Over 1,000 delegates from 189 municipalities and districts across B.C. are gathering this week in Victoria for the annual conference of the Union of B.C. Municipalities. And for many of them the recent appointment of Bill Bennett as Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development may very well seem like déjà vu. Bennett...

Reading letters to the editor and speaking with individuals here and there in our communities has led me to understand that convincing some people that humans have a part in climate change is about as likely as convincing others that our current MP is doing a good job, or that our MLA belongs to the right party. I've had the...

IntegrityBC launched an online petition on Sunday calling on the B.C. government to reconsider its decision not to recall the legislature next month. IntegrityBC noted that Ontario's MPPs are already back in session. In October, they'll be joined by MLAs in Alberta and Saskatchewan. In November, MLAs in Newfoundland and...

I live on a sailboat. My “backyard” is Georgia and Johnstone Straits. And, yes, I am a NIMBY. To anyone who wants to transport Alberta’s tar sands oil through BC’s pristine wilderness to load onto tankers, I say: Not In My Backyard. We all know what the dire environmental consequences will be if several hundred oil tankers ...

Ever since the BC Liberal government surprised residents of BC’s Kootenays with its March 20, 2012 approval for the controversial Jumbo Glacier Resort, people have been asking: Why now? After all, the Jumbo Resort proposal has been around since 1989 and has been successfully opposed by local people for more than twenty years....

While hanging from my branch that I sling dung from the other day (long story), I happened across an idea for attracting visitors to Grand Forks that I think someone should look into. As I dangled there, I recalled the combination of sheer bliss and terror I felt while zip-lining in an adventure park last year in Revelstoke....

With Parliament back in full swing I would like to reflect a bit on the 2011 general election which for several reasons was quite historic. The 41st Parliament obviously changed our party by thrusting us into the role of Official Opposition for the first time, but it also changed the face of the House of Commons, by making ...

I read three things on the back of a vehicle in Victoria last week: “Free Tibet!”  and the Sanskrit symbol “Om.” Then, on the licence plate, “the Best Place on Earth.” I like how these concepts relate. We live in BC, a long way from China, but it feels good to stand in solidarity with colonized Tibetans ruled by China. Things...

In September 1962 – 50 years ago this month – a book was published which changed the way we looked at the post-World War Two chemical revolution. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring – a clarion call about the perils of pesticides – is largely credited with launching the modern day environmental movement. Soon after its publication,...

Workers have always had to fight. From the time of the industrial revolution right up until today, the people who make the capitalist system work--those who do the work that produces the goods and those who are the consumers who buy them--have had to fight for a fair share of the profits. Capitalism works best when the people...