Category Archives: Western Canada

Locally grown food, like these heirloom tomatoes from Tsawwassen's Earthwise Community Garden, could play a major role in dealing with both our economic and environmental challenges

How to Deal with our Economic & Environmental Challenges Together

Canada, Politics, Urban & Transport, Western Canada, , , , , ,
Share

“The economy is a subsidiary of the ecosystem…The only place where the environment and economy are separated is in the human mind.”

– Dr. William Rees, UBC Professor, Founder of the ‘Eco-footprint’ concept

Perhaps the most foolish and dangerous misconception of our time is that we must somehow choose between the economy and the environment. We hear it all the time. “We can’t establish green house gas emissions caps until we get our economy out of recession.”…”The environment’s important, but so are jobs.”…”We need to balance the economy with the environment.”

It’s a false dichotomy which has become the go-to defense of big polluters and the governments that enable them. We heard it with Fish Lake in BC, where Taseko Mines said they needed to destroy a fish-bearing lake to build a giant gold and copper mine. But, of course, they told us it would bring nine gazillion person-years worth of employment.

We hear it from Enbridge, the company that wants to build a pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands to supertankers on BC’s North Coast. They too are fond of tallying up their person-years. (However, they leave out the fact that the majority of these jobs will go to people from out of province – and that they’ll last only a few years, while we’re left with the enormous environmental and economic risks from their project long after the jobs disappear).

These companies and our governments consistently create the impression that we must decide between the economy and the environment – which is short-sighted, self-interested nonsense.
 
The first step to dealing with both our mounting economic and environmental challenges is recognizing that the economy, as Dr. William Rees says, is a subsidiary of the environment. No fish ecology, no fishery. No forest, no forestry. No energy, no economy. No farmland, no food, no us. 

We also must come to see that due to impending Peak Oil and the age of increasingly costly, scarce, dangerous, and unreliable fossil fuels, the kind of globalized economic model we have today is unsustainable. Not just environmentally unsustainable. Unsustainable, period – because it depends on a finite and dwindling resource. So regardless of whether it contributes greatly to climate change, we simply don’t have the resources to maintain this system, as former CIBC World Markets Chief Economist Jeff Rubin explained in his essential 2009 book, Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller.

In it Rubin relates the skepticism he’s received from the energy and banking intelligentsia over the past decade – even after correctly predicting the rise of oil to an all-time high of close to $150/barrel in 2008. He emphasizes that the key to adapting to this new world lies in the re-localization of just about every function of our economy – and the scaling down of everything we do in terms of our energy and resource-indulgent lifestyles. In other words, smaller and more local is better. This from one of Canada’s top economists and energy experts, no less.

Ponder for a moment the madness of our economic system today – and BC’s role within it. We put our ecosystems at risk by chopping down trees and mining coal – which we then ship, in raw, unmanufactured form, across the Pacific to China in tankers burning the dirtiest fossil fuel in the world (bunker diesel) – where the coal is consumed in electric plants to power the factories in which people labour under awful conditions for paltry wages, building the logs we sent them into tables that are then shipped all the way back to us…all so we can save a few bucks at Canadian Tire (which is a misnomer today, incidentally). 

Of course, we get precious few jobs in this bargain. What we do get is coal smoke and diesel fumes in our air shed, climate change, and a crappy table that lasts a fraction of what it used to when we made them ourselves.

And this insanity has made abundant sense to flat-earthers like the New York Times’ vaunted Thomas Friedman (Rubin’s alter-ego). But it doesn’t make sense at $150/barrel oil, nor at $200 or $300. And that, according to Rubin and many other experts (including the late, great oil banker Matthew Simmons), is where we’re headed – very shortly. Consider that in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown, some 12% of the world’s shipping fleet ground to a halt, with 500 behemoths hidden off the coast of Singapore for the better part of a year – a small harbinger of what is to come.

Yet Rubin somehow sees an upside to these unavoidable challenges we face – namely, in dealing with them we could create local jobs, clean up our environment, and rediscover how to live modest but fulfilling lives. Rubin writes, “Distance costs money. That will be the mantra of the new local economy.” The closer goods and food are produced to the markets in which they are consumed, the lower the transportation costs and reliance on fossil fuels. But with that we also get the twin benefit of fewer green house gas emissions (transportation accounts for upwards of 30% of North American GHG’s). Hence, once again, what’s good economically is also good for the environment.

So to both the BC NDP and Liberal leadership candidates – and to Michael Ignatieff, for that matter – I humbly submit: Build your platform on addressing both the economy and the environment together. Tell people it won’t be easy, but we can and must develop a greener, healthier, more economically and energy efficient British Columbia and planet. 

