This site will look much better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
Articles on major issues in BC politics.
Carbon tax versus cap and trade
April 17, 2008
With worldwide acceptance of the connection between increasing accumulations of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere and global climate change, many governments are moving to regulate GHG emissions through systems of economic incentives.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Electoral reform vote set for 2009
March 20, 2008
The Electoral Reform Referendum 2009 Act, legislation to allow a second referendum on an alternative electoral system, was introduced by Attorney General Wally Oppal on March 6.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Rejigging the political map; a Valentine for BC?
February 21, 2008
On February 14, the BC Electoral Boundaries Commission announced its final report on political boundaries for BC.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Government to repeal sections of Bill 29 declared unconstitutional
February 21, 2008
The sections were imposed by the government in January 2002 without any consultation with unions representing affected employees.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
TILMA a major hurdle to BC’s climate action plans
February 21, 2008 | Commentary by Marc Lee and Caelie Frampton
Premier Gordon Campbell has positioned BC as a global leader on climate change, but his interest in harmonizing provincial standards through the BC-Alberta Trade, Investment andLabour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) could prove to be a thorn in the government’s side. Fighting climate change will necessarily involve a lot of regulation, while TILMA is fundamentally a deregulatory initiative.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Sorting out farm taxes
February 7, 2008 | By Jenny McLeod
In December, Rick Thorpe, Minister of Small Business and Revenue, ordered a review of farm property tax assessment policy. The policy review is aimed to protect small farms, and in particular small suburban-area farms.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Teachers sign-on to undebated TILMA
January 24, 2008
As of April 1, teachers from Alberta’s public and independent schools will be able to teach in British Columbia’s schools and vice versa.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Boundaries commission will complete work
December 13, 2007
The provincial Electoral Boundaries Commission has announced that it will complete its work under its original terms of reference, even though the final fate of its recommendations is in considerable doubt.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Basi - Virk trial fogged in technicality and secrecy
December 13, 2007
The seemingly never-ending legal proceedings surrounding the takeover of BC Rail by CN Rail have plunged further into a legal fog.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Not all the bullies are on the playground
November 29, 2007 | Russ Searle
For the past several years the Campbell government has been taking flak from smaller districts around the province due to a lack of specialist teachers in these districts for subjects such as calculus, social studies, and science.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
CRD moves to control forest real estate
November 29, 2007
The Capital Regional District has moved to freeze development of some 150,000 hectares of the Juan de Fuca Electoral District, along the south coast of Vancouver Island west of Sooke.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Riding the rails: tracking the BC Rail deal
November 15, 2007 | Commentary by BC Mary
During the provincial election of 2001, Gordon Campbell promised BC that he would never sell BC Rail. Then he sold it in a deal which remains secret and tainted.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Shrooming in Vancouver Island’s stumpfields
November 15, 2007 | Commentary by Ingmar Lee
Every autumn I head out towards Jordan River to pick wild mushrooms. Years ago, having comprehended the scale of the industrial decimation of fish worldwide, I quit one of my favourite pastimes and channelled my predatory proclivities into the hunt for mushrooms instead.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Editorial: Will The Canary Sing?
November 15, 2007
Local governments across Vancouver Island will be watching as the Islands Trust Executive considers a revised Forest Zone bylaw for Galiano Island.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Call for carbon tax
November 15, 2007
On November 1, Sierra Club BC called on the BC government to introduce a revenue neutral carbon tax in the next provincial budget. The environmental group applauds the 69 BC economists who recently wrote an open letter to the BC government asking for a carbon tax to help tackle global warming.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
The Great PMFL Tax Scam
October 18, 2007 | Commentary by Jerry Azevedo
Four years ago this month, then Minister of Sustainable Resource Management Stan Hagen announced the creation of a public/private corporation to oversee forestry on private lands in BC. His press release trumpeted: ‘Sustainability Boosted On Private Managed Forest Lands.’ Last month the community of Galiano found out exactly what he meant by ‘sustainability.’
