Thoughts on BC Politics and More

After several failed attempts at changing how elections work in BC, recommendations from an all-party special committee shows BC could once again be about to flirt with the possibility of proportional representation. Among the 36 recommendations from the committee is a call for BC to create a people’s assembly that will evaluate the current process for provincial elections — along with other alternatives — and recommend the best path forward. It’s reignited a longstanding conversation in the province about the possibility of proportional representation, a voting system where the share of votes a party gets in an election directly results in how many seats they get in the Legislature ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

A Fernie resident is petitioning the Government of Canada to step in and review a recent policy change from the Alberta provincial government, that restricts people in BC from getting medical care in Alberta ... ... petition calls on the federal government to work with the provincial government on a cross-border care agreement, explore ways to support licensing, review policies that restrict access to essential healthcare, and support interim solutions that could maintain care during the transition ... ... prospect of lengthy travel, and accompanying hotel and gas bills, leaves Hagarty worried. Visiting Vancouver would mean travelling 11 hours by car from Fernie, or catching regular flights from Canadian Rockies International Airport. A trip to the coast would take at least three days of travel, compared to the short three hour drive from Fernie to Calgary. This places a major burden on their family, who visit the hospital four times per year ... CLICK HERE for the full story

A new party in British Columbia has been gaining attention for its provocative and inflammatory positions, including anti-Indigenous rhetoric and residential-school denialism, abolishing DEI, anti-LGBTQ2S+ policies and more. OneBC, a political party in BC with only two seats, founded earlier this year by Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie, has been making a lot of noise in and outside of the legislature in an apparent attempt to gain favour with BC’s far right ... CLICK HERE for the full story     

An alleged vote-buying scandal in Quebec’s Liberal Party is dredging up the same vulnerabilities that two landmark inquiries – one federal, one provincial – have already warned Canadians about. The new crisis engulfing the Quebec Liberals focuses on Justin Trudeau’s former Quebec lieutenant and long-time Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez, a heavyweight organizer within Canada’s most successful political machine, going back to his days in the Liberal youth wing. The latest escalation – including early “validations” by Quebec’s anti-corruption unit, UPAC – comes in the wake of a journalistic investigation by Quebecor’s Bureau d’enquête revealing that Élections Québec is in possession of text messages between two people who allegedly worked to elect Rodriguez as Liberal leader last spring ...  CLICK HERE for the full story

This article is part of our series, Rethinking Canadian national unity, launched around the 30th anniversary of the Quebec referendum. In the competition among regions within a federation such as Canada, political and social discourse often turns to LGBTQ+ issues to distinguish between a minority people and the majority. This is the case in Quebec, where the province has long defined itself by its progressiveness toward LGBTQ+ communities compared to the rest of Canada, which is often portrayed as more conservative on these issues. On the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Quebec referendum, it seems relevant to revisit the role the LGBTQ+ movement has played in LGBTQ+ issues– and how those ties are becoming more complicated, or even beginning to unravel ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Back-to-back overdose surges have prompted the BC Conservative Caucus to call for an immediate end to decriminalization and a reversal of the government’s drug-enabled policies. On November 21, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services responded to 54 overdose calls in a single day, the highest in its history. Firefighters now average 45 overdose calls daily, with major spikes during income-assistance week. Three days earlier, the Cowichan Valley saw 80 overdoses in 24 hours, exhausting local naloxone supplies. Statement issued by Critic for Mental Health and Addictions Claire Rattée: “Vancouver’s highest-ever overdose call volume is a devastating warning that this crisis is only getting worse. If this government’s approach worked, we would see results, but we don’t. “Vancouver has the most concentrated access to safe supply, overdose prevention sites, decriminalization, and every harm-reduction measure the government champions, yet more people are dying than ever. Policies that n...