Here are some planks to consider in that platform:

-Get back to growing our own food. In BC, we currently rely on imports for over half our food. We need more of our own farmers and food-producing lands – which means an investment in agricultural education and the protection and development of land that families and small-scale local farmers can afford to till to feed their own communities.

-Stop raw log exports. Truly sustainable forestry practices with local mills and enhanced manufacturing would ensure we get maximum economic benefit from one of our most important resources, while minimizing the environmental costs.

-Re-localize manufacturing in general. Our dependance on China and other low-cost labour markets has hollowed out a manufacturing base that we will surely need to develop our own goods in the near future.

-Get serious about protecting and rebuilding sustainable local fisheries. That means moving aquaculture to closed-containment, protecting and restoring fish habitat, and better managing our fisheries. That means saying “no” to things like the Raven coal mine proposal on Vancouver Island, which could destroy one of the finest oyster fisheries in the world (employer of 600 people). The seafood we’re blessed with on BC’s coast is an ecological and economic gift, which if we take care of will take care of us – as this past year’s surprise sockeye return reminded us.

-Preserve our wild places for sustainable wilderness tourism. And focus more on Canadians, many of whom have yet to experience some of the treasures in their own back yard. This would lower the industry’s dependence on emissions-heavy international travel.

-Build a proper network of public transit and pedestrian infrastructure for people movement – and electrified rail and short-sea shipping for goods movement. The construction of public transit creates far more jobs per dollar than highway paving. And by getting some of the 70% of single occupant commuter vehicles off our highways, we can free up space for goods movement, reducing lost economic productivity from gridlock – all without having to destroy our farmland or add to suburban sprawl.

-Make conservation the key focus of our energy policy. The private power industry is the antithesis of conservation, as it makes money through increased consumption – which is why it has forced grossly expensive purchase contracts on us for power we can’t use and must therefore sell at a considerable loss. Conservation is the only truly zero-impact form of energy and it frees up clean public hydro electricity to sell to our neighbours at a profit, which goes toward our schools, hospitals, and keeping our taxes low. We also need to make homes and businesses more energy efficient and, importantly, more self-sufficient – through things like small-scale wind, solar, heat pumps, and geothermal power.

If it seems that looking out for the environment and/or public interest are unpopular with the electorate, look no further than Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall’s intervention in the sale of Potash Corp. to foreign mining titan BHP Billiton, or recently retired Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams’ reclaiming of a public hydro resource from Abitibi Bowater when they shut their pulp mill down (breaking their resource-for-jobs deal with the Province). Both were extraordinarily popular decisions with the public – in Williams’ case, he described it as the best decision of a brilliant political career. Meanwhile, a full 80% of British Columbians favour a ban on coastal oil tanker traffic – and politicians with the guts to fight for one will be duly rewarded. These platforms aren’t a tough sell with the public at all – only with a select few individuals and corporations with far too much influence over our political system.

One of the features of the Peak Oil era is that we will have less and less capital to implement the above changes. Which is why we must cease immediately building out-moded, unsustainable infrastructure and energy projects. Every dollar that we spend on paving highways over farmland is a double-whammy. Not only is it depriving us of a far more important use for that land, but it’s taking already scarce money away from public transit alternatives. Consider that for roughly a seventh the cost of the upgrades underway to Highway 1 and the Port Mann Bridge in BC’s Lower Mainland, we could get the old Interurban commuter rail line back up and running, servicing the same corridor far more efficiently and getting commuters to work faster, cheaper, more comfortably and safely.

Instead of fighting with all our might against these irrepressible forces, why not turn around and go with the flow? We must ask ourselves, is it worth all that effort and long term pain, just to forestall the end of this status quo by maybe a few more years – after which we will be far worse off for not having been proactive in changing our ways? 

We might do to ask ourselves a few more questions. Like, is bigger really better? Has global “free” trade worked for most average citizens around the world – or has it simply afforded wealthy individuals and corporations better access to cheap labour and foreign resources? Are we happier as a society today than we were fifty years ago? (Skyrocketing obesity, diabetes, cancer, and depression rates might suggest that we are not). Finally, is the planet better off?

Building a future based on the inextricable relationship between the economy and environment would present the ultimate in public policy achievements – a win-win for everyone (or almost everyone). 

It also just might get someone elected as the next premier of BC or prime minister of Canada…and help save the planet, which never hurts.

