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BC May Be Headed for its Own Fiscal Cliff

Written by - Saturday, 29 December 2012
Is BC careening towards the edge of its own 'fiscal cliff'? Independent economist Erik Andersen believes that may be the case. Here, he adds up a number of troubling financial trends drawing on reports from BC's Auditor General John Doyle to expose the secret accounting methods and poor financial decisions from the BC Liberal Government that have put the province on a path to serious financial woes. A ballooning provincial debt is the least of our worries, with long-term liabilities for P3 infrastructure projects and private power contracts now totaling tens of billions of dollars.

The Spirit of Giving

Written by - Monday, 24 December 2012
The deeper meaning of giving is easily hidden in the hectic festive celebrations and frenzied gift buying that have become the habit of the Christmas season. Indeed, giving's essential function usually gets lost in the glitz and glitter of lights and commercialization that tries to brighten the darkest and coldest time of year — the time when we are most in need of the warmth and comfort of family and fellowship. So the tradition of giving invites an inquiry that goes beyond the simplicity of a thoughtless reflex...Consider Good King Wenceslas. Why is the “Good King” struggling through the deep snow and “bitter weather” with his faithful page? Because he has spied a “yonder peasant” gathering “winter fuel” in the cruel frost of winter.

2012: The Year of Energy Politics

Written by - Friday, 21 December 2012
2012 was a year that began with Conservative Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver dismissing opponents of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines as "radicals" and ends with the Idle No More rallies sweeping the nation. It was a year when two very different visions for the future of Canada and its place in the world collided headlong with each other. One seeking to curb the Tar Sands and new arteries essential to its growth, the other striving to make Canada into a new Saudi Arabia - provider of oil, gas and coal to emerging Asian markets. Each policy piece from the Harper Government was part of a bigger puzzle, designed to bring this new vision to fruition.

Watch this presentation by Damien Gillis, co-director of Fractured Land - a documentary in production which examines the industrialization of northern Canada through the eyes of a young indigenous man named Caleb Behn - at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival.
Published in Video

The Fracking Mess

Written by - Monday, 17 December 2012
The relatively new technique of “hydraulic fracturing”, a process of drilling horizontally in shale beds and then breaking the rock by injecting a concoction of water, sand and toxic chemicals under extreme pressure, is releasing huge quantities of oil and natural gas. In addition to polluting a subterranean frontier, the global result is a total reconfiguration of the energy equation. The economic effects are the most obvious. Natural gas is flooding the energy markets in North America and Europe, and is likely to do so elsewhere. Fracking is releasing massive amounts of natural gas in the US, reducing the price below production costs and undermining the market value of Canadian exports of gas.

Canadians are seeing red this week after a series of announcements reinforce concerns about the loss of Canadian resources and sovereignty. The focus has been the Alberta Tar Sands, but natural gas plays are also in the mix. Four days after Stephen Harper boldly stated that the CNOOC/Nexen and Petronas/Progress takeovers marked the "end of a trend and not the beginning of one," one of Canada's largest oil and gas companies announced a joint venture in a 4-plus billion dollar gas play in which PetroChina will have a 49.9 percent stake.

How much is our wild salmon worth? What price on our rivers and the ecologies they sustain? Is there any financial arrangement that will compensate for the loss of our coastal fauna and flora as well as the people who, for centuries, have been sustained by those resources? Incidentally, a recent UBC study found that a single oil spill from tankers on BC's coast could wipe out all the economic gains of the Enbridge pipeline...There is this notion that we must continue to “progress”, which is code for "money talks and when it does one should bow down in grateful obeisance to the god Mammon and forever hold our tongues." I reject that notion. We can progress and prosper without placing our entire outdoors at the certain risk of destruction.

