OP/ED: Budget, Health Watch, Celgar ... it's all related, and we have some choices to make
You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar – but rip its wings off, and it’ll have to eat anything you feed it. That perspective isn’t entirely incorrect, I suppose, but it’s not a very appealing way of doing business … especially if you’re the fly. Unfortunately, angry, adversarial methods seem […]
OP/ED: Francophonie: Cultural diversity or bigotry?
We are very fortunate to live in a culturally diverse nation, and for the most part, Canadians cling to the multiculturalist ideal. It is understandable that there needs to be restrictions on the accommodation of religious and cultural minorities, such as the prohibition of female genital mutilation and child marriage, but in the case […]
KEEPING IT REAL: Under BC Injustice System, crime DOES pay
Think about it. If you could walk away with more than $32 million and only have to spend 36 months of your life in a federal prison (maybe even minimum security farm), would you do it? That’s almost a take of a million dollars a month … former investment adviser and convicted multiple fraudster Ian Thow […]
OP/ED: Leggett pens open letter to premier re: health cuts
Shame on you Mr. Gordon Campbell! Our children and those who are sick are being pushed to the side because you are unable to see anything outside of your Olympic blinders. You have failed the people of the province whom you are supposed to be serving, and for that you should be ashamed.My hospital is struggling and people are […]
ATAMANENKO: Home Renovation Tax Credit is worth repeating
The Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC) program recently came to an end. By all accounts it was such a success that people are clamouring for the government to continue the credit for another year. New Democrats agree, and are calling for the credit to be maintained and enhanced to promote energy-efficient, green technology for […]
OP/ED: Is SD 20 forgetting to whom it's accountable?
It seems that, on Feb. 8, School District 20 (SD20) has opted to remove the controversial Planning for the Future Part 2, much to the relief of the parents who were concerned of the school closures. What truly amazes me is the fact that the board narrowly voted to remove Part 2 by a 5-4 […]
ATAMANENKO: Afghanistan
It is hard to imagine that before the 1979 Soviet invasion, Afghanistan was a country where many ethnic groups and tribes lived in harmony with their neighbours. They had a subsistence economy and a central government. Unlike today there was no sign of extremist inspired suicide bombings or a heroin based economy. It took thirty […]
HE SAID: Haiti needs hand up, not hand out
If Haiti wasn’t an unsuccessful nation before the earthquake, it most certainly is one now, prior to the terrible event of Jan. 12 that left Haiti in a pile of rubble, the tiny country was not much better off. Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, boasts of only having 52 per cent of its […]
SHE SAID: Let's ALL prorogue!
I bet the School District 20 board of education is, right now, wishing it had Stephen Harper’s discretionary power and could just prorogue the whole district until this budgetary mess goes away …or at least until the public forgets about it. Of course, they can’t … no more than I can “prorogue” this issue of […]
OP/ED: MP speaks to proroguing and nation-building
When the government has completed the legislative agenda they have put forward in the session following a Budget speech it is usual and perfectly fine to prorogue the House. In fact Parliament can be prorogued on one day and a new budget speech introduced the following day if the government chooses. It is not okay, […]