Gordon Campbell: The new Rocky Balboa?
I love BC politics. It’s often more dramatic than some of the prime time offerings offered up for our entertainment on the big screen or the tube. And, whether you see him as the hero or the villain, Premier Gordon Campbell deserves an Oscar and an Emmy.He was on the canvas, bruised and beaten down; his enemies could smell his...
HST: Where political tragedy and comedy come together
It’s actually hard not to laugh! But really, we should be crying. Finance Minister Colin Hansen stood before the cameras this week and told British Columbians he had no idea his own Finance Ministry officials were holding extensive discussions with federal counterparts in Ottawa on the HST in March, 2009 … a few months before...
DOBBIN: Canadian politics needs a game-changer
As we head into a new political season it looks depressingly like the old: a stand-off between the malignant minority government of Stephen Harper and the seriously diminished Liberal Party and its hapless leader Michael Ignatieff. Both these parties and their leaders are so off the mark in terms of what Canadians want and...
HST lawsuit: Business message is disturbing
I must admit: I have certain rules in handling responses from readers to postings on this blog. No libel, no swearing, no racist remarks, no name-calling. But I do NOT try to kill off comments from people who disagree with me (although I wonder how could they!). I don’t disqualify them because their submissions have spelling ...
BC HST Hits 20%--at selected stores
Well, that didn’t take long! Remember all those promises BC retailers wouldn’t use the HST to rip off consumers? And the Premier, the Finance Minister and the business community wouldn’t lie to us, would they?Been to Zellers lately?I was there today and the cashier asked, before ringing up the total for my single item, if ...
KEEPING IT REAL: Campbell AND the Liberals are going, going...
If anyone had any doubt it is game over for Premier Gordon Campbell, the latest Angus Reid poll spells it out in black and white. But what’s worse are the figures that also show that, even with a new leader, the Liberals are heading for an election disaster.That will be Campbell’s political legacy, barring a miraculous...
KEEPING IT REAL: Inquiry into missing women wastes millions
Vancouver Police got it wrong in the beginning-- and they’re getting it wrong again at the end. The department has jumped on the politically correct bandwagon and supported calls for a public inquiry into what went wrong in the case of the 26 missing women, who are believed to have died at the hands of Robert Pickton, already...
BC Green Party says cancel consideration of the Northern Gateway Enbridge pipelines
"BC Greens oppose the Enbridge pipelines between the Alberta Tar Sands and Kitimat. The Michigan spill proves that Enbridge has misled the public on the general safety of pipelines and on its own record of spills," said Green Party of BC Leader Jane Sterk."It seems that it is only after a disaster happens that the...
CTV Back at CRTC: Is it Begging or Blackmail?
Any cop, lawyer, judge or prosecutor knows that when you give in to blackmail, it’s not the end of the shakedown. Not by any means! Too bad the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission never learned that lesson.It’s only a few months ago that the CRTC caved in to the demands of Canada’s private television...
DOBBIN: Another political season is over
As you may have noticed I haven’t been blogging much over the last couple of weeks. (Largely this is because I have been immersed in fighting the privatization of the local sewage treatment system). But in part it is the result of having some doubts about what the point is. I often say to people that the left – whatever that...
