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Dinner is Nearly on the Table

Last week I received a query from a pregnant woman who saw a documentary called ' Earthlings'. The video upset her so much that she asked how to embrace a vegan diet. Her request got me to thinking...

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BCNDP New Member Deadline Dissuades New Members

Any non-members of the BC NDP who want to have a say on the party's new leader - who will be elected April 17th - must sign up for membership in the party by January 17th. So far, the only declared...

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Anyone Can Grow Shit Themselves

Well, not quite anyone. If you've not a patch of land or a balcony or suitable space indoors for growing pots (not to mention the required additional equipment), then you're out of luck. But otherwise,...

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It's Baaaaaack!

Just like I said last time, the per-vote subsidy will be in Harper's next election platform - and likely in the upcoming budget. See around the 10-minute mark.

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Corporate Taxes

The issue of corporate taxes comes down to a single straightforward principle for me: Remove person status from corporations; then, and only then can you, and should you, remove corporate taxes. If you...

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BC NDP Leadership: Order of preference

Finally! More, though not all expected, contenders for leadership of the BC NDP have entered the race. Adrian Dix isn't expected to do so until next week. That is past the due date (January 17th) for...

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BC Liberal Leadership: Order of preference 2

[UPDATED Jan 20, 10:00 a.m.] My three top issues that will guide my decision remain as before: Democratic reform. Support for greater independence and return of powers to local governments. This is the...

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BC Liberal Leadership Candidate Christy Clark

A dear friend who died just over a year ago spent her last decade, all the while coping through severe illness, trying to get community groups and non-profits recognized by governments for the...

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BC Liberal Leadership Candidate George Abbott

At one time, I worried that BC Liberal leadership candidate George Abbott's conciliatory positioning might impede a government lead by him from getting much done. The concern centred around a seeming...

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BC Liberal Party Weighted Vote Proposal

The BC Liberal Party on February 12th will decide whether to adopt the weighted vote or to retain the current one-member-one-vote policy. It will take a two-thirds majority for the motion on the...

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In case you missed it...

You may have missed the news hidden in an ETA at the bottom of my post on the BC Liberal Party's weighted vote proposal. I suppose it deserves a post of its own: ... drum roll please ... I. Am. Now ......

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BC Liberal Leadership - Community Gaming Grants

Non profits throughout British Columbia rely on the province's Community Gaming Grants program for their funding. For many, it's their sole source of desperately needed dollars. The important work that...

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CRTC, UBB and a Response from my MP

Am glad the CRTC has been ordered to review (read: 'reverse') its decision on usage-based Internet billing. But I won't be happy until the CRTC has gone the way of the dinosaurs, just like the...

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Why Not a Metered Internet?

The headline of the Globe and Mail article asks the question, Why Not a Metered Internet? The argument that follows defends the big telecoms in terms of market forces: for example, the cost of...

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BC Liberal Leadership: (Final) Order of preference

The three top issues guiding my decision remain as they have been throughout: Democratic reform. Support for greater independence and return of powers to local governments.    We work, play, live and...

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BC Liberal Party Leadership Race - Done

VOTED! As a spanking new member of the BC Liberal Party, I have just voted for the party's next leader and this province's 35th Premier. It came down to a matter of choosing among flavours of vanilla,...

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Well, that was fun! But a fond farewell

Over the past three months, I've written extensively about the BC Liberal leadership race and made public my struggles to make the right choices. First, I wondered if I should join the BC Liberal...

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My Fellow Canadians: Where do you get your news?

Do you get paper delivery each morning? Read the national, provincial or local headlines from newspapers at work? Catch up on the news from papers left at Tim Hortons? Do you instead get your news from...

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Local Conservative Candidate to be No-Show at ACMs

From La Presse: Portant les couleurs conservatrices dans Nanaimo-Cowichan, John Koury a dit qu'il ne voulait pas prendre part à un débat où la députée et candidate néo-démocrate Jean Crowder amènerait...

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OK. I Am Officially Excited

On this blog, I've lambasted Jack Layton, Michael Ignatieff, Stephen Harper, Elizabeth May... The only leader of a Canadian federal party I haven't targeted with slings and arrows is Gilles Duceppe and...

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Gotta admit...

This gorgeous, sleek machine makes me drool. I once saw a stealth fighter up close. Gawd, that's one sexy damn thing! The F-35 comes with a hefty, apparently morphing and not-to-be-disclosed, price....

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Some Liberals still don't get it

I've not blogged for several months, given the distractions of moving, settling in, and certain other challenging issues, but I cannot resist responding to the following comment by John Ibbitson, who...

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NDP Leadership Race: New member weighs options

Signed up for membership in the NDP a couple of weeks before the voting deadline for the party's leadership. Was my first time ever being a member of that party. People who have read my previous...

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LPC Leader Candidates Confused over Voting Systems & Ballots

The following I just sent off to the Justin Trudeau campaign. However, it might equally have been sent to other candidates running for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. In reading Justin...

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The Growing Divide between the Representative & the Represented

This is so very, very good. Glen Pearson gets right to the heart of the problem of the growing disconnect of citizens from their governments and politics generally. The entire piece is excellent and I...

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