Share

Why Christy Clark Sees no Need for Railgate Inquiry

Canada, Politics, Western Canada, , ,
Share

There’s the old saw, “if a husband sends his wife flowers for no reason, there’s a reason.” So be it with the BC Rail scandal – if Christy Clark, Deputy Premier at the time of the “negotiations,” or “fix,” choose to suit, sees no reason for a full-fledged investigation into the mess, there’s a reason. The same applies to the other candidates for Liberal leader who were in cabinet at the time.

The reason an investigation must take place is to see if there was a crime, or more than one crime committed. I do not say that there was criminal activity, besides those of ministerial aides – but to discover the truth is critical so that if there was a crime it is disclosed and disposed of, and to remove the stain of suspicion that presently exists and may or may not be unfair.

Take for example this salient fact that arose out of the Basi-Virk case – two men close to a minister and reporting to him have admitted that they committed a crime. The logical question to arrive at is simple: if these aides committed crimes while doing work on a minister’s instruction, did that minister commit a crime?

The minister, of course, was Gary Collins, then Minister of Finance. Mr. Collins was not given the opportunity to clear his name because Crown Counsel, Bill Berardino, QC, settled the case on the eve of Mr. Collins’ appearance on the witness stand. Presumably Mr. Collins was on the list of ministers for a reason and one can assume that the Crown didn’t want him to demonstrate the innocence of the two accused.

You will remember the Sherlock Holmes story where he mentions to Watson about the dog barking at the scene and when Watson says, “but Holmes, no dog barked,” and Holmes replies, “Quite. Why didn’t the dog bark?” One can apply this to Gary Collins. For several years, whenever BC Rail was mentioned, Mr. Collins’ name came into the conversation as the minister responsible. Why did he never deal with the suggestions that he may have been up to no good? Isn’t that what you would do in his place?

And, when Mr. Collins was spared the witness box, why wouldn’t he then make it clear that he personally was clean, even though his employees weren’t. Isn’t that the natural thing to do? Isn’t that what you would do?

The same applies to the Premier, who was scheduled to give evidence after Mr. Collins. He might be forgiven for refusing to talk earlier – though I don’t see why – but surely he owes it to his colleagues, his supporters and, yes, the public to demonstrate that he’s not, well, a crook.

Cabinet has been silent. I don’t listen to kissy-ass radio so I’m not sure what Ms. Clark has said, but I’m advised that this has not been a big time topic on her show (though I am told her replacement Mike Smyth is taking up the issue and has given his predecessor a thorough grilling in her old time slot).

The media has a huge amount to answer for. People like me can do editorials based upon suspicions, but we have no large newspapers, TV, or radio stations to do investigations for us. I ask the columnists in this province if they applied the same standards of accountability to the Campbell government as they did to the NDP governments of the nineties. I don’t expect any answer much less an honest one.

The sale of BC Hydro in itself was a disgrace. The dream of WAC Bennett that we the citizens would get ferry service even though our community was too small to make a profit, rail service to open up the province, postponing profit, and a power company that would provide cheap power domestically and industrially has been shattered by this government.

The very least the public can expect is that these rotten decisions were made and administered honestly.

BC Rail simply doesn’t pass the smell test.

There must be a royal commission and one suspects that the politicians who resist the notion because there is no reason to, like the husband, don’t want us to put that decision to the test.

Share

Latest in ‘Basi Files’: Kinsella’s Massive Conflict of Interest

Canada, Politics, Western Canada, ,
Share

From alexgtsakumis.com – Jan 4, 2011

EXCLUSIVE/BREAKING NEWS: ‘The Basi Files’ Chapter VIII–Patrick
Kinsella’s Unfettered Access to Both CN and the BC Government Through a
Sham Process to Sell BC Rail

In this chapter, it’s now November 17, 2003, exactly one week before the deal to sell BC Rail to CN is formalized.

In a short, but explosive memo-to-file, Basi recounts how he spoke to
then BC Liberal party Executive Director, Kelly Reichert, whom is
colloquially referred to as “The Senator.”

Reichert, you’ll recall, is the brother-in-law, of legislature raid lead RCMP investigator, Kevin deBruyckere.
Reichert recently left the BC Liberal Party, after consolidating
control, under the tutelage of Gordon Campbell. He is replaced by
another Campbell Imperial storm trooper Chad Pederson–infamous
for returning calls of only compliant media, while he was
Communications Director for the BC Liberals over the last decade
(Translation: He must have Bill Good’s home number).

To the memo…

‘The Senator’ tells Basi of the broad-sweeping involvement of Patrick
Kinsella in the deal. And for the first time Basi introduces us to the
involvement of long-time BC Liberal PR spinner Randy Wood. Wood, for those of you unaware, is the long-time life partner of Marcia Smith,
former MA to Stan Hagen (she preceded me) and general self-important,
entirely overrated political hack, who worked with Kinsella on
successive provincial campaigns along with other such chest-beating
luminaries.

