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BC Greens sullied by friendship with Liberals

Sep 11th, 2016 by

BC Premier Christy Clark (Province of BC/Flickr) and Greens Leader Dr. Andrew Weaver

BC Premier Christy Clark (Province of BC/Flickr) and Greens Leader Dr. Andrew Weaver

It’s always difficult to lose a friend even, perhaps especially when it is mostly a friend of convenience. Friendship covers a lot of ground, all the way from that which leads consenting adults into the sack through the Arab expression “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Political friendship is cynical, temporary, and, far from loving, practical.

I leave it to you to decide how close the Liberal party of BC and the Green Party were as friends but you’ll  remember earlier this year the Liberals fell all over themselves allowing the Green leader, Andrew Weaver, to bring in a bill protecting women on the campus from sexual assaults. To say this was a cooked up deal scarcely needs any verification, if you know anything at all about politics. Things like this don’t happen by accident.

The Liberals know that every vote cast for the Greens would otherwise be NDP, and this coziness did more for the Liberals than the Greens as Premier Clark was able to vouchsafe unto all of us the terrible story of how she was once followed by a man and she was so brave she didn’t tell a soul. Continue Reading »

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How it became offensive for women to wear too much clothing

Sep 1st, 2016 by

Photo: Flickr CC Licence / Flood G

Photo: Flickr CC Licence / Flood G

Yes, yes, yes, I know, Mr. Editor, we’re in the last stretch before the last stretch just before a big, real last stretch going into next May’s election and I should be thinking wall-to-wall BC politics. Well, sir, I’m not going to do that today, for a couple reasons.

I have commented till hell won’t have it on the incompetence of the premier and her quasi-government. I have said plenty, for the nonce, on the invisibility of the Opposition and, surely, all that needs saying about the pathetic display of a Green Party many of us expected much more of.

Don’t take from this that I’m having an exotic boozy blast on Capri  – it’s just that I need a little time to see how some of these issues settle out in real terms.

Besides, I’m overwhelmed by the international concern about what women should wear, where not long ago the issue was whether women wore any clothes at all. Continue Reading »

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With May staying on, what’s next for the Green Party?

Aug 24th, 2016 by

Photo: Laurel L Russwurm/Flickr

Photo: Laurel L Russwurm/Flickr

Whither the Green Party of Canada after its recent convulsion?

In order to answer that question I think it must be understood, perhaps conceded is the better word, that the Green Party isn’t like other parties and probably never will be. If it struggles to be what it never can be, it will go the way of Technocracy and Esperanto.

The Greens’ dilemma

I have, as you might expect, a Churchhill anecdote which explains what I am on about.

Back in the 1930s, the “Wilderness Years” as they were known, a man approached Churchill and asked him what it was like to be without a power at this critical stage of history.

Churchill growled, as only he could growl, “out of office perhaps – out of power no”. Continue Reading »

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Ichiro Suzuki sets another record

Aug 16th, 2016 by

Ichiro Suzuki - Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Ichiro Suzuki – Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Ichiro 4278, Pete Rose 4256, Ty Cobb 4191

Those are the all-time numbers of base hits for three of the very greatest baseball players to ever live.

Last night Ichiro – like Tiger, the Babe, and The Rocket, that’s all the identification he needs – tripled off the right field fence for his 3000th US major-league base hit. Added to his Japanese league record, he now surpasses both Rose and Ty Cobb.

The boo-birds, who have been waiting for this, are out just as they were when Maris passed Babe Ruth’s record and then, of course, Barry Bonds passed Hank Aaron’s lifetime homers after Aaron passed the Babe and so on.

There are always plenty of reasons why the record is not really “the” record and there are usually people like me who say “who cares”, it’s a helluva lifetime performance and everyone can only be the best of their era.

The argument about Ichiro is the usual one – Japanese ball was and remains inferior to American ball, especially the pitching. So it’s said by two American Major Leagues which have no intention of testing that proposition in any meaningful way. Continue Reading »

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Elizabeth May, Rafe Mair debate Israel, BDS and Green Party’s future

Aug 15th, 2016 by

Elizabeth May (photo: Laurel L. Russwurm/Flickr) and Rafe Mair

Elizabeth May (photo: Laurel L. Russwurm/Flickr) and Rafe Mair

What follows below is my recent exchange of letters with federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May over her high-profile dilemma with the party endorsing the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. But first, a few words to set the stage.

I began to hear rumours as you all did that Elizabeth May was going to quit the leadership of the Green Party over its resolution to support The BDS initiative, a worldwide effort to force Israel to treat Palestine and Palestinians fairly.

I then received a copy of a letter, generally circulated, sent by the former Director of Communications for the Green Party of Canada, Kieran Green, to Ms. May.

I must tell you frankly that, along with many British Columbians, I was much impressed by Ms. May’s accomplishments, supported her editorially here and elsewhere. We became friends. Continue Reading »

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Who Killed BC Hydro?

