Here are three things to remember about Premier Clark and the Enbridge pipeline: 1. She did not reject the pipeline – she simply said that Enbridge had not met BC’s conditions. 2. She has, simply said “we want money”, which reminds me of the old chestnut where a man invites a lady to bed offering her $25,000 … Continue reading Rafe: Take Clark’s disingenuous Enbridge ‘No’ with a pound of salt
Over the years I have done blogs, editorials and the like unto the thousands. This is the all time shortest. Within the next four years, BC Hydro, once as good a power utility as there was in the world, will be broken up. It is, you see, presently bankrupt by private corporation standards, and only keeps, … Continue reading Rafe: Clark Will Break Up BC Hydro
Christy Clark has pulled off the sort of miracle the Boston Bruins managed when coming back from a 4-1 deficit to the Leafs recently. One would be ungracious not to extend congratulations. The story is more than a matter of manners, for the truth is that Adrian Dix blew the election – big time. I … Continue reading Rafe: Dix Let Liberals Get Away with Murder
The annals of contemporary political history make one thing clear: Elections are invariably won and lost on a single issue – and that issue is most often the economy. To borrow a slogan coined by Bill Clinton’s enigmatic campaign strategist, James Carville, “It’s the economy, stupid.” You can win issues two through ten, but if … Continue reading It’s the Economy, Stupid NDP
It might be instructive to the citizens of BC to have a financial report card on their Provincial Government before casting their vote in the coming election. A good starting point is the 2001 publication by Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberal Party titled “A Vision for Hope & Prosperity for the next Decade and beyond”. … Continue reading BC Liberal Legacy: A Huge Debt Burden
I was recently asked by a reader what it is I want, presumably in the way of government. I’m not so naïve as to think I’ll ever be satisfied, but neither is anyone else. Unless we’re members of a party or one of its cheerleaders we understand that human institutions will contain the human frailties we … Continue reading Rafe Mair: What I Want from Next BC Government
Premier Christy Clark wants BC citizens to subsidize the oil and gas industry with a $10 Billion taxpayer-funded dam. Though she won’t put it quite like that, that’s precisely the implication of the policies she’s promoting in the run-up to May’s provincial election. Clark confirmed her vision for powering a new, much-ballyhooed Liquified Natural Gas … Continue reading Site C Dam: A $10 Billion Taxpayer Subsidy for LNG, Fracking
In the Postmedia press this past week we learned that Gordon Fisher has become publisher of The Vancouver Sun and The Province. Here is my welcome. Dear Mr. Fisher, My congratulations on your new posting. These two papers need all the help they can get. I’m an octogenarian now – I love that word because it’s more … Continue reading Rafe’s Welcome Letter to New Sun & Province Publisher
I never understood why then-Premier Gordon Campbell hired John Doyle as BC’s Auditor General in 2007. Was it for show? Was he under the illusion Doyle could be controlled? A deputy A G in Australia with a reputation as a thorough, tough defender of the public interest, Doyle seemed like a poor fit for an … Continue reading Shooting the Messenger: BC’s Stalwart Auditor General Pushed Out
The Government of BC has been on a borrowing and spending spree for about eight years.