Thoughts on BC Politics and More

What if the conspiracy theorists aren’t wrong? ~~ By Faith Wood Not long ago, if someone told you the government was tracking your movements through your phone, you might’ve rolled your eyes and whispered “conspiracy theorist” under your breath. Now? You’re more likely to double-check your settings and mutter, “Yeah … probably.” It’s not paranoia if it’s been proven true. From Edward Snowden’s 2013 revelations about mass surveillance to Canada’s use of cellphone data during the COVID-19 pandemic, recent history has shown that governments don’t always ask before they act. Canada’s Public Health Agency admitted to collecting anonymized location data to monitor movement patterns—done without public knowledge and only revealed afterward, sparking a national conversation about surveillance and informed consent. And yet, we still treat skepticism as suspect, as if raising an eyebrow is somehow more dangerous than blind faith. That’s the root of the problem: when trust in institutions...

I n September 2023, retiring Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said the U.S. military owes its loyalty to the Constitution, not to a “wannabe dictator.” In the year before his death, Arizona Senator John McCain issued a warning:     We need a free press. We must have it. It’s vital. If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and adversarial press. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That’s how dictators get started. According to a democracy research project based at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg, 27 countries have transitioned from democracies to autocracies since 2005. Nations controlled by strongmen now outnumber those where citizens exercise control through elected representatives ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Only 1 Woman Applied to Fill Empty Supreme Court Seat, Panel Chair Kim Campbell Says. No applicants were Indigenous or self-identified as a minority. Jordan Press ~~ Canadian Press / HUFFPOST ~~ 07/25/2019 OTTAWA — More women, Indigenous and minority judges could find themselves on the Supreme Court if the government took a longer view of filling spots instead of scrambling to fill vacancies, says former prime minister Kim Campbell ... headed the advisory body that led to Quebec judge Nicholas Kasirer’s being nominated to succeed Justice Clement Gascon ... ... suggested that rather than opening applications whenever a vacancy pops up — even retirements that come with six months of notice, as Gascon’s has — federal officials could have ongoing talks with the judiciary and the wider legal community about the needs of the Supreme Court to encourage more people...