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Municipalities question TILMA
October 4, 2007
On Wednesday, September 26, a substantial majority of delegates to the annual convention of the Union of BC Municipalities voted to support a resolution which questions the BC/Alberta Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA).
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Editorial: Gnawing at the Heart of Government
October 4, 2007
The British Columbia Legislature sat for only 46 days in 2006; the governing party neglected to call a fall session. In recent years, the Alberta Legislature has sat for about 45 to 55 days each year. The 2007 fall session of the House of Commons has been delayed for at least two weeks by the governing party.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Deconstructing TILMA: Investment Protection
July 26, 2007
Premier Gordon Campbell has been heavily promoting the adoption by other provinces of the Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA). ‘It’s time we make up our minds what kind of country we want to be,’ he said at a recent meeting of premiers in Iqaluit.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Municipalities aren’t buying into TILMA
May 31, 2007
Several of BC’s regional municipal associations have passed resolutions expressing their concerns about the effects of the TILMA.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
MLA pay raise may be dwarfed by pension costs
May 17, 2007
An Independent Commission proposal that MLAs once again have a defined benefit pension plan may be more significant than a recommended 29% pay raise (to $98,000), according to the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
MLA’s pay—are they worth it?
May 17, 2007
Behind the public indignation that the governing BC Liberals would introduce a bill that would give each MLA a 29% pay increase, is the public suspicion that they aren’t worth the money.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Proportional representation elections viewed
May 3, 2007
Fair Voting BC’s director Julian West is joining an international team which will observe the May 3 English local election and the parliamentary election in Scotland.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
TILMA creates hurdles for endangered species and for curbing pollution
May 3, 2007
Although the aim of TILMA is to turn Alberta and BC into an economic powerhouse, Sierra Legal’s analysis reveals that the agreement could seriously threaten the provinces’ endangered species and jeopardize potential initiatives to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Bill 11 and Jumbo Glacier Resort
April 19, 2007 | Corky Evans Commentary
An excerpt from a speech made by MLA Corky Evans in the BC Legislature on March 26. The entire speech, in inimitable Corky-style, can be read in Hansard.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Opening Space in a small community
April 5, 2007
Saturna Island’s Community Gathering on March 3 and 4 was inspiring.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
BC Government Scrambles to Clarify TILMA
March 22, 2007
The BC provincial government, faced with mounting criticism of the Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility Agreement which it signed with the Government of Alberta, has been scrambling to explain and reassure individuals and local governments about the expected effects of this complex document. It appears that, in their efforts to draft an all-inclusive agreement, the two governments have over-reached themselves.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
BC Liberals block TILMA debate
March 22, 2007
On March 5, the BC Liberal majority in the provincial legislature changed its position from neglecting to debate the Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility Agreement signed with Alberta, to refusing to debate the Agreement.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Good Government vs. TILMA
March 22, 2007 | Chris Bowers
By now I hope that all Islanders have at least heard about the BC/Alberta Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) which will be coming into effect on April 1 of this year. If you have not, it can fairly be said that this was not the fault of this paper which has been calling the alarm for a number of months now.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Editorial: Respect and Dissent
March 22, 2007
Betty Krawczyk is back in jail again at age 78, sentenced to ten months as a ‘repeat offender’ after being convicted of criminal contempt of court.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Educational squeeze tighter in rural schools; minister not listening
March 8, 2007 | Commentary by Russ Searle
During the past school year, the Minister of Education, Shirley Bond, backed by Premier Gordon Campbell, committed to visiting every school district in BC, and Wednesday, January 24 was the turn of Gulf Islands School District.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Kwan calls for public hearings on TILMA
February 22, 2007
NDP MLA Jenny Kwan says that there has been no public forum in which to debate TILMA, the contentious BC/Alberta trade agreement. ‘British Columbians have questions and concerns about the impact TILMA will have on our province’, says Kwan MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Editorial: Blind to blind trust?