Questions are being raised inside a BC First Nation after $10,000 was offered to each member ahead of a crucial vote on the future of a major gold mine.  Dormant since it was closed in 2008, the Eskay Creek gold mine sits in Tahltan Nation territory 83 kilometres northwest of Stewart in a mineral-rich region known as “the golden triangle.” Skeena Resources Ltd. bought the site from Barrick Gold [now Barrick Mining Corp. in 2017 and since then has moved to re-start operations in a project that could generate more than $14 billion in GDP in one of the highest-grade gold mines in the world. Unlike other mines, Eskay Creek is subject to Canada’s first ever consent-based decision-making agreement with a First Nation ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

If now-backbench Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault was looking for sympathy, he won’t find it from four of the five candidates vying to be the next NDP leader. Edmonton MP Heather McPherson had a blunt assessment when asked in a post-debate scrum about the anti-oil Guilbeault’s decision to quit Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet in protest over an agreement with Alberta towards building a new oil pipeline ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The British Columbia government says it's now projecting an $11.2 billion deficit this fiscal year, still a record but down from a projected $11.6 billion in its last quarterly report ... the report says other tax revenues are down, including $150 million less from property transfers, $100 million less in provincial sales tax, and $50 million less in tobacco tax ... ... Bailey said the deficit could get worse as the province starts to feel the impact of a recently-negotiated deal with the B.C. General Employees' Union. ... CLICK HERE for the full story

A commentary by a Victoria resident. Recalling her own family’s tragic experience with addiction — and our government’s utter incapacity to tackle the problem — a letter-writer wonders: “But what’s to be done?” Good question, since nearly every large community reports problems with addictions, ­homelessness or both. As the writer points out, nothing we try seems to work. Despite billions spent on health care and law enforcement, successive governments — federal and provincial — have failed to turn the tide of fortune for some of our most vulnerable neighbours. Over time, if it seems ­government responses to ­addictions and ­homelessness (whether compassionate or ­punitive) have improved ­nothing, perhaps then this might be a clue that solutions to addiction and homelessness lie somewhere other than with our governments. If not governments, then who?  CLICK HERE for the full story

British Columbia Premier David Eby and First Nations have thrown up a wall of opposition to a proposed northern oil pipeline, after Alberta and the federal government signed a memorandum of understanding to work toward making it a reality. Eby said that the pipeline proposal was a distraction that had already cost BC another investment opportunity, dubbing it a potential “energy vampire” draining federal, Indigenous and provincial resources. He spoke in Victoria with most of his NDP caucus cheering him on from the steps of the B.C. legislature on Thursday ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

The Canadian economy topped expectations with a sharp rebound in the third quarter as a stronger trade balance helped fuel the recovery from a tariff-driven contraction. Statistics Canada said Friday that real gross domestic product rose 2.6 per cent on an annualized basis in the third quarter of 2025. That’s well above expectations from both the Bank of Canada and a poll of economists heading into the release for 0.5 per cent annualized growth. The figures mark a rebound from a contraction at an annualized rate of 1.8 per cent in real GDP for the second quarter as U.S. tariffs took hold on the Canadian economy. Those results were revised two tenths of a point lower from earlier StatCan reports ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

Rory Johnston, oil markets analyst, and Grant Sprague, former Alberta deputy energy minister, examine the federal-provincial memorandum of understanding on a pathway toward a West Coast bitumen pipeline.  They analyze whether the agreement removes or adds barriers to construction, debate the viability of private sector financing versus public funding, and explore critical sequencing challenges between the pipeline and the Pathways carbon capture project ... CLICK HERE to access the audio interview (approx 30 minutes) 

The provincial NDP are saying work and programs are underway to support the forest sector, as the industry faces layoffs, but according to Conservative forest critic Ward Stamer, that is not enough.   Provincial leaders are at odds on how to address challenges in the province’s forest industry.  The discussion comes in light of the recent announcement of the pending closure of a Williams Lake pellet plant on Nov. 26 and the previously announced West Fraser Mill closure in 100 Mile House on Nov. 6 ... CLICK HERE for the full story

During the fall session of British Columbia’s Legislature, Premier David Eby’s NDP government has routinely used its majority to block the tabling of private member’s bills from OneBC, the two-MLA, Conservative splinter party. That changed Nov. 26 when OneBC house leader Tara Armstrong’s “Secure Procurement in Respect of China Act” passed first reading by a vote of 84-4. Armstrong proposes banning the B.C. government from buying goods and services from China when comparable goods and services are available from Canadian or democratic allies. Armstrong also proposes the government disclose the dollar value of contracts with Chinese businesses. The only four MLAs to vote against were three members of the John Rustad-led Conservative caucus who represent Richmond ridings — Hon Chan, Steve Kooner and Teresa Wat, — and Conservative opposition house leader Aaliya Warbus ... CLICK HERE for the full story

