Gordon Campbell: The new Rocky Balboa?
I love BC politics. It’s often more dramatic than some of the prime time offerings offered up for our entertainment on the big screen or the tube. And, whether you see him as the hero or the villain, Premier Gordon Campbell deserves an Oscar and an Emmy.He was on the canvas, bruised and beaten down; his enemies could smell his...
OP/ED: Gun registry is divisive politics
The current Bill C-391 to abolish the gun registry appears to be receiving a lot of media attention these days. The Conservative government is cranking up its publicity campaign to abolish the registry, pitting different regions of the country against each other. If we were to look at how this is playing out in the media, it...
OP/ED: Packing up the school supplies and..... toilet paper???
Well it’s back to school week for everyone and as the children get used to their routine once again, it’s the parents in some places who were in for a surprise when they went shopping for school supplies. While the Boundary hasn’t yet stooped this low, some schools, particularly in the United States, are so hard pressed for...
Paid propaganda? PART 2: Sun/Province’s disturbing “message”
[Editor's note: Part one of Mr. Oberfeld's column should be right below this one. I decided to print the two simultaneously as this is an important issue and one that will only become more and more urgent as corporate newspapers struggle to survive in an age of declining revenues]It’s no secret that, to any branch of the news...
Sun/Province: real stories or paid-for propaganda?
How do you tell the difference between journalism today and prostitution? Hmmm... Sorry: it’s not a joke; there is no punchline; it’s only a question I’ve been asking myself since reading the ”major” Vancouver newspapers last weekend.Saturday Aug. 28 on page A-16 in The Vancouver Sun there were two captivating stories: ...
HST: Where political tragedy and comedy come together
It’s actually hard not to laugh! But really, we should be crying. Finance Minister Colin Hansen stood before the cameras this week and told British Columbians he had no idea his own Finance Ministry officials were holding extensive discussions with federal counterparts in Ottawa on the HST in March, 2009 … a few months before...
HST lawsuit: Business message is disturbing
I must admit: I have certain rules in handling responses from readers to postings on this blog. No libel, no swearing, no racist remarks, no name-calling. But I do NOT try to kill off comments from people who disagree with me (although I wonder how could they!). I don’t disqualify them because their submissions have spelling ...
OP/ED: Feeding Grand Forks deer no different than feeding bears
As I sit writing in my office there is a family of deer grazing not five feet outside my screen door. A young buck, a doe and a fawn are scattered across my yard and wandering back and forth across the road. If it seems there is a plethora of animal articles this week, the coincidence can’t be missed – we live in rural B.C....
BC HST Hits 20%--at selected stores
Well, that didn’t take long! Remember all those promises BC retailers wouldn’t use the HST to rip off consumers? And the Premier, the Finance Minister and the business community wouldn’t lie to us, would they?Been to Zellers lately?I was there today and the cashier asked, before ringing up the total for my single item, if ...
KEEPING IT REAL: Campbell AND the Liberals are going, going...
If anyone had any doubt it is game over for Premier Gordon Campbell, the latest Angus Reid poll spells it out in black and white. But what’s worse are the figures that also show that, even with a new leader, the Liberals are heading for an election disaster.That will be Campbell’s political legacy, barring a miraculous...