Reichert gives Basi the heads-up that Kinsella is sifting through the
tax pool information–pivotal to CN’s position as buyer. While Kinsella
stickhandles such key details, Basi writes that he is told by Reichert
that Kinsella will “call Martyn (Brown, Principal Secretary/Chief of
Staff to Premier Campbell) and the Premier directly if he needed
anything…”

Read full story here

Share
An open net fish farm in BC's Broughton Archipelago

Making the Environment a Key Political Issue in 2011

Canada, Energy and Resources, Politics, Tar Sands, Western Canada, , ,
Share

A new year and I enter the last year of my youth – I just celebrated the 40th anniversary of my 39th birthday. This is the year for my first great grandchild – a daughter will be born to my grandson Ty and his lovely wife Rhea in April. And it has all seemed to happen so fast.

This year will be a very important one for us who love our province and want it to be saved from those who, in Oscar Wilde’s words, “know the price of everything and the value of nothing”.

Why is this such a special year?

Because it’s one that will be chock-a-block with electioneering as the two major parties in BC select new leaders, we see if a third middle party may emerge, and the feds almost certainly will have an election.

We have a critical job to do – and an unusual one.

Let me explain.

Until recent times, the public could rely upon the media to present them not only with issues but points of view surrounding these issues. There was always a debate going on and there was a reasonably informed voting public. Since 2001, when the Campbell government took over, the media have been, for one reason or another, defanged pussy cats. You only have to look back at the great work Vaughn Palmer did on NDP Premier Glen Clark’s “fast ferries” issue to see how a public could be informed very much against the wishes of the government. The NDP government of the day pulled out all the stops and had people like me, in the media, pressed to come and see these magnificent vessels that so clearly were the wrong boats for the waters they were to ply. All to no avail – not just because of Palmer but because the full media coverage made it a large and legitimate issue.

It was scarcely just fast ferries – the media made the government’s life miserable, which is what they did to the government I was in. And they were right to do so.

Of course there were excesses – that’s what democracies are all about. That’s the premium we pay for free speech.

Since 2001, the government has got away with whatever they wished to do and in 2009 we saw what that meant – a 50% turnout at the polls. And what should have been a huge issue – the environment in general and a disgraceful handling of fish farms, highways, and rivers in particular – simply wasn’t because these issues didn’t seem to be real. How could they be real when Tony, Vaughn, Mike, and especially Christy didn’t talk about them? How could they be issues when the opposition who followed the poll numbers instead of making them hadn’t the foggiest idea what was going on and campaigned in slogans, as so long has been their wont? I campaigned around the province for the NDP – not, for God’s sake, because I had become an adherent to that party but because I wanted to see the environment saved and they were the only possible alternative to the Liberals.

Most NDP stalwarts will now agree with me that their campaign, especially on the environmental issues, was appalling. We, the members of the voting public now have the solemn obligation of making sure that this doesn’t happen again.

The “environment” isn’t a non-issue because it isn’t an issue, but because both political parties, for one reason or another, haven’t made it one. In other words, it’s like the tree in the forest – if no one’s there to listen, there’s no noise when it falls.

As many of you know, I’ve been asking people to pass on that which I circulate and other stuff that comes to my attention. While I believe that what I say is right, that scarcely makes me right. What I do say with more confidence is that it is an important part of the debate that ought to be. And this is what we must, in my opinion, concentrate on – namely making the environment not just a real issue but one which will decide the government at election time.

Forgive my repetition on this point but if a government screws up the economy, a new government with time can make it better. What we cannot ever do is get back our rivers, our fish, or our farmland once destroyed.

Please, then, for the sake of those to come, get behind us at The Common Sense Canadian and help us make the environment the #1 issue such that political parties no longer can avoid.

Let me close by telling you one of the reasons we call ourselves “The Common Sense Canadian.”

Both Damien and I, the founders, are huge fans of Thomas Paine, the failed customs official from England who was both catalyst and chronicler of the American Revolution, starting with his blockbuster bestselling pamphlet called Common Sense.

With this and other pamphlets, he circumvented the censorship of the aristocracy and reached the “common man.” Google it and read it yourself – it makes damned good reading today.

With TheCanadian.org, we are trying to follow Tom Paine’s example. For 2011, please resolve to help us do that – by sharing our work with others and getting involved in your own way in these vital issues.

I have full confidence that if the public of BC is fully informed on the issues at hand, we shall see justice and common sense prevail.

