US-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council plans Orwellian transportation pact
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of three articles by Nelle Maxey examining the wide-ranging ramifications for the Canadian public, economy and environment of the new Canada-US Border Security Deal and its ancillary agreements. With my first article on this topic I set the background for Canada's new trade deal with the US...
Border security deal's ugly twin carries major energy and environmental implications for Canada
The Harper government officially announced in recent weeks a new Border Security deal with the US. However, little press space was given to the ugly twin of this deal - the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) and their "Joint Action Plan". The RCC was set up to "streamline" regulations in four economic...
Xiao Zhang Case:BC courts GUILTY of contempt
If only BC courts showed the same respect for the courts and the legal system that they demand--or least hope--of us. But they don’t. BC judges and BC courts have often made a complete mockery of our laws, the justice system and the citizenry’s expectations to see justice done and be protected from the evil that dwell among...
OP/ED: Clark and Bond wrong on public, wrong on electoral finance reform
The BC Liberal government may have committed itself to transparency, new ideas and engaging with British Columbians in its October 3rd Throne speech, but according to IntegrityBC the memo doesn't seem to have quite reached every minister. The non-partisan organization was reacting to a letter it received from Attorney General...
Dix ratified as NDP provincial leader
VANCOUVER - Leader Adrian Dix told the BC NDP’s 50th Anniversary Convention that inequality is the defining issue of our time and outlined the NDP’s priorities for when it forms government in 2013.“Growing inequality has been the defining feature of a decade of Liberal rule,” said Dix. “We’ve had years of slow growth that is...
IntegrityBC releases first of four videos by Cariboo North MLA Bob Simpson
As part of its mandate to foster a dialogue between British Columbians and their MLAs, IntegrityBC today released the first of four videos by Cariboo North MLA Bob Simpson (Independent).In the first video [attached], Bob Simpson discusses the impact of money on B.C. politics.“Social media is an ideal way for British Columbians...
SHADES OF GREEN: The Keystone XL protests and the Occupy Movement
The protest against the 2,763 km Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta's tar sands to America's Gulf States' oil refineries are driven by a deeper concern than risk to Nebraska's Sand Hills region and its underlying Ogallala aquifer. The same applies to The worldwide Occupy movement, too, is motivated by a deeper concern than...
My Rx for Occupy Vancouver success
I hope the REAL Occupy Vancouver movement does not fade away. For MOST of our sakes, it MUST not. Their message--that the rich must STOP getting richer at the expense of the rest of us--must not die, or be forgotten, or cease to be advocated. promoted and brought to success in our society. Readers of this blog will know how...
Vancouver activists corrupt Occupy movement
This blog comes to you from the United States …where the Occupy movement is real and still relevant.Make no mistake about it there is a BIG difference between the majority of those keeping the Occupy movement alive down south and those Occupy pretenders in Vancouver/Victoria who have co-opted and stolen the original cause. ...
COMMENT: Making the case for electoral finance reform
Catching a politician with their hand in the cookie jar is far more juicy than actually building a better cookie jar, so it's little surprise that proposing changes to BC's electoral finance laws is hardly seen as sexy. But if voters truly want accountability and transparency restored to BC politics, it starts with prying the...