Roads, dams, logging, mines, fracking, seismic lines, pipelines, transmission lines. The Peace Valley region in northeast BC has seen its share of industrial development over the past half century. Now, a new report from the David Suzuki Foundation vividly illustrates the toll these cumulative impacts have taken on the land. The foundation commissioned scientists from Global Forest Watch Canada to survey 40 years worth of satellite images in order track the increasing industrialization of the land. They found that over that span, more than 65% of the region has been impacted by industry.

In Praise of Science and Reason

Written by - Tuesday, 11 December 2012
I’ve never been a member of a political party, although I did consider joining the NDP earlier this year, just so I could vote for Nathan Cullen in the leadership contest. Now I’m considering joining the Liberals, just so I can vote for Joyce Murray. In the rarified air of Parliament Hill, where so many Opposition MPs seem to exist in an alternative reality, these two brave souls have pointed out what any sane Canadian can already see: if we want to escape from Harperland and return to something resembling the Canada most of us know and love, the NDP, the Liberals and the Greens are going to have to co-operate and run candidates strategically in the next federal election.

Mike Smyth had an interesting column in Sunday’s Province, dealing with the proposed second and much larger Kinder Morgan Pipeline to Vancouver, which would see a five-fold increase in tanker traffic through Vancouver's harbour. In it he told us that the company was being very laid back compared with Enbridge, holding a series of public information sessions. Mr. Smyth, quite correctly in my view, said that the public, if only mildly involved now, would change its attitude toward Kinder Morgan. And yet, Adrian Dix, the leader of the NDP, won’t take a stand on the Kinder Morgan line until it formally files its application. This cop-out is raw cowardice.

The Surrender of an Ecowarrior

Written by - Saturday, 08 December 2012
When does heroism become folly? When does struggle become futile? When does surrender become liberation? When is enough, enough? Then what? These are just some of the questions that come streaming into focus from a poignant personal essay by Lynn Lau, a 37 year-old environmentalist who, after 21 years of conscientious effort, has finally decided to abandon her quest to “Save the Planet”. Her story is worth relating and pondering...The large change that she wants will require a paradigm shift, a wholesale adjustment in the way we collectively see ourselves and relate to the world. Not surprisingly, the momentum of humanity's habitual behaviour doesn't match her expectations.

Private power producer AXOR, under subsidiary Purcell Green Power, planned to dam and divert Glacier and Howser Creeks in the Purcell Wilderness in the Kootenays, along with two other nearby rivers. Well, to the surprise of many, the Environmental Assessment Office has terminated the Environmental Assessment of the project, noting the company has failed to address concerns about fish and other questions raised by the public. The decision sends Axor back to the drawing board and likely means the project is dead - a victory for local Bull Trout and the citizens who mobilized en masse to save them.

Gen Why Media and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives are co-hosting an "intergenerational dialogue" in Vancouver on Tuesday, December 11 to explore various existing and proposed energy projects in Western Canada. Titled "Energy and Power: Connecting the Dots", the program is the third in a series of "Bring Your Boomers" events, sponsored by Vancity, designed to debate key social issues from different generational perspectives. Tuesday December 11 from 7-10 pm at the Rio Theatre.

Rafe: BC Liberal Government Corrupt

Written by - Wednesday, 05 December 2012
The Campbell/Clark government is corrupt and there are a number of the reasons I say this - from BC Rail and the HST to private power contracts, deceitful budgets and, recently, Minister Rich Coleman's conflict of interest scandal...When Minister Jack Davis in my day was being investigated for fraud, the Premier promptly sacked him. The standard is not, you see, reasonable doubt but “is the minister under a cloud of reasonable suspicion?” This principle, one of the foundations of democracy, is not well known to the public nor, it seems, to the Campbell/Clark government.

  • Eco-Footprint Founder Dr. Bill Rees on Resources, the 7 Billion and You

    Eco-Footprint Founder Dr. Bill Rees on Resources, the 7 Billion and You With human population exploding and demand for resources fast outstripping supply, Dr. Bill Rees, founder of the "eco-footprint" concept, calls for "a new cultural narrative that shifts the values of society from growth (getting bigger) to development (getting better) - from competitive individualism, greed and narrow self-interest toward community, cooperation and our collective interests in repairing the earth for survival."