Happy New Year!

Share
Raid on the Ministry of Finance nd Ministry of Transportation at the BC Legislatue in 2003

Tsakumis’ Must-Read Basi Files: Shocking New Twist in Railgate Scandal

Canada, Politics, Western Canada, ,
Share

Alex Tsakumis is a journalist in the style of journalism in days of yore, when political reporters were expected to hold the “Establishment’s” and especially government’s feet to the fire. The days when there was incisive reporting with columnists staying with the story until the end are, alas, of a bygone era. Journalists were like pit bulls that you could not easily dislodge from the seat of your pants. Where are the fearless fighters for the truth that seemed to vanish after the NDP were defeated in 2001?
 
Because those days are gone, the Campbell government and others’ fear of exposure of wrongdoing were minimized, if not eliminated – were it not for the Basi-Virk trial. Now it’s gone.
 
Alex has come into possession of four memos-to-file by David Basi which were certified by lawyer George Jones, QC. That doesn’t mean the contents were true, of course, but it does raise serious questions about the role played by a number of people both inside and outside of the BC Cabinet. It has not been denied that Crown Counsel had possession of those documents.
 
I urge everyone to go to Alex’s website and read the memos from David Basi to the file. If they are true, serious misconduct by the government occurred during the sale period.
 
I must say from the outset that I’m not accusing specific people of any wrongdoing. What I am going to do is deal with the settlement of the Basi-Virk case and ask some pointed questions. Absent a court case, it is you, the jury of citizens who must decide.
 
The issues started shortly after the 2001 election in which Premier Campbell pledged he would not privatize BC Rail. With the election behind him, Campbell asked for bidders and three came forward.
 
Let’s try to look at this 7 year case in a nutshell.
 
Nearly a year after police raided the offices of Gary Collins, then Finance Minister, Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk were charged with multiple counts of fraud and breach of trust. The two men were said to have, amongst other things, accepted benefits from one of the bidders for the Roberts Bank spur line in return for handing over confidential documents. The defendants maintained that they had instructions from Cabinet ministers to keep the bidding going because while CN was the favoured bidder and Campbell wanted the bidding to look good because CN was run by one David McLean, long a Liberal bagman and bosom buddy of his. Indeed that’s the essence of Basi’s memos.
 
The list of witnesses in the trial for the Crown included two Cabinet Minsters with several powerful public servants. To add to this murky pond was a $300,000 payment by BC Rail to Liberal eminence grise, Patrick Kinsella, for “consulting fees during the bidding process.” Not surprisingly, this prompted the other bidders to holler foul, claiming that the government favoured CN all along and that the others were just window dressing to make the bidding look real and mask the truth that CN had a slam dunk.
 
Let’s look at two things – why Crown Counsel stopped the case just as important witnesses were to be heard, and what the crash of the case meant.
 
The short answer is that the accused men wanted to “cop a plea” and plead guilty to a couple of charges, getting away without going to jail and having their $6 million legal bill paid by the government.
 
This raises, to me at any rate, the obvious question: why did Special Counsel Bill Berardino, QC, accept?
 
Berardino knew he had a strong case, obviously fortified by the fact that defence counsel were admitting, off the record, that their clients were guilty, and the strongest part of his case was yet to come.
 
Asked if there was any government pressure to end the trial, which had so far contained embarrassing allegations for the B.C. Liberal Party, Berardino said: “This is my decision. I made it on my own by myself.”
 
I’m sorry, I don’t believe that and subsequent statements bear out my skepticism. When I and others expressed our incredulity at Berardino’s statement, it was then admitted that, of course, the Assistant Deputy Attorney General, knew about it but he was by statute removed from the politics and that we should recognize that “cast in stone” independence the Crown Counsel Act vested in him.
 
It’s impossible for me to accept that the Premier didn’t instruct Crown Counsel to seek terms and, after the terms were given, order their acceptance. I don’t say that Crown Counsel was untruthful, just that I don’t believe his story.
 
I’ve been in government, folks, and I know governments don’t pay out $6 million, plus another $12 million in legal expenses without knowing why.
 
Indeed, a bit of further prodding and the Deputy Attorney-General was admitted to be part of the deal, and shortly after that we learned that the Deputy Minister of Finance was also involved. Now, instead of Crown Counsel being the only one involved, the proposed settlement meant that payment would have to be authorized by Treasury Board, meaning that if Campbell didn’t know all about it before, he sure as hell did now. To me, all suspicions were confirmed – the key point being not what Mr. Berardino said or did, but the irresistible inference that Gordon Campbell and his flunkies not only knew about the deal but gave the instructions to settle.
 
