Rafe Mair pulls no punches in this, the second of a two-part interview with BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix – grilling the potential future premier of BC on Liquid Natural Gas, fracking, the proposed Enbridge pipeline and salmon farms. Will the NDP stand up to Harper over Enbridge and open net pen aquaculture? Why do they favour LNG – and how do they reconcile their support for it with the controversial fracking process that would supply it with much of its gas? Watch and find out!
Video: Rafe Confronts Dix on LNG, Fracking, Enbridge
Mar 7th, 2012 by admin
Why So Afraid, Board of Trade?
Mar 6th, 2012 by admin
Cartoon by Ingrid Rice
Driven by one irrational fear, business leaders ignore host of financial pratfalls by Campbell/Clark.
The emperor has no clothes, nor has the empress for that matter.
As I read about the fawning receptions by the Vancouver Board of Trade for former premier Gordon Campbell and the present premier, I found it nauseating and bewildering — but expected.
The theme of the business folks response was, evidently, that Campbell/Clark have kept the accursed NDP from power and that no careless depletion of the public purse should interfere with the worship of gods and goddesses, no matter what financial screw-ups took place on their watch.
The myth these stalwarts of the free market perpetuate is that the NDP were so fiscally incompetent that they can never ever be trusted again, and that any qualification of that dogma means some sort of treachery to the holy cause. Continue Reading »
Harper and Clark Playing Dangerous Games with Enbridge
Mar 3rd, 2012 by admin
The Premier and the Prime Minister are playing very dangerous games indeed.
Prime Minister Harper is acting as though the Enbridge pipeline is a done deal – indeed he’s telling anyone he meets that very thing.
The PM, never much for public opinion at the best of times, cannot see any possible way the general public and First Nations could stand in the way of this ghastly project.
He’s relying on the National Energy Board’s Joint Review Panel hearings to allow him to say that the people have had their say so – on with the pipelines! That they will approve of the double pipeline is all but a forgone conclusion and already The PM and his Resources Minister are complaining that the Commission is tiresome and wasting time; however, the time isn’t wasted as far as I’m concerned, for every moment the Commission sits will make more people aware of the egregious environmental insult this project is. Continue Reading »
Is Enbridge’s CEO Really Retiring to Build His Grandson a Hockey Rink?
Feb 29th, 2012 by admin
This is the simple story – from the Canadian Press:
CALGARY – The outgoing CEO of pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. said Monday he has no qualms about leaving the company while its controversial West Coast pipeline project remains in limbo.
The Calgary-based crude shipper (TSX:ENB) said Monday that Pat Daniel, 65, will leave his post by the end of the year and Al Monaco, the head of the company’s gas pipeline, green energy and international businesses, will take the reins.
To me there’s something fishy going on – rather like the story “when a husband sends his wife flowers for no reason, there’s a reason.”
Why is Mr. Daniel giving 10 months notice of his departure, elevating Mr. Monaco to the president, who it would seem, is taking over the company reins so Daniel can build an outdoor skating rink for his grandson? Continue Reading »
Video: Rafe Mair – One on One with BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix (Part 1)
Feb 27th, 2012 by admin
In the first of a two-part interview, Rafe Mair grills BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix on private power, Site C Dam and BC’s flawed environmental assessment process. What will the NDP do with existing and future private river power projects (a.k.a. IPPs) if they form the next government – and where do they stand on Site C Dam? Watch and find out…and stay tuned for part 2 Thursday, dealing with Enbridge, LNG and salmon farms.
Transport Canada’s Clearing of Enbridge Ignores the Facts
Feb 26th, 2012 by admin
What an interesting pair of stories – on the one hand Transport Canada has said that tanker traffic is safe on our pristine west coast while another tells of Enbridge repairing its faulty pipeline that resulted in yet another spill for the company this past May in the Northwest Territories.
Now sisters and brothers, repeat after me: LEAKS AND SPILLS FROM THE TAR SANDS TO THE COAST AND THEREAFTER, DOWN THE COAST ARE INEVITABLE AND THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE CATASTROPHES.
We are being subjected to an Orwellian barrage of bullshit.
What I’m saying re the pipelines and tankers is true – the dangers of this horrific Northern Gateway are absolute. They are mathematically inevitable. Continue Reading »
Here Comes the Bribe
Feb 20th, 2012 by admin
As opposition mounts to Northern Gateway, backers will promise big bucks for BC.
Alberta Premier Alison Redford stated in a recent speech that her government is looking to “clear a path for the oil sands through British Columbia by upping the economic benefits for its western neighbour — including the option of paying to modernize and expand West Coast ports.”
Premiers don’t just throw that sort of stuff around and I believe that this speech foretells an ever increasing policy of the federal government and Alberta to bribe First Nations and the rest of B.C. citizens alike.
Here is why we must not take the bribe.
Ruptures of the pipelines. Carrying condensate mixed with the bitumen (gunk) from the tar sands, the pipeline is bound to rupture at some point. This is not a risk but an absolute certainty. Enbridge has admitted there will be ruptures. Enbridge’s pipelines have recorded 811 ruptures since 1998. Continue Reading »
Cutting Enbridge Deal with Alberta is Bad Advice for Christy Clark
Feb 17th, 2012 by admin
Bob Plecas has an op-ed piece in the Vancouver Sun – they whose recent papers are celebrating their 100th birthday have carried the art of media masturbation to new heights once thought unreachable.
I assume that the editor in charge of its op-ed page, being a Fellow of the far right Fraser Institute, chooses his op-ed writers with care and, if part of that mandate is to push the government’s agenda, Fazil Milhar has done well indeed with Mr. Plecas.
Mr. Plecas was a deputy minister when I was in government and has written a biography of former premier, Bill Bennett.
I always thought he was a bright lad but clearly he is captive of the right as his article clearly demonstrates. Continue Reading »
BC Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Premier Alison Redford (Ted Rhodes/Postmedia photo)
I wasn’t surprised at what Alberta Premier Alison Redford recently said, namely:
The Alberta government is looking to clear a path for the oil sands through British Columbia by upping the economic benefits for its western neighbour – including the option of paying to modernize and expand West Coast ports.
Premier Redford’s government stressed Tuesday there were no formal discussions, much less a formal proposal, but some in the Alberta government acknowledge that British Columbians need to see a tangible benefit if they are to bear the risks of an oil pipeline and associated West Coast tanker traffic headed to Asia.
I was only surprised that it took so long for this vague testing of British Columbia opinion – and we must understand that this is all part of proposing bribes to BC to overcome its fast-growing aversion to the Enbridge pipeline. Continue Reading »
This from the CBC:
Canadian oil and business executives are well-represented in the delegation travelling to China with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with oil exports expected to be high on the government’s agenda.
A delegation assigned to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver includes eight mining or oil and gas companies.
That list of companies includes none other than Enbridge, Inc.
The prime minister and his government are asking for a show down and my experience this past weekend in Prince Rupert indicates that the Enbridge deal, about which more in a moment, is going to spawn a First Nations and supporters v. industry and government fight compared to which all other showdowns will seem like minor incidents. Continue Reading »
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The Village of Lions Bay's Most Prominent Political Commentator
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