That Prime Minister Mark Carney found it necessary to apologize to U.S. President Donald Trump for television ads quoting Ronald Reagan’s anti-tariff views, ads that were run in U.S. TV markets and paid for by the government of Ontario, is something that was noticed far beyond North America’s shores. Not in a good way. I am, quite frankly, dumbfounded by such an apology. What in the world was PM Carney thinking? It will do nothing to mollify the president. Instead, Trump will no doubt take this capitulation as proof that his pressure — and abuse — achieves results. The prime minister should be ashamed of himself, and his advisors even more so if they encouraged this apology. The message this sends to Canada’s friends and allies around the world is equally poor ... CLICK HERE for the full story

BC’s finance minister blasted the leader of the new OneBC party in the legislature on Tuesday, accusing her of using vitriolic and inflammatory language. Brenda Bailey called a point of order, saying Dallas Brodie had said that “we can’t run a province on drum circles.” “I think it is extremely unparliamentary to use the power of this place to make unjustifiable jabs at a person’s culture,” she said, accusing OneBC of bringing “vitriol and ignorance” to the legislature. “The entire house gets meaner and dumber every time these words come out”  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

A BC NDP MLA has introduced a private member's bill calling for swifter and harsher punishment of reckless drivers in the province. "Xavier's Law," as the bill is known, is named for 12-year-old Xavier Rasul-Jankovics who was struck and killed while rollerblading outside his home along a rural road in the Cowichan Valley on Aug. 25. RCMP say speed "played an important factor" in the collision, in which a 17-year-old driver lost control of their vehicle ... CLICK HERE for the full story

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad has taken the bold step of daring Premier David Eby to call an election amid what he calls the premier’s “ever-shifting positions” on a North Coast pipeline running from the Alberta oilsands to the Port of Prince Rupert. Despite months of turmoil in his own party, the Opposition leader told Postmedia News on Wednesday that he’s prepared for a second trip to the polls in just a little over a year if Eby so wills. “We have a premier who is being obstructive, not just to British Columbia, but to Canada. I’m worried that Canada could fall apart. Worried that Alberta may separate,” said Rustad, who said the province is currently shipping oil to the Americans at a discount and that a pipeline is needed to expand markets in Asia ... CLICK HERE for the full story

History teaches lessons — but often the messages arrive in code, and the trick is knowing how to decipher them. Perhaps the Conservative Party of Canada should try a little code-breaking as it ponders the kind of leadership it needs in 2025. A new book by historian Barbara Messamore retells the drama of Canada’s 1921 election. Times of Transformation: The 1921 Canadian General Election is a fascinating deep-dive into an older Canada. It also ought to be mandatory reading at Conservative Party headquarters ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

Earlier this year, the shift in U.S. trade policy spurred Canadian governments to refocus on trade both abroad and at home. Various provinces began negotiating inter‑provincial agreements to liberalize internal trade. At the same time, the federal government has embraced the idea of moving toward a “one Canadian economy” rather than 13 separate ones. Canada’s lagging productivity adds urgency: Internal trade liberalization may be one of the more promising avenues for strengthening the economy and boosting future growth. And there’s certainly room to grow. Internal trade has reached the lowest share of Canada’s overall economy in decades. Against that backdrop, the new agreement signed last week by federal, provincial, and territorial governments—called the Canadian Mutual Recognition Agreement—may mark the most ambitious step in internal trade policy since the Canadian Free Trade Agreement of 2017. British Columbia calls it the “largest red tape reduction in Canada’s history.” They may...

