>When Jack Layton announced last week that he was no longer pressing the Harper government to cancel its next round of corporate tax cuts (cost: $6 billion) he revealed that the NDP cannot figure a way out of the trap it has been setting for itself since Stephen Harper got elected five years ago. Stuck at 15-17% […]

The release of the preliminary contributors list for BC Liberal leadership candidates makes for an interesting read, but the most intriguing part goes well beyond the totals.   Naturally, most of the media highlighted who has so far taken in the most: Kevin Flacon $708,000;  Christy Clark  $519,000;  George Abbott  $427,000;  and, Mike De Jong  […]

Student aid programs continue to be a priority for this government. The budget for student aid remains constant from last year. It is regrettable that the opposition is suggesting that government is making cuts to student aid programs in budget 2011/2012. Not true. Suggesting that there is a cut this year will undeniably create fear […]

 By Kim Barker in ProPubilca. This piece was co-published in the New York Times Thousands of men blocked the road, surrounding the S.U.V. of the chief justice of Pakistan, a national hero for standing up to military rule. As a correspondent for The Chicago Tribune, I knew I couldn’t just watch from behind a car window. I […]

The BC Liberals will choose us a new premier on Saturday, but Mike Farnworth doesn’t really care. He too, is running for premier. “After ten years, people are ready for a change,” the NDP leadership candidate told the Telegraph this week during a brief Kootenay campaign tour. “We don’t live in a one-party state. This […]

Two prominent US Republicans, Newt Gingrich (former Speaker of the House) and Pat Nolan, (former Republican Leader of the California State Assembly) are saying that the American style “tough on crime” approach is not working.    They, along with other US Conservative leaders are spearheading the Right on Crime Campaign, a national movement urging states […]

Our thoughts and prayers are with the heroes and heroines and martyrs of Libya, and with our brave correspondent in Tripoli, now under fire. Communication is on and off, mainly off. Here is her most recent report. Since she sent it the phone lines have been cut entirely and the city’s electricity is also disconnected. […]

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is disappointed with the B.C. government’s management of the public purse and troubled by rising public debt forecast in today’s provincial budget. “This government would like everybody to cheer a $1.265 billion deficit for last year, because it’s lower than forecast. That’s not good enough. The real story here is $440 […]

 In Tuesday’s budget, presented by Finance Minister Colin Hansen, the Liberal Government tried to make the case that the last ten years of BC Liberal government has improved the lives of British Columbians however most people who live in rural BC are not agreeing with him, says Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy.   “As the […]

 As tens of millions of Egyptians celebrated their victory over a brutal dictator and began the task of creating democracy, the story from Canada was of democracy going backwards. For five years under Stephen Harper, Canada has been subjected to a systematic erosion of democracy (as I document here). Canada is not Egypt and Harper is […]