February 8, 2007
The issue of Premier Campbell knowing that he held Alcan shares at the time that he was dealing with Alcan over the company’s proposed sale of power to BC Hydro has received a good deal of media interest.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
TILMA Forum in Nanaimo
February 8, 2007
Despite the wide ranging implications of this agreement British Columbians and local governments are just beginning to learn about the existence of this agreement and its impacts.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
BC Government Approves Three Proposals for Parks
January 11, 2007
The Request for Proposals for new fixed-roof accommodation in BC provincial parks received proposals for four parks: Mount Robson, Elk Lakes, Maxhamish Lake and Cape Scott.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
An Editorial + Letter on TILMA
January 11, 2007
TILMA is due to come into effect on April 1, 2007; here are the opinions of a few people on this agreement.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
TILMA: the Trojan Horse
December 14, 2006
The Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between British Columbia and Alberta, signed last April in Edmonton, could be a 'Trojan horse’ to create an opportunity for the addition of property rights to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a key part of Canada’s constitution.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
BC Needs More Than Promises When it Comes to Accountability
November 30, 2006 | Keith Reynolds
‘I think legislators made a mistake,’ said BC’s recently retired Auditor General Wayne Strelioff in his final report. He was referring to the government’s decision to cut his office’s funding at the same time that his list of responsibilities was getting longer. These are strong words, and they should worry all of us who want our provincial government to be accountable and transparent.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Islanders Protest TILMA
November 30, 2006
A small but motivated group of protesters joined forces on the steps of the BC Legislature on November 22 to show their opposition to the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement ( TILMA), made last April between British Columbia and Alberta.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
TILMA: While You Were Sleeping, Your Government Sold Your Democracy
November 16, 2006 | John Hill
This agreement gives big corporate interests the right to sue your local government, even after the fact, if they make any decision that is seen to conflict with any individual or corporate interest in trade, investment or labour’s right to move.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Editorial: The Invisible Opposition
November 16, 2006
Premier Gordon Campbell decided not to have a fall session of the Legislature. One of his reasons was undoubtedly a reluctance to provide a platform from which the NDP, the Official Opposition, could criticize the actions of his government.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
BC Green Party leader steps down
October 5, 2006
On September 24, Adriane Carr, Green Party of BC leader, announced her intention to step down as party leader at the end of November 2006.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Editorial: Real Government
September 21, 2006
The BC Liberals have decided not to have a fall session of the legislature. Their excuse is that they don’t need one, since they have no legislation to propose that can’t wait until spring, and it costs $30,000 a day to run.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Education finance biased against small districts, says report
September 7, 2006
An analysis of the way school districts are funded by the provincial government has concluded that the formula used to calculate grants is biased against smaller and rural districts.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Campaign launched to oppose new resorts in BC parks
August 24, 2006
A group of high profile BC conservationists have joined forces to deal with the challenge of maintaining the integrity and sustainability of BC Class A Parks.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Creative alternatives to Malahat congestion
July 27, 2006 | Patrick Brown
Proposals to bridge Saanich Inlet got public attention when the Malahat Corridor Study first came to light during a series of public meetings in the last couple of months (Island Tides, June 15).
