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...
Mir Lecture brings Suzuki to Castlegar
David Suzuki will be engaging audiences in the West Kootenay this September with a thought-provoking talk about an elder’s vision for our sustainable future. The Irving K. Barber lecture featuring David Suzuki is part of Selkirk College’s Mir Centre for Peace Lecture Series. The presentation is founded on his recent book THE...
Paid propaganda? PART 2: Sun/Province’s disturbing “message”
[Editor's note: Part one of Mr. Oberfeld's column should be right below this one. I decided to print the two simultaneously as this is an important issue and one that will only become more and more urgent as corporate newspapers struggle to survive in an age of declining revenues]It’s no secret that, to any branch of the news...
Sun/Province: real stories or paid-for propaganda?
How do you tell the difference between journalism today and prostitution? Hmmm... Sorry: it’s not a joke; there is no punchline; it’s only a question I’ve been asking myself since reading the ”major” Vancouver newspapers last weekend.Saturday Aug. 28 on page A-16 in The Vancouver Sun there were two captivating stories: ...
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 ...
Electoral Officer’s Ruling MUST Be Challenged
The decision by B.C.’s “Acting” Chief Electoral Officer Craig James to stall the anti-HST petition until court cases are dealt with MUST be challenged in court. I believe he’s wrong; he made a mistake; he went far beyond his proper role in validating a petition. He has in effect destroyed B.C.’s democratic petition legislation,...
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 ...
ATAMANENKO: Time for new agriculture policies
After years of deteriorating farm income, mounting debt and ill-designed income stability programs, can life on Canadian farms get worse? It certainly appears so. The government is forecasting that the price of many farm commodities will decline in 2010. And despite a complete overhaul by the Conservative government, farm...
