BC Politics
Twittersphere tracks BC by-elections
By April 19, 2012 07:45 pmAs the polls close in today's by-elections in Port Moody-Coquitlam and Chilliwack-Hope, the Twittersphere is covering the results. And so is The Hook. Read more…
Filed inMinister for BC Ferries 'unaware' of severe staffing challenge
By April 19, 2012 10:29 am 9 commentsThe British Columbia cabinet minister responsible for BC Ferries said he's unaware of the staffing problems at the publicly owned company. Read more…
BC expects to save money by paying for anti-smoking products
By April 18, 2012 01:00 pm 1 commentsBritish Columbia Health Minister Michael de Jong continues to argue that paying for anti-smoking products saves the province money, contradicting the findings of a major 2010 study. Read more…
Filed inBC justice minister declines to release estimate of crime bill costs
By April 18, 2012 09:00 am 8 commentsBritish Columbia government officials have been working for months to figure out how much the federal omnibus crime bill will cost the province, but Justice Minister Shirley Bond is keeping the results of that work secret. Read more…
Hotel picket against Rocky Mountaineer replacement workers continues today, says picketer
By April 16, 2012 01:35 pm 6 commentsFor the second time in three days, a Vancouver hotel chain has seen Teamster picket lines outside its doors. Early today, Teamster union pickets appeared outside of the Fairmont Pacific Rim in the city's downtown core. Last Friday April 13, Teamsters had picketed the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. Read more…
Filed inCheakamus Community Forest to sell carbon credits
By April 13, 2012 12:48 pm 4 commentsManagers of Whistler's Cheakamus Community Forest will find out shortly if the B.C. government will allow them to earn money by selling carbon credits. Read more…
Filed inKinder Morgan plans major expansion of pipeline to Vancouver
By April 12, 2012 04:30 pm 16 commentsKinder Morgan plans to expand the Trans Mountain Pipeline from 300,000 to 850,000 barrels per day. The Wilderness Committee has called the plan "outrageous." Read more…
Filed inExclusion of engineers from BC Ferries union creating 'severe challenge'
By April 12, 2012 04:24 pm 1 commentsBC Ferries switched vessels on the main route linking Victoria to Vancouver and caused a delay yesterday because it lacked a properly qualified engineer. . Read more…
Local Subway franchise gets 'Bad Boss' award
By April 10, 2012 05:21 pm 16 commentsYoung workers have given a local Subway restaurant franchise owner the BC Fed's Bad Boss Award for alleged "wage theft." Ministry of Labour says it will seek employer's side of the story. Read more…
Groups boycott Missing Women's Inquiry's second phase
By April 10, 2012 12:55 pmFifteen groups originally granted standing with the Missing Women's Commission of Inquiry are boycotting the second phase, and are hoping to spark an international inquiry into what they say is a flawed inquiry. Read more…
Whistler council stands up to northern pipeline project
By April 10, 2012 08:25 am 9 commentsSpeaking up for tourism, Whistler council is taking its politics to a whole new level — unanimously opposing the Northern Gateway pipeline. Read more…
Controversy around process, staff drowns out testimony at Pickton inquiry
By April 5, 2012 04:05 pm 11 commentsVANCOUVER - Lillian Beaudoin has spent much of the past six months sitting in a Vancouver courtroom waiting for answers about why the police failed to stop serial killer Robert Pickton before he murdered her sister, Dianne Rock. But she worries those answers are being drowned out by persistent controversies that have plagued the hearings, most recently anonymous allegations of sexual harassment levelled against unnamed staff members at the commission. Read more…
Filed inBCTF asks LRB to cancel mediator's appointment
By April 5, 2012 12:20 pm 15 commentsThe British Columbia Teachers' Federation has asked the Labour Relations Board to cancel the appointment of Charles Jago as mediator in the labour dispute with its employer. Read more…
BC Libs' 2011 donations double NDP's, 42 times Conservatives'
By April 4, 2012 11:14 am 7 commentsIn 2011 the British Columbia Liberal Party received 42 times as much money in donations as the BC Conservatives, a party they are tied with in recent public opinion polls. The Liberals also took in twice as much as the New Democratic Party, who have led in those polls. Read more…
Filed inCritics question carbon tax grants for greenhouse sector
By April 3, 2012 06:49 pm 17 commentsThe British Columbia government announced today it will give greenhouse businesses back what it collects from the sector in carbon tax, a move critics say will have other industries wanting the same treatment. Read more…
Filed inCompany amassing options on protected Delta farmland