A major tobacco company reported repeatedly communicating with BC government officials about a new bill that would allow the province to sue e-cigarette manufacturers for the public health costs associated with vaping.  The company reported communicating with Attorney General Niki Sharma and Premier David Eby’s chief of staff about the scope and details of a bill “where the province is going after wrongdoers to recover the costs of public-health harms their products cause to people.” It also reported communicating with more than a dozen MLAs about “any new legislative or regulatory proposals or policies relating to tobacco and/or vaping.” ... ... Kevin Hemmat, a spokesperson for the BC Ministry of the Attorney General, said the general response to Bill 24 has been positive. "British Columbians appreciate that not only will bad faith actors be punished for wrong doings, but also that the province will not be on the hook for fixing the harm caused." But major tobacco companies ...

The AMS, GSS and other student associations from across B.C. reproached yesterday’s announcement from the province of a post-secondary education review. UBC, however, says it welcomes the opportunity to engage with the province. The review comes after a provincial post-secondary funding review was quietly shelved , and the federal government’s recently passed budget included plans to further cut the number of new international students across Canada by nearly 50 per cent. “Public post-secondary institutions in BC are facing significant financial pressures, largely due to factors such as unilateral federal reductions to study permits for international students, global inflation and declining domestic enrolment,” the province’s press release says.  In response, the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills launched this review to “establish a clear path forward to stabilize institutions in the short term and to build a foundation for long-term financial susta...

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have signed a major new energy co-operation agreement outlining the emission and other climate conditions that need to be met in order for a new oil pipeline to the Pacific to be approved under the federal major projects law. Signing a new memorandum of understanding (MOU), the federal and provincial governments are committing to a series of measures aimed at strengthening co-operation on major infrastructure projects, increasing energy production, and improving the country’s economic sustainability and export potential. Among the terms that would see the Canadian government help fast-track an Alberta pipeline, is the province signing on to an industrial carbon pricing agreement to lower methane emissions by 75 per cent over the next 10 years, and the federal Liberals not implementing the oil and gas emissions cap ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

Tanille Johnston wants to help the NDP get back in touch with the working class. She says she’s been fundraising hard to launch a grassroots campaign for NDP leadership — a campaign that promises to build the party’s relationship with unions, Indigenous leaders and working-class Canadians. “Our work needs to start by going back to the people, and as soon as possible,” Johnston said. “We weren’t showing up in the way that they needed us to, and so we need to return, own the criticisms that are going to come at us and say, ‘Let’s do it differently.’” ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Amid the ongoing trade war with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a slate of new measures to help and protect the steel and lumber industries. Among the new measures is further limiting foreign steel imports from countries without a free trade agreement with Canada — from 50 to 20 per cent of 2024 levels — a measure largely aimed at reducing Chinese steel imports. Canada had already reduced those quotas in July, from 100 per cent to 50 per cent, and has imposed a 25 per cent surtax on steel and aluminum goods that originate from China, with the latter being Canada’s second-largest source of steel imports. Carney made the announcement in Ottawa on Wednesday, as trade talks with the U.S. remain stalled after the fallout over Ontario’s anti-tariff ad last month ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

Premier David Eby, one-time loyal cheerleader for “Team Canada,” will find out Thursday if he’s been benched. The wraps will come off that day on whatever Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have cooked up in the way of a new oil pipeline from Alberta to the north coast. But Eby’s frustration about being left out of talks on a memorandum of understanding that only came to light last week is so acute by this point that he couldn’t wait. So he jumped the gun this week and launched an extended denunciation of whatever they are announcing well ahead of it actually being announced. He talked directly to Carney on Monday, following news that Alberta and Ottawa have reportedly reached an agreement about the contentious pipeline idea. Carney played him along, saying that an agreement “is not finalized yet.” The prime minister tried to lower the temperature Tuesday, saying B.C. and First Nations support is essential. Just the idea that Carney and Smith have been talkin...