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Landowners angry over mining claim staking, say Greens
June 29, 2006
On a three-week road tour of BC, Green Party leader Adriane Carr has uncovered province-wide anger with the BC Liberals for encouraging claim staking on private lands, stripping away people’s property rights.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Consultations now beginning in Malahat bypass study
June 15, 2006
A BC Ministry of Transportation study of alternative routes to the highway over the Malahat is moving into its second, consultative phase.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Controversy over new Agricultural Land Commission appointments
May 18, 2006 | Derek Masselink
Recent appointments to the Agricultural Land Commission, an independent provincial agency responsible for administering the province’s Agricultural Land Reserve, have resulted in controversy for the provincial government.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Spotted owl survival to get prompt action, says BC government
May 18, 2006
The BC government has announced a $3.4-million, five-year action plan to recover BC’s northern spotted owl. Based on the work of the Canadian Spotted Owl Recovery Team, BC will act as soon as possible to initiate measures to re-build spotted owl populations.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
We Are Wrong in Afghanistan
May 18, 2006 | David Orchard
In international law, labelling a country a haven for terrorists is not sufficient grounds to justify an invasion of, or an attack on, that country.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Proposal to mine limestone threatens Skookumchuck Narrows
May 4, 2006
The FOSP is a group of coastal citizens organized to protest Pan Pacific Aggregates’ (PPA) plans to create substantial open-pit mining along the west side of the Sechelt Inlet.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Farmland Forever
May 4, 2006 | Derek Masselink
On April 18, the David Suzuki Foundation released ‘Forever Farmland: Reshaping the Agricultural Land Reserve for the 21st Century.’ The report calls on the government to reaffirm its commitment to the protection of agricultural land by making its commitment to protect and preserve agricultural land in perpetuity.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
BC to Hold Another Referendum on Electoral Reform
September 22, 2005
British Columbians will choose between a Single Transferable Vote system and the current first-past-the-post system in a second, more informed, vote on electoral reform in November 2008.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
BC STV: Ingenious and Not So Complicated
April 7, 2005
BC-STV stands for the British Columbia version of the single transferable voting system. It was devised last year by the 160 members of the Citizen’s Assembly to deal with growing flaws in BC’s electoral system.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
More than 10 Reasons to Vote ‘YES’ for BC-STV
March 24, 2005 | Louis Vallée
British Columbia’s May 17 referendum is our chance to change our voting system; the opportunity may not present itself again for many, many years.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Redesigning BC Democracy
February 24, 2005 | Patrick Brown
BC’s Citizens Assembly has completed its work begun last January.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Referendum on New Voting System Will Take Place Next May
November 4, 2004
On Sunday, October 24, the Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform recommended that British Columbians adopt a new voting system—the Single Transferable Vote (STV).
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Citizens Assembly Faces Decision Time
September 9, 2004
BC’s Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform wrapped up its public consultation at the end of June with seven meetings (the last of 50)...
[ download PDF | top of page ]
New private forest land tax break for 903,000 hectares
September 9, 2004 | Patrick Brown
A series of announcements from the provincial Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development in late July and early August have put in place a new regime for the exploitation of privately owned forest lands.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Forest Land Reserve gone; communities denied role
August 26, 2004 | Carolyn Canfield
On August 3, as the last step in dismantling the Forest Land Reserve, the provincial government put into force new rules for privately-owned managed forest.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Proportional Representation Could Add 1.5 Million Voters
June 3, 2004
Fair Vote Canada has called on all federal parties to support a referendum on a more proportional voting system to help combat decreasing voter turnout.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Public Finds Voice Over Electoral System ~ Paul Harris
May 20, 2004
The historic public debate over what kind of electoral system would best suit BC is being joined by hundreds of British Columbians during a series of lively public meetings.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Citizens’ Assembly Invites You to Look at Voting Systems
April 8, 2004
Since January the Citizens’ Assembly has been studying the structure of BC’s political system and five different ‘families’ of electoral systems.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Citizens' Assembly Learning the Ropes
February 26, 2004
The work of the BC’s Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform has begun...
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Various Bills: Tidings from the Legislature
November 20, 2003 | Patrick Brown
The government has been busy passing bills in the provincial legislature, with, as usual, minimal debate and little explanation...
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Bill 46: ‘Working Forest’ Legislation Goes Forward Despite 97% Opposition
September 11, 2003 | Patrick Brown
Despite public consultation in which 97% of 2700 respondents opposed the provincial government’s ‘Working Forest’ discussion paper, the government appears set to go ahead with Bill 46, the enabling legislation.
[ download PDF | top of page ]
Bill 48: Sablefish Hatchery Raises Concerns
July 31, 2003
At Walker Hook on Salt Spring Island, Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd. is in the process of building a hatchery for sablefish, sometimes known as Alaska Black Cod.
[ download PDF | top of page ]