Let’s look at it from another angle – why would Campbell want this trial to end ingloriously when victory was as assured as such can ever be? He knew it would look like hell to the public. Obviously this means he knew it would be even worse if he and others were forced to testify. The only possible reason Campbell could have for stopping this 7 year legal odyssey was to avoid the damage surely to come if he and former Finance Minister Gary Collins had to testify and if Basi and Virk had a chance to give their version of events.

Here’s where Alex Tsakumis’ dogged determination to discover the truth comes in. He learned that Dave Basi wrote at least four memos-to-file certified by a prominent lawyer and got possession of them. If you read them – and they are available on Alex’s website – it’s all there. The bribery, the deals, the lies, and the sleaze. Could one not infer from Campbell wanting the case to end that Basi’s memos are truthful? Doesn’t this make it pretty clear that Campbell knew what was in those memos?
 
If that’s the case, Campbell knew that further testimony could place him, former ministers Gary Collins, Judith Read, and even the untouchable Patrick Kinsella in serious legal jeopardy?
 
In the famous words of Emile Zola in the Alfred Dreyfus case, “J’accuse”  the government of BC, and Premier Campbell of perverting the course of justice, then stonewalling an Independent Commission to look into this entire sordid mess. Assuming he and his colleagues’ hands are clean, wouldn’t they want to demonstration before an independent commissioner?
 
Surely, if they are innocent they would be begging to have a hearing.
 
But they aren’t. The former deputy premier during the sale of BC Rail, Christy Clark has made it clear she wants no scrutiny into her acts at the time.
 
If the Campbell government does not instruct a Judicial Inquiry, one can only conclude that Basi is telling the truth.
 
That being so, other heads should roll – but of course they won’t.

Share

B.C. NDP to Choose New Leader April 17

Canada, Politics, Western Canada,
Share

From CBC.ca – Dec. 18, 2010

The B.C. NDP provincial council has voted to hold a leadership election in April.

“British Columbians are ready for a change from the reckless policies
of the B.C. Liberals, and New Democrats are moving forward with our
leadership election,” Jan O’Brien, provincial secretary of the B.C. NDP,
said in a written release.

“It’s an exciting time to be a New Democrat in British Columbia, and
we’re looking forward to a competitive leadership election.”

A leadership assembly will take place on April 17 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

The leadership election comes after party leader Carole James ended
her struggle with a dissident caucus faction and resigned earlier this
month.

Several B.C. NDP leadership contenders have expressed interest in the
job, including Fraser-Nicola MLA Harry Lali and Port Coquitlam-Burke
Mountain MLA Mike Farnworth, but no one has formally entered the
leadership race.

Read full article here

Share

BC Liberal contender calls for review of carbon tax

Canada, Carbon Tax - Cap and Trade, Politics, Western Canada, ,
Share

Globe & Mail – Dec. 16, 2010

by Ian Bailey

Kevin Falcon fears the carbon tax may be hurting B.C.’s competitive position so is calling for a review of the tax in 2012.

The former transportation and health minister , seeking to become B.C.’s
next premier as leader of the provincial Liberals, told CKNW radio
Thursday he was “very proud” of the government’s climate-change agenda,
including the North American first of enacting a carbon tax.

But he said the “responsible position” in 2012 is to consider that B.C.
is the only jurisdiction in North America with such a tax.

“We do have to look to make sure our competitive position, particularly
for small business and industry is not unduly impacted by the fact that
we are the only jurisdiction to have a carbon tax,” he said.

“We have to be thoughtful about that process before we go further and consider any kind of future increases.”

Mr. Falcon did not make clear whether such a review could lead to axing
the tax, which was embraced by environmental leaders, but opposed by the
NDP.

Mr. Falcon said he was mindful of policies that were supportive to
northern and rural B.C. – regions where leaders were critical of the
carbon tax.

Read full Globe & Mail article here


Share

MUST READ! TSAKUMIS’ BASI FILES BOMBSHELL!

Canada, Politics, Western Canada, , , ,
Share

Dec. 14, 2010

From alexgtsakumis.com

Some time in early November, after the obvious deal cutting between
the B.C. government and co-defendants David Basi and Bob Virk, I
received a phone call from someone close to the prosecution and very
familiar with the BC Liberal government, who was appalled by what had
just transpired.

A long-time retired lawyer with a storied reputation when he
practiced, this wasn’t a man who was going to suffer the spin zone, and
for reasons which, in part, are entrusted with him and his client, they
provided me with several bankers boxes of information related to the
sale of BC Rail.

We met several times over the course of a week. He explained his position and that of his client as I listened.