The second-to-last week of the fall legislative session began with a last-minute addition by a government that showed every sign of making things up as it goes along. The bill, introduced Monday, removes a provision in the Mental Health Act that has been targeted by a court challenge going back almost a decade. The passage declares that where a patient is detained in a designated treatment facility under the Act, “treatment authorized by the director is deemed to be given with the consent of the patient”  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

BC’s speculation and vacancy tax is set to rise in the new year even as the federal government scraps its underused housing tax, raising questions about whether such taxes are effective, legal and necessary in today’s depressed market. The provincial tax rates will rise on Jan. 1 to three per cent of a property’s assessed value for foreign owners and “untaxed worldwide earners.” It will rise to one per cent for Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are not untaxed worldwide earners. For 2019 to 2025, the rates were two per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively. An individual is an untaxed worldwide earner for a calendar year if the total of the individual's unreported income and the unreported income of any spouse is greater than the total of their reported income, according to the legislation. But as the BC NDP government doubles down on its tax, federal policy is diverging ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

Pierre Poilievre was ready. The Conservative leader was ready to rumble ... Carney and Premier Danielle Smith have come to an agreement, a deal, a memorandum of understanding of great importance to Alberta. ... will whatever (pipeline) agreement rolls out Thursday be enough? On Tuesday, Poilievre takes aim at Carney, saying the prime minister will make “one of those grand announcements” where he will wave around “a meaningless so-called memorandum of understanding.” Meaningless? That must sting Smith ... CLICK HERE for the full story

I was surprised to learn on the latest episode of The Line Podcast that hosts Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson think Canada needs new values. Or any values. Of course Canada has values. I should know. I adopted them. A bit of background: I grew up in Connecticut and spent the first 20-plus years of my life in the United States. I’ve lived in Canada (except for a brief return to Boston) since 2003. I’ve resided in Montreal, Ottawa, and, for the past three years, Saskatoon. I became a Canadian citizen in 2012 and shortly thereafter renounced my U.S. citizenship. With that on the record, I confess that I found the notion that there are no Canadian values, or that they’re somehow “customer-service kiosk” based — ridiculous ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

BC has introduced changes to the Mental Health Act to protect doctors, nurses and other health-care workers from being sued for delivering involuntary care under the law in good faith, a move triggered by an ongoing court challenge. Premier David Eby said the change is about “immunizing” health-care workers from potential legal action, but will have “absolutely no impact at all on care” because it’s delivered under a separate section of the act. The government wants the changes to reduce legal exposure before a decision in a 2016 Charter challenge by the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and others on the constitutionality of the Mental Health Act, over its “deemed consent” provision ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... based on public records and local testimonies, her sweeping claims about tanker safety on BC’s North Coast appear to rely on outdated maritime imagery, selective geography, and overlook how modern commercial shipping actually works. They imply that Canada could never safely ship oil out of a place like Prince Rupert, if a pipeline were to end there. Here’s a breakdown of the key points ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... Under the Indigenous section of the party’s priorities on its website, OneBC says it wants to “defund the reconciliation industry." It also wants street names to be in English, to end land acknowledgements and to remove Truth and Reconciliation Day, observed annually on Sept. 30, as a provincial holiday.  Now, calls for the OneBC leader and MLA to resign are growing.  An online petition calling on Brodie to resign launched in March. It has since garnered about 1,800 signatures.  In early November, the First Nations Leadership Council called for Brodie’s immediate resignation.  Last week, Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc kúkpi7 (chief) Rosanne Casimir joined the calls for Brodie to resign ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

It’s maybe too soon to declare the “frat house” days over, but Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has appointed himself a campaign chief who likely wouldn’t be looking for an invitation to take part in many frat-party hijinks. The news came out over the weekend in the Toronto Sun. Jenni Byrne, a polarizing figure among Conservatives, is out as campaign manager for Poilievre, to be replaced by veteran campaign organizer Steve Outhouse. Outhouse told the Sun that he will start the job in early December, after he is finished helping the new Conservative government of Tony Wakeham transition to power in Newfoundland and Labrador ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

In what may prove the most self-defeating act of Canadian diplomacy in a generation, the Carney government’s overture toward a trade deal with China signals a dangerous retreat from the Western alliance — and from reality itself. This latest flirtation with Beijing marks another profound miscalculation in Canadian foreign policy, compounding the diplomatic damage already inflicted by its ill-timed recognition of a Palestinian state. Taken together, these moves suggest a government adrift from the geopolitical realities shaping the 21st century: a world defined not by moral posturing or mercantilist improvisation, but by alliance discipline, deterrence credibility, and economic security within a rapidly fragmenting rules-based order. At the strategic level, the notion that Canada can meaningfully diversify its trade toward the People’s Republic of China is detached from history ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

