The latest opinion poll from Angus Reid Public Opinion shows that a new paradigm in BC politics has held and even increased in the last three months, most notably with a widening gap between the NDP, now up 2 to 42%, and the Liberals, down 3 to only 28%, which in an election held now would produce a large majority for the NDP; but also important is that support for the Conservatives went sideways, up only 1 to 19%, and for the Green Party was up 2 to only 10%.
The Common Sense Canadian's cartoonist in residence. While working at a paper mill and raising two children as a single-dad in Kitimat, BC, Gerry began working as a self-taught editorial cartoonist for the town paper in 1993.
The latest from our cartoonist Gerry Hummel. With the BC Liberals' popularity in free-fall, according to recent polls, the party's chances of holding onto power in May 2013 are looking grimmer by the day. Premier Clark for the first time now trails Opposition leader Adrian Dix in job approval numbers as well.
Check out this new cartoon from Gerry Hummel. In recent weeks British Columbians and concerned media and citizens around the world have been rocked by the revelation that multiple species of wild Pacific salmon are showing signs of being infected by a European stain of the deadly Infectious Salmon Anemia virus. While Canadian regulators and politicians stall, their American counterparts are calling for emergency testing and swift action to address the potential disaster for wild salmon up and down the West coast.
Check out the latest from our cartoonist and Kitimat resident, Gerry Hummel. The town's council recently hosted a public forum on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, which would end its 1,100 km journey from the Alberta Tar Sands at the Port of Kitimat - where supertankers would be loaded with bitumen, en route to Asia and the United States. The elusive Enbridge VP for the project, John Carruthers, was there representing the company - which heard not one iota of positive feedback from the community all evening.
The latest cartoon from Gerry Hummel - referencing the Joint Panel Review for the hugely controversial proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. Rules defining public participation were recently announced by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and National Energy Board. Despite assurances of multiple avenues for public comment, many First Nations, citizens and conservation groups from the region are expressing their doubts - remaining in steadfast opposition to the project.
Check out the latest from our cartoonist Gerry Hummel. Hydraulic Fracturing, or "fracking" - a relatively new method for extracting natural gas - involves shooting a mixture of highly pressurized water, sand, and unknown chemicals deep underground in order to crack open shale formations to release gas. The value of the resource in BC has been pegged at $750 Billion - and while we're going gangbusters to develop our local industry, concentrated in northeast BC, other jurisdictions throughout the US and Canada are putting the brakes on fracking until we have a better grasp of its ecological and geological consequences, and how to better manage the enormous volumes of water currently being used in the process.
Rafe Mair has been giving his local MP, Federal Tory John Weston, a hard time of late for his praise of Plutonic Power/General Electric's private power projects. The West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky representative allegedly referred to these "run of river" projects as having a relatively small ecological footprint. If it weren't such a serious matter, this assertion would be downright comical. Speaking of comical, here, with his take is our resident cartoonist, Gerry Hummel.
We are pleased to present this new Common Sense Canadian cartoon by Gerry Hummel.
BC Liberal leadership frontrunner Christy Clark - whose possible ties to the Basi-Virk/BC Rail case have been brought to light in recent memos exposed by blogger Alex G. Tsakumis - insists the public is no longer interested in Railgate. But can her bid survive the growing calls for a Public Inquiry into the scandal?
In the wake of the bogus deal Enbridge attempted to foist on the Gitxsan people of Northwest BC last month to help pave the way for its controversial proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, the community has banded together in inspiring fashion - with camcorders and the Web as their weapons of choice.
Watch this series of clips by independent filmmaker Craig Delahunt from the Cohen Commission, including a key hour of testimony from the final day of ISAv hearings and interviews with experts outside the Commission.
See how the Gitxsan are banding together in a moment of crisis, following the unauthorized deal with Enbridge signed by rogue treaty negotiator Elmer Derrick.
The Tsilhqot'in First Nations and their supporters fought for and won an injunction at the BC Supreme Court to keep Taseko Mines from commencing work on the controversial proposed Prosperity Mine.
Video from the Natural Resources Defence Council - narrated by Hollywood actor Kevin Bacon - on the battle to protect BC's iconic Spirit Bear and its habitat in the Great Bear Rainforest, from the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and supertankers loaded with Alberta bitumen.
Damien Gillis on the proposed doubling of Deltaport and conversion of prime farmland, fish and wildlife habitat into an industrialized Foreign Trade Zone.
Several hundred concerned citizens and First Nations gathered recently in Burnaby to speak out against KinderMorgan's plans to pipe 700,000 barrels a day of Tar Sands bitumen to supertankers in Vancouver's harbour.
Part 2 of Rafe and Damien's discussion on Shaw's EVOTV. In this episode, the pair talk wild salmon and aquaculture, private power and environmental politics in BC.
Rafe Mair and Damien Gillis discuss The Common Sense Canadian and their coverage of key environmental and public policy issues in BC and Canada on Shaw's EVOTV, with host Irma Arkus.
The Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk peoples of the Broughton Archipelago recently gathered in the village of Gwayasdums in response to a serious breach of protocol by Marine Harvest. They emerged united, with renewed resolve to rid their territory of open net cage salmon farms.
Smart meters are a tax-payer rip-off and pose serious health threats to British Columbians, a crowd gathered at BC Hydro's Vancouver headquarters heard from the spokespeople of an number of organizations opposed to the provincial government-mandated program. (2 min)
Biologist and Peace Valley Environment Association representative Diane Culling discusses the enormous consequences of the proposed Site C Dam - including the flooding of prime farmland at a time when the province faces major food security challenges. (3 min)
The Wilderness Committee's Joe Foy picks apart the BC Liberal Government's faulty case for Site C Dam - discussing better alternatives to power our future needs and the enormous cost of a dam whose real purpose is to subsidize shale gas and coal mines.
