much? It's a question worth asking after B.C.'s political parties reported their 2012 fundraising hauls last week. And quite the haul it was. Between them, the B.C. Liberals and NDP brought in more than $17 million. The Liberals alone raised $10.15 million, nearly $4 million dollars more than their Ontario...

My last column gave examples of referendum procedures with less than democratic consequences and of a two-stage referendum process which conforms to the principles of the Yukon’s Municipal Act. In this column we will examine the rationale for the Act’s exclusion of two politically sensitive issues, budget and taxes, from the...

One of the first pieces I wrote for this space focused on self-talk. The kind of conversation I might have with myself when seeing someone standing or sitting on the street, looking worn down and asking for a contribution from my pocket to his or her hat. Self-talk says a great deal about world-view. I can wonder how that...

A joke has always been a double-edged sword, so to speak. While we all love to laugh, in fact it’s even good for our health, we rarely want the joke to be on us. So when April Fool’s day comes around, lots of people spend the day worried about bearing the brunt of the joke – being the fool. This year, as in the past three...

UPDATE: Since publication of this story this morning, yet another oil spill has come across the wire - a CP Rail spill from a derailment in northern Ontario - raising the total of spills this past week to SIX. It's been another appallingly bad week for proponents of pipeline safety and new oil infrastructure. If the industry's...

“Don’t let another day go by, without the magic touch, embracing you, revealing you…  Change your mind.” – Neil Young. Change your Mind. It has become, almost without my noticing it, basic to my understanding of existence that matter and spirit are antitheses. They are “at war”. The Austrian oracle/ clairvoyant/ mystic, Rudolf...

One of the many things that Hugo Chavez, the charismatic and revolutionary president of Venezuela, contributed to the world was his demonstration for people everywhere the difference between democracy and liberal democracy. Chavez’s hyperbolic style, his tweaking the tail of the Imperial tiger and his willingness to be just...

In my last column we examined the referendum and its role in a democratic local government. When talking about referendum we cannot afford to ignore the importance of the rules that govern the referendum’s application. As with elections, the rules determine the efficacy of the referendum. Efficacy for the purpose of this...

Many of our regional residents know that Area C's contributions to the Boundary Economic Development Association were withdrawn and may wonder what we are doing instead. In early 2012, I called together representatives of the major community organizations in Christina Lake and suggested that the time had come to work more...

March 22nd is World Water Day – established by the UN as a day to contemplate the importance of access to water for life on earth. On World Water Day nearly 2000 children around the world will die from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation – just like every other day of the year. It is almost impossible to...