NDP Leader Carole James mishandled the “Bob Simpson” problem several weeks ago ..and now that has come back to haunt her. At the time, I criticised James for having MLA Simpson turfed from caucus for publicly criticising as lacklustre a speech  she made to the Union of BC Municipalties convention. It was lacklustre.  But although he did not […]

 Wikileaks‘ website is reportedly under attack as it prepares to release up to 2.7 million documents, described as “diplomatic dynamite”, detailing communication between United States embassies. “We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack,” the organisation said on its Twitter feed. The website, run by Julian Assange, retaliated by saying that even if their website goes down, several […]

Hearing Carole James declare that the challenge to her leadership is over – because the NDP’s Provincial Council backed her – reminds me of George Bush on the US air craft carrier with the huge “Mission Accomplished” sign behind him after the initial attack in Iraq. Talk about not getting it. The NDP is now […]

The Ministry of Agriculture and Lands’ continued refusal to disclose sea lice infestation data could set a dangerous precedent for future public information requests, environmental groups argue in a submission filed today to B.C.’s information commissioner. In March 2010, after six years of drawn-out proceedings, the commissioner ruled that the ministry could not conceal 2002-03 fish […]

 I  have never seen more senators express discontent with their jobs. … I think the major cause is that, deep down in our hearts, we have been accomplices to doing something terrible and unforgivable to this wonderful country. Deep down in our hearts, we know that we have bankrupted America and that we have given […]

National governments have been back in the news over the past two years because of the financial crisis and the havoc it wreaked on the global economy. Belying the ideology that nations were obsolete in the grand new order of transnational corporations, they are now front and centre trying to save the corporations that supposedly […]

When I think of winter coming, I imagine cosy weekends filled with children’s laughter and hot chocolate shared in the warm glow of a living room.  But for too many people here in the BC Southern Interior, that first snowfall may feel a little more ominous.  For some of our friends and neighbours—maybe even your […]

Whatever the Western media calls them, the illegal Jewish settlements on the West Bank are very far from being outposts. They are connected to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv by fast, Jews-only motorways. Their villas have swimming pools and lawns (a settler is allocated eight times more water than a Palestinian). Even the most recent and […]

Mark Hume of the Globe and Mail has done an outstanding job of taking the Sea to Sky highway shadow toll story to an entirely new level in the Monday edition of the paper, and managed to get some rather creative answers from both Macquarie and the BC government.   Truly,creative doesn’t even begin to describe […]

Make no mistake about it: Carole James will be gone as NDP leader well before the next provincial election. But remember: in politics, like comedy, timing is everything. And the next BC election isn’t scheduled until Tuesday, May 14, 2013.  Yes, 2013.  So for the NDP there’s no rush: in fact, it would be politically dumb to replace James […]