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  • Five Oil Spills in One Week: 'Accidents' or Business as Usual?

    Five Oil Spills in One Week: 'Accidents' or Business as Usual? What do ExxonMobil, Enbridge, Suncor, CP Rail and a Michigan Utility have in common? They've all spilled oil within the past week. This latest round of disasters should give Canadian and US lawmakers pause as they contemplate new pipelines.

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  • All Candidates Dialogue Wednesday Promises "Real Talk on Climate Change"

    All Candidates Dialogue Wednesday Promises \'Real Talk on Climate Change\' An all candidates dialogue on April 3 at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver - featuring representatives from four different political parties and one independent candidate vying for office in the May 14 provincial election - will focus on solutions to climate change.

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  • Salmon Confidential

    Salmon Confidential Anyone who has been following the sorry saga of inexplicable diseases and unusual mortality in BC's wild salmon will not be surprised that the information in Twyla Roscovich's documentary, Salmon Confidential, links the source of this trouble to the salmon farming industry. The surprise, however, is the impact of such information when its complexity is condensed to an intense 70 minutes.

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  • Mother Nature, US Govt Chase Shell Out of Arctic

    Mother Nature, US Govt Chase Shell Out of Arctic Shell Oil, the first energy company granted coveted Arctic drilling permits by the US Government, is shutting down operations for all of 2013, nearly as quickly as they began. Shell's hand is being forced by the Interior Department, following a scathing report which castigated the company for a series of misadventures in 2012 and early 2013.

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  • Paul Simon Lends Song to Coastal First Nations' Anti-Tanker Video

    Paul Simon Lends Song to Coastal First Nations' Anti-Tanker Video A 2-minute video produced by Coastal First Nations - a group representing nine different aboriginal communities on BC's north and central coast - is underscored by the famous Simon and Garfunkel song, "The Sound of Silence." The video, which harkens back to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in nearby Alaskan waters, was released around the 24th anniversary of that disaster, in order to voice opposition to the new threat from proposed tanker traffic on BC's coast.

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  • 'Heartwood' Explores Clash Between Different Visions for Future of Forestry

    'Heartwood' Explores Clash Between Different Visions for Future of Forestry "Cortes is not just a bunch of crazy tree-huggers...We want to log our lands. We want a community forest," one of the subjects of the forthcoming documentary film Heartwood tells Vancouver-based director Daniel Pierce. The film explores the conflict over logging practices on a remote island on BC's south coast, which encapsulates a larger debate currently shaping the future of forestry in the province.

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  • Why the NDP Can and Should Say No to Site C Dam

    Why the NDP Can and Should Say No to Site C Dam The BC NDP may finally coming to their senses on Site C Dam. On the heels of the release of new documents from BC Hydro in recent weeks, the Official Opposition is calling into question the crown corporation's proposed 1,100 Megawatt hydropower project. And so it should...With BC Hydro in virtual bankruptcy, skyrocketing hydro bills for consumers and businesses, a massive and escalating provincial debt and $80 Billion in additional contractual obligations for which taxpayers are on the hook, pushing ahead with Site C would be the height of fiscal recklessness for BC.

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  • Working Together Through Idle No More - Ben West, Mandy Nahanee, Damien Gillis Web Chat

    Working Together Through Idle No More - Ben West, Mandy Nahanee, Damien Gillis Web Chat Damien Gillis hosts a google web video chat discussing how indigenous and non-indigenous peoples can work together through the growing Idle No More movement to address historical injustices and build a sustainable energy future. Featuring Squamish and Nisga'a First Nations member and protocol specialist Amanda Nahanee and Ben West, Tar Sands campaigner for ForestEthics.