After several more meetings, I traveled to Nanaimo, where he
introduced me to the man who delivered what I refer to as ‘The Basi
Files’.

Over the next week or so I will release one ‘Memo-to-File’ per day.
They are authored by Dave Basi alone, in his own words, and after he
wrote each installment they were witnessed by Victoria lawyer George Jones, Q.C. whose unimpeachable integrity is without question and whose signature I have verified.

The memos are dated from October 6th., 2003 and extend almost two
months to November 25th., 2003 (the day after the sale of BC Rail to CN
was formalized).

What you will read is the clearest record we have thus far of how to
two key government operatives, Dave Basi and Bobby Virk, it could not
have been more clear: The BC Liberal government were running a heavily
skewed process whereby BC Rail, an asset that we were promised by Gordon
Campbell would never be disposed of, was being sold (990 year lease) to
a company run by a very close friend and bagman of the Premier of
British Columbia, David McLean. Additionally, during the course of the
disposal of this asset, as it becomes clear as day in subsequent
installments that you will read over the next week to ten days, that
breathtaking risks were taken by Basi and Virk, all to satisfy direct
orders CLEARLY coming from the Office of the Premier through former
Finance Minister Gary Collins. From Basi’s own words, it is evident that
not only was the Premier of the Province of British Columbia, Gordon
Campbell, clearly involved in directing the sale (the unseemly pressure
applied by the Premier in conversations with Bob Virk are documented by
Basi), but that other Ministers, including Gary Collins and Christy
Clark participated in various aspects through a process designed to
favour one bidder, CN, over all others.

Read full article here

Share

Christy Clark’s candidacy

Canada, Politics, Western Canada
Share

Christine Clark tells on herself, claiming to be an outsider, squeaky-clean, from the ‘real world’. As education minister she administered the disastrous Liberal policies that caused today’s crisis in our schools. As minister of social services she administered what has become the crisis in child and family poverty and homelessness. Her instant resignation at the police raid on the legislature and the arrest of Basi and Virk, along with the Liberal stonewalling of that trial for six years, allowed her to evade answering questions about her part in the BC Rail scandal, and her husband’s back-room Liberal connections. As deputy premier she supported her mentor Gordon Campbell.

Neither she nor any candidate can distance themselves from the Liberal dismantling of our public infrastructure: privatization, in whole or part, of BC Rail, BC Ferries, BC Hydro, BC Health services, schools, bridges, highways and public transit. It’s apparently OK to ‘tax and spend’ to enrich global corporations, but not to ensure the well-being of BC businesses and working people. OK to sell out our resources, use our taxes for corporate welfare, and deny the rights of Indigenous Nations. OK to limit—shades of Harper—sittings of the Legislature.

In now claiming family values, BC’s Sarah Palin reveals herself to be addicted to the Liberal practice of pulling the wool over our eyes, of the hypocrisy that has made an “idiocracy” of our democratic institutions.

Share

What Next for the NDP?

Canada, Politics, Western Canada, ,
Share

I’m trying to figure out if I was surprised to hear of Carole James resignation or not.

Certainly I was sorry for Carole whom I believe is a fine person who probably, as I said long ago, is not of the right temperament for politics, BC style. She’s a conciliator not a fighter but ironically because she couldn’t conciliate her own party she had to leave. But, she couldn’t conciliate her own party because conciliators don’t work out in BC politics. Follow me so far…?
 
The first problem the NDP has is how to name a replacement. There is a clause for leadership review for next November but the review has just happened so when and how is Ms James to be replaced? While I don’t know a damned thing about the NDP Constitution it must allow for an extraordinary leadership convention when they don’t have one, as was the case when Glen Clark resigned in 1999 and in February 2000 was replaced by Ujjal Dosanjh.
 
The timing of a leadership race is a delicate question. Ms. James spoke of an interim leader in the New Year so the question is whether a convention is called before November or not. My suggestion – made so as to ensure it will never happen – would be to wait until next November with an interim leader, someone who agrees not to stand for leader as Dan Miller did in 1999. There are deep wounds within the party and to have an early leadership convention would simply have them deepen not heal.
 
These wounds reflect not so much upon Ms. James but on the divisions she went in with, mainly over the power of Labour within the party. These divisions are easily exacerbated in the NDP, especially when leaders are selected. One obvious division is personified by Moe Sihota whose salary is being paid by the Union movement. There are three factors there: 1. many just don’t like Moe very much; 2. there was resentment that the decision to pay him was secret; 3. the payment coming from Labour sent a message that Labour was fighting to recover lost territory.
 
