Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Welcome once again to Day Seven – the Fathers Day edition -- and a countdown of the most read stories and commentaries of the week ... including one which hits the top spot for a second week. We have racism, Trudeau’s failed quest to win a seat on the UN Security Council ... the start to a new session in the BC legislature ... the re-start of the BC Green Party leadership race ... and much more.   Let’s get things underway with ... #10 ... FELDSTED -- Everyone, regardless of colour, ethnic origins and race has conscious and unconscious prejudices -- each of us has to deal with them as best as we can (June 19 th ) ... It is painful to watch people wrestle with the new media and political phrase, “systemic racism” as if it was meaningful and relevant. Synonyms for ‘systemic’ are ‘complete’, ‘general’, ‘total’, and ‘universal’. The idea that every person associated with an institution is racist is not reasonable. It is more accurate to state that our society is prone to discrimi...

One of the more controversial actions of the provincial government, in recent years, is the attempt to protect caribou by shooting wolves from helicopters. We can all agree that many caribou herds in British Columbia are at a crisis level. Some herds have gone extinct, some are close to extinction and others are in decline. What is more difficult is what to do about the predicament we are in. So far, the response from the province is to blame the wolves for being such efficient predators. Humans however, seemingly take no responsibility for the ongoing effort we have undertaken to assist the wolves through our persistent habitat destruction. It's a challenge to see that the long-term solution for solving the caribou dilemma is to actually shoot wolf predation into non-existence. In Question Period I asked the Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, the Honourable Doug Donaldson, about the governments appr...

Yes, indeed it is Day Seven … time to take a look at the most read opinion and commentary pieces of the week.   I’m also on day number 12 of a cold that morphed into a bad case of asthma, and I’m hoping it settles down soon -- because I am getting seriously grumpy!   But enough of my complaining … let’s get underway with a piece that you seem to have rediscovered … it came from March 13 th of this year, and I was quite surprised when it resurfaced as one of the most read posts of the week! #10 … CANADA’S ENERGY CITIZENS: We wanted to show you a headline from this morning (March 13 th , 2019) … a lack of leadership has meant tens of billions of dollars of investment leaving Canada. A range of new policies have made our country less competitive while we let foreign oil continue to sail into our country without the same regulatory challenges … jobs for all Canadians have disappeared and are instead being sent to other countries like the Unite...

Alan Forseth ~~ Kamloops, BC ~~ May 7 th , 2019 Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad is the BC Liberal forestry critic, and yesterday his party sent out a media release, “ BC Liberals oppose John Horgan’s forestry bill that divides communities and puts jobs at risk ” I grew up in the Cariboo, and over a number of years saw ongoing and continuous job reductions taking place.   The Cariboo is a beautiful part of the province to grow up in, and so starting first with my 1973 Toyota Corolla ... and then moving up to my Chevy half-ton truck ... I traveled pretty much every road (paved, graveled, rutted and at time what little remained of horse drawn wagon roads dating back decades and decades).    During those travels I also saw what was happening as small rural communities, dependent on the forestry industry saw those job loses leading to businesses closing, people moving away, schools closing, and government services being shuttered. Last night I...

Alan Forseth ~~ Kamloops, BC ~~ April 17 th , 2019 ONE YEAR AGO ... back on April 13 th , the Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Minister Doug Donaldson announced that the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation has been granted $2 million to aid in caribou habitat restoration. At the time he also stated, that roads, trails, right-of-ways and seismic lines have changed the landscape where caribou live. This makes them vulnerable to predators, such as wolves, bears and cougars. The Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund will help to disrupt these lines of sight and travel – through reforestation, fencing, fertilization and other measures – to restore the caribou’s habitat and to decrease predatory attacks . In reading the Canada British Columbia Conservation Agreement for South Mountain Caribou in British Columbia – the agreement for the conservation of the Southern Mountain Caribou pursuant to section 11 of the Species at Risk Act --- and ...