The Village of Lions Bay's Most Prominent Political Commentator
Posted in General on Oct 10th, 2010
There is no way I’m going to stop electronic progress but I can still bitch about it. Why do people email me in pale blue? I must hit the reply button then raise the font and make the print black. This pale blue bit seems to be spreading. Why is there such an interest out […]
Posted in General on Oct 9th, 2010
Last Thursday Wendy and I had the privilege and pleasure of seeing Andrew Petter, former Attorney-General, former Dean of the University of Victoria Law School, sworn in as 9th president of Simon Fraser University. I first met Andrew in the early days of the NDP government in 1991 and we became friends. During those years […]
Posted in General on Oct 8th, 2010
I’ve just finished David Remnick’s The Bridge, a biography of Barack Obama, and it’s a first class read. Not coming directly out of the book, but always in the overall scenario of a black man becoming President, is the cultural and economic straitjacket most Afro-Americans are born to, and have an enormous struggle escaping from. […]
Posted in General on Oct 7th, 2010
I thought Jim Sinclair, president of the BC Federation of Labour was right to demand a sizable increase in the minimum wage but after seeing that the Fraser Institute was against it I knew it was right. The reason workers in McDonald’s and their ilk are paid so pitifully is because the owners can get […]
Posted in General on Oct 6th, 2010
Several things on my mind today. One of the great advantages to writing a column somewhere else, at thetyee.ca for example, is that people who respond do so with great candour. It takes care, in part, of Robbie Burns couplet, “O wad a power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as others see us.” […]
Posted in General on Oct 4th, 2010
Last Saturday Dave Barrett, Shirley, his wife of 57 years and their family celebrated his 80th birthday, a good moment, I think, to look back on his career. Dave became leader of the NDP in 1969 when the NDP under my old classmate, Tom Berger, lost yet another election to WAC Bennett. He led them […]
Posted in General on Oct 3rd, 2010
I love music but perhaps in the sense Sir Thomas meant in his aphorism, “the English hate music but they love the noise that it makes!” As a young person I had a sizeable record collection (that’s what music came on folks, before you downloaded onto an iPod). In High School I wrote an article […]
Posted in General on Oct 1st, 2010
The environmental process in this province is awful. It’s especially awful because it exists in a form that looks fine on paper but is an exercise in futility for anyone who really wants to learn what’s planned and put their two bits in. I do a weekly little radio spot called the Political Panel with […]
Posted in General on Sep 30th, 2010
I’ve been a bachelor this past week as Wendy has been in Winnipeg visiting her daughter and young granddaughter. When Madeleine was born a year ago, Wendy made it clear that she wasn’t going to be like I was, an absent grandparent (6 of my 8 grew up in Toronto or Kamloops) and I heartily […]
Posted in General on Sep 29th, 2010
What the hell is in it for us? I hate to sound ungracious towards our friends and neighbours by asking that question but it’s occurred to me quite often and I, for one, would like an answer. With fish farms, what the hell is in it for us with them? Over 90% of the farms […]
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The Village of Lions Bay's Most Prominent Political Commentator
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