To hold an early leadership convention would see much more blood spilt in public. It will be spilled anyway, but by November such cooler heads as there are in the party will have had a chance to look for ways to smooth over the ruffled feathers with a view to “fixing” the convention to the degree it can be fixed.
 
The obvious danger is that postponing the convention will give the new Liberal Premier a chance to build up his party’s fortunes; the extent to which they can do that depends, of course, on who that premier is. 
 
Who are the favourites for the NDP crown?
 
It’s rather like looking over a crop of yearlings and picking out which one will win the Kentucky Derby – there are many imponderables, the first of which is can he/she come from the 13 dissidents who brought James down?
 
Conventional wisdom says that Brutus never wins the crown – though the dirtiest, craftiest Brutus of them all, the now finally disgraced Brian Mulroney, is the obvious exception. The Bruta (assuming the feminine of Brutus), Jenny Kwan has a lot of IOUs in the party not just for her obvious abilities but for her service in the two person caucus after the 2001 debacle.
 
Assuming that you find any NDP MLA attractive, there are several attractive choices amongst the dissenters, Norm Macdonald from Columbia River-Revelstoke being one. Apart from being a dissenter he also comes from a small political base meaning he would have to earn delegates elsewhere.
 
Katrine Conroy and Robin Austin also suffer that problem. Claire Trevena certainly fits the right NDP image of being female and able to win a tough constituency.
 
From the ”loyalist” list we have several contenders including Dawn Black, Kathy Corrigan, Adrian Dix, Mike Farnworth, John Horgan, Michael Sather, and Leonard Krog.
 
I will, in a bit, give you my hopes rather than predictions but first there are three “outsiders” one cannot rule out no matter what they say.
 
Corky Evans may have been away but not so far that he couldn’t circulate a lengthy letter enumerating the sins of Carole James just when she least needed it.
 
Gregor Robertson denies any interest but I’ll be more persuaded of that stand after some time has passed, especially if there doesn’t seem to be a favourite emerging.
 
Joy MacPhail has been seen about these days and I mention her because she has a following and a not bad record as a cabinet minister in tough portfolios.
 
Now permit me to put my environmentalist’s hat on. Call me “one issue Rafe” if you will but to me the “environment” is the overriding issue and here’s why – we can lose money and we can fail many people and groups but those things can be fixed; while all harms and wrongs cannot be fully repaired, changes in government can usually make things better.
 
When we destroy our environment, it’s gone forever. Moreover, the people I mention I believe would clearly work to save the environment and also keep our commitment to good fiscal policy and social issues.
 
Norm Macdonald, mentioned above, would suit my criteria admirably. I’ve seen him up close and must say it’s a pity he will be dissed as a conspirator, but I think as time passes that will too.
 
I’m also impressed by Katrine Conroy who has deep roots in the party which will probably erase her “sins” if disloyalty to Carole James is that, and has a good record on the “environment.”
 
I have not mentioned Michelle Mungall from Nelson-Creston because she is a rookie and young – but young and free of old time baggage might be the way the campaign goes and stranger things have happened.
 
I also think that Mike Farnworth is an experienced legislator and sound on environmental matters. The experiences he’s had over the years has clearly strengthened him.
 
My main choice, in a tossup with Farnworth, would be John Horgan, the energy critic. He understands the terrible Campbell Energy Plan and the inevitable consequences of it. He also has been the most forthright on what must be done including the making public of all the IPP contracts and judging them as to whether or not they are unconscionable. The issue with John is health as he is a cancer survivor.
 
Am I, then committed to the NDP? Is the Common Sense Canadian so committed?
 
The answer is a resounding “NO!” In fact we would welcome the presence of another party pledged to the values we, and thousands of British Columbians are working to restore in this province we love. I would like to say that we haven’t given up hope on the Liberals but on their record, that’s surely too much to hope. Since the departure of Gordon Wilson in 1993 the Liberal party has become greedy and doctrinaire right wing, moving, lamentably, over the last decade, steadily to the “right,” to where they seem now to be just the political arm of the Fraser Institute.
 
The Common Sense Canadian is looking to saving our province from the fate of Brazil, Indonesia, Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico states and others which have had their heritage ravaged by greed accompanied, indeed encouraged by government policy or indifference.
 
We at the Common Sense Canadian are busting our asses to bring decency, common sense, and sensitive leadership to BC to replace the destruction of our heritage and that which makes us unique.
 
Far from being anti-business, all we ask is that companies behave themselves; all we ask government is to set out solid rules of environmental conduct and enforce them.
 
We don’t think that’s too much to ask and as we read it, neither does the majority of British Columbians.
 

Share