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Trudeau’s surprise comeback and Mulcair’s continued strength

Aug 31st, 2015 by

Justin Trudeau continues to defy expectation (Flickr/Canada 2020 CC licence)

Justin Trudeau continues to defy expectation (Flickr/Canada 2020 CC licence)

Churchill once stated that the best time to predict events was after they had happened and I think he was probably right.

The current federal election is demonstrating that predictions at any time are pretty iffy but in a hugely long campaign like this one, they’re positively dangerous.

I find myself flying all over the place, which is hardly unusual considering my record on these matters. The benefit of this experience of incompetence is, of course, that you learn that changes always take place and often very rapidly. The question is whether or not this, like logarithms in high school, is quickly learned and just as quickly forgotten, as has hitherto been my case.

Trudeau’s surprising comeback

For example, I doubt very much that anybody would have disagreed with me a month or so ago that Justin Trudeau had badly soiled his copybook with his support of Bill C-51. He was supposed to be through by the opinions of many pundits and was given no hope up against the other three in the great debate. I probably said so too. Continue Reading »

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Posted in The Common Sense Canadian | No Comments »

The “State of the Union” on Canadian environmental politics

Aug 25th, 2015 by

Science Schmience!Before I get onto the federal election, let me say I have never been more depressed about governance in this country.

A recent note from a reader pointed out the atrocious record of the Christy Clark government in erasing emails, losing emails, redacting emails (that’s bureaucratese for blacking out anything that might possibly embarrass the government), throwing sand in the gears for anyone who wants public information and on it goes. What struck me is that this egregiously evil behaviour is buried in scandals in the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Children and Families, the skyrocketing provincial debt since Christy Clark took over, not to mention her look of teenage adoration when dealing with out and out crooks in her LNG giveaways; all while utterly neglecting her duty to protect our homes, coastlines and waters from the inevitable consequences of her LNG pipe dreams.

The extent of her reckless negligence is that it’s hard to concentrate on individual outrages like censorship of public information. Moreover, she is never mildly challenged by the “poodle press” which bury her shenanigans in the recesses of their rags, if they mention them at all, while giving “Position ‘A’” to the Fraser Institute and the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation. Continue Reading »

Posted in The Common Sense Canadian | No Comments »

The Conservative support for Atlantic salmon

Aug 24th, 2015 by

Conservative salmon adThe Prime Minister has just made an announcement about helping to fix the salmon problem in British Columbia with a flyer that has on its cover a picture of a salmon.

Unfortunately that salmon is a Salmo salar which is the Atlantic Salmon, a true trout, not native to our coast. All seven species (eight if you count the masou or Cherry salmon native only to Asia) are styled Oncorhynchus.

This is not by any means being picky. The Pacific salmon, while part of the great Salmonid family, is very different from the Atlantic salmon, Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) and the char (Salvelinus) and I would argue is the symbol of British Columbia around the world. It is our signature, the product everyone knows us by. Continue Reading »

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No, I WILL NOT root for the Blue Jays

Aug 15th, 2015 by

Don Drysdale

Don Drysdale

Tell me, where the hell is it written that I must now be a Toronto Blue Jay fan?

Is it because I am a Canadian?

Well, I have been a Canadian for going on 84 years and during that entire time I confess that I have been a British Columbian first and a Canadian second, a confession I have made many times and have no intention of ever retracting. There are a lot of reasons for this which you can read when my latest book comes out, I Remember Horsebuns, this fall.

Part of my allegiance goes back to early childhood when I gained a hearty dislike for the Toronto attitude in this country. It probably gained strength when a young lad came to Vancouver from Toronto, we were both about 10 at the time, and he started to fill me with all sorts of eastern bullshit. His parents haughtily fostered this and I heard how superior the magazine Toronto Saturday Night was, as were The Star Weekly, the Toronto Maple Leafs and on and on ad nauseum it went. I saw the arrogance early and far from abating, it’s become even more tiresome as the years pass. Continue Reading »

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Media let Liberals get away with murder on IPPs, now LNG

Aug 10th, 2015 by

Construction of a private power project on the Ashlu River (Photo: Range Life)

Construction of a private power project on the Ashlu River (Photo: Range Life)

A flash of anger came over me when Ian Jessup of CFAX 1070, Victoria, asked me to come on his show and talk about so-called independent power producers (IPPs), euphemistically referred known as “run of river”.

No, I sure as hell wasn’t mad at Ian – he’s is one of the few bright lights left in radio who is not afraid to do the tough subjects and to call it like it is. I congratulate CFAX for having the balls to do the show.

What angered me was that no one in the mainstream media has touched this subject from the beginning.

IPPs: a shockingly bad policy for ratepayers, environment

When Gordon Campbell, in 2002, changed the energy policy of the Province, he made it unlawful for BC Hydro to create any more power, except through Site “C” – which had already long been on the books – and decreed that all new power would come from private producers. This led to the most extraordinary results that one gasps when one thinks that the Liberals got away with this without a scratch. Continue Reading »

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Posted in The Common Sense Canadian | 1 Comment »

LNG lobby fakes partnerships with prominent organizations

Jul 27th, 2015 by

Key Resource Works members (clockwise from top left): Teck’s Doug Horswill, ex-Vancouver Sun editor Stewart Muir, former A-G Geoff Plant, and Lyn Anglin of Geoscience BC

Key Resource Works members (clockwise from top left): Teck’s Doug Horswill, ex-Vancouver Sun editor Stewart Muir, former A-G Geoff Plant, and Lyn Anglin of Geoscience BC

Desperate people do desperate things.

