Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Just after noon on August 4, 2023, a boisterous gaggle spilled out of the Nanaimo Law Courts. A handful of supporters surrounded climate activists Howard Breen and Melanie Murray and their lawyer Joey Doyle, celebrating after days of legal wrangling with B.C. Crown prosecutors. Final submissions were months away, and a verdict on Breen and Murray's guilt or innocence won’t be known until at least spring. Yet the activists believe they have already struck a blow for justice. That moment last summer takes on growing importance as more B.C. activists face prosecution. The legal breakthrough clinched by Breen and Murray could also embolden activists across Canada to ratchet up pressure on governments. In those four days in a plain provincial courtroom, the judge broke precedent by allowing activists and their lawyer to mount their chosen defence for acts of civil disobedience committed by Breen and Murray: that the peril posed by climate disruption compelled their attentio...

Smeared all over the province today and in coming days is yet another story by Black Press Media written by Morgan Powell. I will keep this rant short, but want to point out that Morgan Powell perpetuates an outright lie, to assist in face saving for three Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline opponents including the blockade leader Molly Wickham. Morgan Powell wrote the following, that appears more like a pitch of support for criminals than behaving as a reporter that has not taken sides, clearly Morgan has taken sides in this article ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  Have you ever wondered why pipelines are considered a horrible environmental blight in Canada, but nowhere else in the world? The answer is simple ... Canada cannot market its oil and gas products without pipelines. If some people want to keep Canada out of participating in the world petroleum markets, demonizing pipelines makes it impossible to extend or build new pipelines to seaports and domestic markets and the blockade mission is accomplished. The highly successful environmental push to block Canada’s petroleum industry growth and with it a booming economy, full employment and billions for research into more efficient and effective ways to burn petroleum products more cleanly is a successful public relations campaign that has very little basis in truth. It is not the first time we have been hoaxed by industriali...

On Thursday Diane Francis had a commentary in the National Post entitled, “Canada is a giant carbon sink. Why are we not getting credit for it?” In it she noted that the Paris Accord Agreement exempted ... the world’s biggest polluters ... And that we ... would not have any net emissions if its gigantic “carbon sink” — its inventory of forests, muskeg, water and soil assets that absorb carbon — were taken into consideration ... I am not being critical; however, I do not believe it was really necessary to take 623 words to tell us what we already know.  Additionally we apparently do not have the capacity to stay with, and comprehend, anything that long In doing a Google search this morning, I found out this morning that Microsoft did a study which indicated that ... the average human being now has an attention span of eight seconds. This is a sharp decrease from the average attention span of 12 seconds in the year 2000 . Gaaahhhkkk ... how on earth d...

“ We appreciate the federal government’s second approval of this existing project. This approval is an important milestone for Alberta, and for Canada. The decision was made on the merits of the project that is supported by the majority of Canadians. Approving the TMX pipeline is a step forward for economic growth and prosperity ” Those words from Alberta Premier Jason Kenney following the announcement, a short time ago by Justin Trudeau, that Trans Mountain was going ahead. Those words however were guarded, as he went on to say, “ But approval is not construction and, regrettably, for far too long this project has been mired in uncertainty. TMX has been through countless months of consultation and a lengthy and rigorous review process. The immediate test is the start of construction, with shovels in the ground and real progress. Success will be measured by one thing alone: completion of this pipeline .” An extensive regulatory process was begun by Kinder Morg...