In a milestone that is staggering for its rarity in a jurisdiction regarded as a global nexus of Chinese transnational money laundering that facilitates fentanyl trafficking for Mexican and Iranian gangs, British Columbia’s anti-gang unit has finally secured its first money laundering sentencing in a decade. On Monday, a BC Supreme Court judge sentenced 37-year-old Richmond resident Alexandra Joie Chow to 18 months in jail for laundering the proceeds of crime, following a six-year investigation that targeted illegal Chinese underground casinos and unlicensed money transfer businesses in Metro Vancouver ... ... Chow’s case marks the first time in roughly ten years that a money-laundering investigation in British Columbia has actually resulted in a sentencing ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Leaders at this year’s G20 summit in South Africa sounded the alarm that the group’s relevance and effectiveness were at grave risk in the face of escalating geopolitical conflicts and a world order that is dramatically shifting. Founded in the late 1990s in part by former prime minister Paul Martin, the Group of 20 has met every year since 2008 with a focus on international economic and financial stability. It’s supposed to be the pinnacle of multilateralism: the idea that nations can co-operate, compromise and co-ordinate for the greater good. But a lot has changed in the past two decades ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad says Nutrien’s decision to export Saskatchewan potash through Washington State instead of British Columbia is a direct result of Premier David Eby’s failed leadership. “Nutrien didn’t leave BC by accident. They left because British Columbia, under David Eby, has become unpredictable, unstable, and unfriendly to private sector investment,” Rustad said. Nutrien cited congestion, bottlenecks, labour issues, and reliability concerns, but Rustad says the deeper reason is the uncertainty Eby has created through his First Nations reconciliation agenda and legal directives on land ownership and project approvals. “Companies see the chaos around land title, legal disputes, and shifting jurisdiction,” Rustad said. “They see a government that won’t defend certainty. No global company is going to put a billion-dollar terminal in a province where the rules keep changing.” Rustad said investors now see the United States as a safer, more stable choice...

Even as it focuses on greenlighting new wind power projects, British Columbia could eventually return to building massive hydro dams if electricity use spikes in the coming decades, according to BC Hydro chair and former BC premier Glen Clark. Right now, BC is banking on wind to supply its residents and businesses with the electricity they will need in decades to come. Clark told The Tyee he hopes energy efficiency improvements will obviate the need for any new massive dams in the province. But in a wide-ranging interview, Clark added a caveat: if electricity demand does significantly rise in the coming decades, the province could end up revisiting the potential for more dams — including the long-shelved Site E proposal along the Peace River ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

A Kamloops woman’s cancer screening appointment was considered urgent by her doctors and scheduled within weeks, but it was postponed indefinitely when Interior Health ordered her gynecologist take that day’s on-call shift. Troylana Manson now waits with the mystery of whether she might have cancer amid a staffing crisis for women’s health care specialists in Kamloops. “I was happy to have that appointment in December so we could rule this out, but now it’s thrown in the air again. People in Kamloops, certainly people in positions of power, need to realize what Interior Health is doing”  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

So now we’ve reached a point in British Columbia where people literally caught buying heroin, cocaine, and meth on the dark web… testing it… packaging it… and selling it on the street are not only fighting the charges, but launching a constitutional challenge arguing they had the right to run their own drug-trafficking operation because government policy wasn’t moving fast enough for them. You can’t make this up. You can’t fabricate a clearer indictment of what the NDP has created in this province. A pair of activists, backed for a time by public money, let’s not forget, set up what they proudly called a “compassion club.” They bought hard drugs online. They tested them. They labelled them. And then they sold them. That’s trafficking. Not metaphorically. Not philosophically. Legally. And after being convicted, their response isn’t remorse or accountability, it’s a challenge arguing that the drug laws themselves are unconstitutional because enforcing them “kills people.” This is what ha...

Across the Cowichan River, you can see the unauthorized dump site more clearly now that leaves have fallen from trees that partially block the view. What’s being done about remediating the site, though, is anything but clear despite a deadline for a plan passing this past week. “Crystal clear transparency is what we deserve and expect from our governments that have to protect our nature,” said Peter Rusland, a neighbour of the unauthorized dump ... CLICK HERE for the full story