Today I want to talk about Resource Works, the shills for Woodfibre LNG, proposed for Squamish at the head of Howe Sound – BC’s beautiful and southernmost fjord.

I’m part of a large group opposed to this plant. Let me, however, make this abundantly clear: Our opposition, contrary to what you may read and hear in the media, has nothing to do with NIMBYism. Our concern is LNG tanker traffic which, if allowed in Howe Sound, would be in direct contravention of minimum exclusion zone requirements and other safety operating criteria as generally recognized worldwide and by the law in the United States.

Pushing the limit

These danger zones have been superimposed on the chart of Howe Sound to the right (click on the chart to see in greater detail).

You can see from this chart why residents are extremely upset and why every municipal council in West Vancouver, Sea-To-Sky, Squamish and the Sunshine Coast have passed resolutions against the development of Woodfibre LNG. Continue Reading »

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Trudeau’s misstep on C-51 will help the NDP in federal election

Jul 16th, 2015 by

Photo: John McCallum/Flickr

Photo: John McCallum/Flickr

We’ve reached the summer doldrums and perhaps that’s a good time to sit back and look at the coming Federal election, if only in general terms.

Amazingly, the main issue is exemplified in the story of the “Paddle for the Peace” organization and the ever ham-handed right wing placing all their organizers on the Terrorist Watch List.

C-51 is an election issue

This issue (C – 51) has legs. Anytime a government proposes legislation that will adversely affect citizens’ rights, it better be done quickly – it’s not the kind of issue you want the public to think about. This is what’s happening, much abetted by Justin Trudeau’s amazing lack of backbone and political inexperience. His support of C-51 showed that he doesn’t understand the fickleness of the crowds’ first reaction, as demonstrated on the eve of WWI, when huge crowds in European capitals were delirious with joy. A little time and unpleasantness can change a massively favourable public opinion into quite the opposite. Continue Reading »

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Posted in The Common Sense Canadian | 1 Comment »

Harper says LNG tankers too dangerous for East Coast, but OK for BC?

Jun 20th, 2015 by

LNG tankerI live on Howe Sound in lovely Lions Bay. I have lived my entire life in British Columbia, growing up in Vancouver and spending much of my boyhood on this lovely fjord.

Howe Sound belongs to all of us. It had been all but destroyed by industry until 20 years ago when rehabilitation was started with the closing of mills and Britannia Mines. Thanks to the work of citizen/volunteers  it was enormously successful. We now have the salmon runs dramatically increased, herring runs back to where they used to be, and killer whales, which were so prevalent when I was a boy but had all but disappeared, now going past my house regularly.

The Fraser River estuary scarcely needs any introduction. Suffice it to say that this glorious river is the number one salmon habitat in the world and nowhere are these marvellous fish more vulnerable than in the estuary. The governments have all but approved 200 more or less tankers and barges carrying LNG into and out of this estuary. They intend to skip an environmental assessment altogether, yet, thanks to citizen efforts, have been inundated with demands for a proper public hearing. Continue Reading »

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The Pope, Stephen Harper, and the Far Right’s reaction

Jun 17th, 2015 by

Two days ago I sent around a picture of the Pope and Harper which amused me. It had already been tweeted.

Now I find I must plead guilty to stupidity, for until I talked to my wife last night about the reaction to it, it never occurred to me it was probably faked. God’s truth! As a technical klutz it just didn’t cross my mind. I thought it was one of those goofy coincidences that sometimes happen. I had no intention to offend. I sincerely apologize if I did.

Still, it showed me how the Far Right – whose right to be so is unchallengeable – are masters of the same personal attack they accused me of! One ad hominem attack after another without a reasoned criticism – which I admit was available.

Read the tweets! They sound about as reasoned as the shit we Socreds and the NDP used to holler at each other in the Legislature! Mindless – the nastier, more calculated to offend, the better!

Many hide behind a pseudonym. They who set their hair on fire at women wearing veils, strike viciously from the safety of anonymity! Take the time as I did to look at their home pages and read what they and their supporters say : about themselves. I fear for my country that these narrow minded fools might ever get into power.

If I made a mistake, I’m truly sorry.

I would be openly mistaken than anonymously intolerant.

Posted in General | 2 Comments »

Can I root for the Blue Jays?

Jun 12th, 2015 by

Chris Colabello

Chris Colabello

Dear reader(s). I find that I need your help.

This may not seem like the most devastating of problems to ever face mankind but it does give me considerable ongoing angst and that’s not a good idea for an ancient writer.

Let me tell you what the genesis of this problem is.

As some of you may know, I am what’s known as a Toronto hater. It’s not that I don’t like the city itself – I have always had a marvelous time when visiting, have a son and four grandchildren living there and love them very much. I wouldn’t live in the city but then again I wouldn’t live anywhere other than British Columbia no matter what the inducement.

No, what pisses me off is the Toronto centricity of this country which seems to hold that all leadership in all walks of life emanate from Hogtown. Continue Reading »

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