Aug 5th, 2016 by

RIP BC HydroThis is the story of the death of our province’s once greatest institution, BC Hydro. Though the public power utility began its life under Socred Premier WAC Bennett in 1961, the story of its demise starts circa 2001, under the newly-minted Liberal administration of Gordon Campbell.

Today, this once thriving institution is de facto bankrupt, without counting the $8.8-plus billion set aside for Site C Dam (a number surely to double, as we have seen with Newfoundland’s Muskrat Falls) – this catastrophe when customers haven’t required any increase in electricity for more than a decade, while rates increased by 30%. Continue Reading »

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Trudeau’s strange non-battle with fossil fuels (and Site C rubber stamp)

Jul 29th, 2016 by

Justin Trudeau at the Paris climate talks, flanked by Canadian premiers (Province of BC/Flickr)

Justin Trudeau at the Paris climate talks, flanked by Canadian premiers (Province of BC/Flickr)

I am writing today about the Trudeau government’s increasingly bizarre policy on fossil fuels, which essentially amounts wanting to have its cake and eat it too. But first, I must note that the same can be said for the government’s dealings with First Nations and myriad environmental issues surrounding Site C Dam – as yesterday’s quiet approval by DFO of key permits for the project shows. Treaty 8 First Nations are going to federal court in September to challenge a lack of consultation regarding a project with massive implications for their territory and rights.

Aboriginal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has publicly acknowledged this project would violate treaty rights, while the Trudeau government made a big deal recently about backing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. And yet, where the rubber meets the road, we have the swift, closed-door approval to damage important fish habitat, with no meaningful consultation of First Nations and local landowners. What are we doing in this day and age destroying any fish habitat at all? Moreover, the latest research shows that big dams are actually destructive to the climate, not “green” or “clean”. It’s getting harder and harder to square Justin’s campaign promises with his actions in government. Continue Reading »

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Sea Shepherd prepares legal proceedings against Denmark as Blood is Spilled Again on the Shores of the Faroe Islands

Jul 27th, 2016 by

More blood has been shed on the shores of the Danish Faroe Islands in the second grindadráp (grind) of the year, in the same village where 43 pilot whales were slaughtered just three weeks ago.

At approximately 4pm yesterday, a pod of up to 200 pilot whales was spotted by locals on the island of Viðoy, before being pursued by 25 boats for over two hours to Hvannasund beach where 120 of the whales were killed. Hvannasund is one of 23 “approved killing beaches” in the Faroe Islands, where it is permitted for locals to slaughter pilot whales and dolphins. Read full story at Sea Shepherd Global.

Also:

Sea Shepherd Global Launches New Patrol Vessel, Ocean Warrior

Read full story at Sea Shepherd Global.

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IPP’s are a black mark against the Greens, Dr. Weaver

Jul 22nd, 2016 by

Ashlu Run of River Facility

Ashlu Run of River Facility

“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw

The political situation in British Columbia is such that no one seems capable of winning and both sides seem quite capable of losing.

This unique situation usually leads to an opportunity to “come up the middle” meaning I would think the BC Green Party.

I consider myself a “Green” but cannot believe that Dr. Andrew Weaver is able to lead them to success. I have nothing personal against Dr. Weaver, whom I’ve never met.

In my opinion, Dr. Weaver has badly mishandled the Independent Power Producers, that it goes to the very root of Green philosophy and that he continues to do so. The judgment, of course, is yours but let me lay my case before you.

Let’s go back to 2007-8 when the 2003 Gordon Campbell Energy Plan became a reality, giving the sole right to make power, save Site C, to the private sector spawning the Independent Power Producer (IPP) and an unbelievable sweetheart deal forced upon BC Hydro to these IPP’s. Continue Reading »

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Weaving of the Green

Jul 17th, 2016 by

Ashlu Run of River Facility

Ashlu Run of River Facility

The purpose of this presentation is to press The BC Green Party to deal with the issue of Independent Power Producers in a manner satisfactory to environmentalists. My sole concern is that BC has a viable Green Party  option for next May’s election. I have never met Dr. Weaver.

Independent Power Producers (IPP´s), created by Gordon Campbell in 2002, were to produce power with unobtrusive little power schemes (daintily referred to as “run of river”). In fact, they were, from the outset, environmental catastrophes and by reason of sweetheart deals with political pals, have, just as predicted, have all but bankrupted BC Hydro.

Dr. David Suzuki, an eminent environmentalist, has recently classified Hydro power as not “clean and green” as alleged by Dr. Andrew Weaver, now Leader of the BC Green Party, when he endorsed Campbell’s 1992 Energy Policy scheme and supported this Liberal policy during the 2009 and 2013 elections.

My every instinct wants to support the Green Party but its endorsement of this policy makes it clearly impossible for any environmentalist to do so. Continue Reading »

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