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  • The Different Faces of Idle No More - Web Chat

    The Different Faces of Idle No More - Web Chat Watch this 10 min web chat, in which two young, indigenous men discuss their different experiences across the country with the growing Idle No More Movement.

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  • Idle No More - Scenes from a Vancouver Train Station

    Idle No More - Scenes from a Vancouver Train Station On January 2, 2013, hundreds of First Nations and non-indigenous people converged on Vancouver's Waterfront Station for the latest Idle No More rally. The beating of drums and singing of traditional songs signaled this crowd's solidarity with the movement that is building across the country and beyond its borders.

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  • Travelling Canada's Carbon Corridor - the Making of Fractured Land

    Travelling Canada's Carbon Corridor - the Making of Fractured Land Watch this presentation by Damien Gillis, co-director of Fractured Land - a documentary in production which examines the industrialization of northern Canada through the eyes of a young indigenous man named Caleb Behn - at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival.

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  • Kinder Morgan Vancouver Pipeline, Tanker Debate

    Kinder Morgan Vancouver Pipeline, Tanker Debate On Oct 30, the Board of Change hosted a debate in Vancouver on American energy pipeline giant Kinder Morgan's plans to turn Vancouver into a shipping port to access new foreign markets with Alberta Tar Sands bitumen. Hear both sides of the story as representatives of Kinder Morgan and the shipping industry square off against an environmental activist, lawyer and filmmaker over the future of the world's "Greenest City", the province of BC and the planet.

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  • Justice Cohen Gets Tough on Fish Farms - Inquiry Report Released

    Justice Cohen Gets Tough on Fish Farms - Inquiry Report Released Video from the press conference on the release of the final report from the Cohen Commission into disappearing sockeye. Justice Bruce Cohen highlighted several key recommendations to protect wild salmon from open net pen aquaculture operations, including: removing the promotion of aquaculture from DFO's mandate, prioritizing the health of wild salmon over suitability for aquaculture when siting farms, and even removing some farms if more research into diseases shows they cannot safely coexist with wild fish.

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  • Video: Pipelines "Job Killers" - Energy Workers Union Leader @ Defend Our Coast

    Video: Pipelines \'Job Killers\' - Energy Workers Union Leader @ Defend Our Coast Watch this powerhouse speech from Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union at the Defend Our Coast rally in Victoria explaining why his members are "diametrically opposed" to Tar Sands pipelines to BC's coast.

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  • Video: Rafe Mair Honoured with Wilderness Committee's Eugene Rogers Award

    Video: Rafe Mair Honoured with Wilderness Committee's Eugene Rogers Award The Wilderness Committee, Canada's largest member-based environmental organization, honoured hall of fame broadcaster and co-founder of The Common Sense Canadian Rafe Mair with its annual Eugene Rogers Award for outstanding contribution to environmental protection in BC at its AGM this past weekend.

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  • Video: Rafe Mair and Economist Erik Andersen, Pt. 2 - LNG, Site C Dam and the Global Economy

    Video: Rafe Mair and Economist Erik Andersen, Pt. 2 - LNG, Site C Dam and the Global Economy In Part 2 of Rafe Mair's July 2012 interview of economist Erik Andersen, the two cover the plan to build Liquefied Natural Gas plants on BC's west coast - to sell natural gas to Asia - and the proposed Site C Dam. Andersen raises real concerns about investing in new dams and electrical infrastructure to supply industries like mines and LNG.

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  • Video: Rafe Mair and Economist Erik Andersen, Pt. 1 - The 'Enronization' of BC Hydro

    Video: Rafe Mair and Economist Erik Andersen, Pt. 1 - The 'Enronization' of BC Hydro Part 1 of Rafe Mair's July 2012 interview with economist Andersen, delving deep into BC's troubled energy situation, including Hydro's broken forecasting model, rip-off private power projects, and massive debt and Enron-style accounting practices at our public utility - all driven by the shadowy private American corporation to which we've unwittingly handed over our energy sovereignty.

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