By April 3, 2012 02:13 pm 4 commentsA development company has quietly put together $100 million in options to purchase 226 hectares of Delta farmland now protected in the agricultural land reserve, independent MLA Vicki Huntington said today. Read more…
Northern Gateway pipeline hearings begin in Bella Bella, 1.5-days late
By April 3, 2012 10:31 am 2 commentsBELLA BELLA, B.C. - The Heiltsuk First Nation on B.C.'s central coast says the joint review panel considering the Northern Gateway pipeline project will begin hearings in Bella Bella at 1 p.m. this afternoon. Read more…
Heiltsuk statement: Protest in Bella Bella was 'very respectful'
By April 2, 2012 04:40 pm 12 commentsThe Tyee received this afternoon an emailed press release from the Heiltsuk Tribal Council in Bella Bella responding to the Northern Gateway Project Joint Review Panel's cancellation of the day's hearings in the community. According to press reports, the JRP cancelled the hearings because of security and logistical concerns, after protesters greeted their arrival at the airport. Read more…
Education Ministry adds strike savings to learning fund
By April 2, 2012 02:45 pm 4 commentsThe $37 million saved by the Ministry of Education from the three-day teachers' strike earlier last month will be put into the Ministry's Learning Improvement Fund, bumping up the total to $195 million from $165 million over three years. But it's not even half of the $130 million extra the teachers' union says schools need every year. Read more…
Filed inHalf of BC Liberals' 2009 supporters have gone to Conservatives, NDP
By April 2, 2012 01:11 pm 8 commentsIf a British Columbia election were held today, 43 percent would support the New Democratic Party, with the Liberals and Conservatives tied at 23 percent, according to an Angus Reid Public Opinion poll released today. Read more…
Filed in
The next page contains:
Generic drug legislation should limit dispensing fees and mark ups for all: CEO
Northern Gateway panel scrubs first of four hearings in Bella Bella
BCGEU members to take strike vote as negotiations stall
PetroChina to build Northern Gateway pipeline?
Education mediator's 2006 report saw labour agreements as 'constraint'
Government appoints mediator for teacher negotiations
Vancouver School Board doesn't like Bill 22
Mustel poll gives BC NDP eight point lead over Liberals
BC Liberals lose MLA to BC Conservatives
Two BC byelections set for April 19, 2012
BCTF announces action plan against Bill 22
BC NDP would almost shut out opposition in election today: poll
Consistent funding necessary for health research body, says NDP's Dix
Jumbo Glacier ski resort likely to fail, says NDP's MacDonald
Controversial Jumbo Glacier ski resort can go ahead: BC minister
Susan Lambert wins election, stays BCTF president
Health foundation awaits BC government funding decision
SRO residents put in packed shelter for police investigation (UPDATED)
BC teachers weigh arguments for walkout against Bill 22
Federal Conservatives trail NDP in BC; provincial Conservatives threaten BC Liberals: Poll
The page after that contains:
UPDATED: Education Ministry 'botched' teacher council elections: BCTF
NDP critic finds BC agriculture plan empty
Teachers still hoping for independent mediator
Mediation with teachers likely to fail, says MLA
Christy Clark supporter Harry Bloy resigns from cabinet
BC to see $77M in economic spinoff from X Games, says bid team
Don't plan for 'normal,' says BC teachers union before back-to-work bill passage
Pacific Carbon Trust says its offset price is competitive
Premier Clark wrong to manipulate job figures, says Dix
Clark's jobs plan worked better before it was announced
BC lawsuit over IBM contract could change interpretation of FOI law
Ministry announces ed funding, predicts Bill 22 pass this week
Teachers delay job action vote
BC premier Clark's failure to debate education bill pathetic, says NDP's Horgan
Teachers bring rally to Vancouver Art Gallery
Drug company should have addressed shortage sooner: de Jong
Picketing government offices an act of solidarity: BCTF's Lambert
Missing Women's Commission avoiding lack of Aboriginal representation: lawyer
Government argues LRB decision makes BCTF picket illegal
Cabinet minister blames Elections BC for delay on local election changes
Democratic Trust
As British Columbia and other jurisdictions consider allowing online voting, can it be made secure enough that people will trust it? Will it encourage more people to vote? But if something goes wrong, will it further erode people's confidence in their democracies? And what role is the media likely to play in shaping the debate?
These are among the issues to be considered at a May 26 discussion that Fair Voting BC and PartyX are hosting at The Hive in Vancouver. I'll be on the panel, along with UBC Law's Fathima Cader and SFU computer scientist Steve Wolfman. The results and recommendations are to inform the two organizations' public positions on online voting.
Meanwhile join me and other contributors on The Hook as we bring you the latest from B.C. and across Canada.
-- Andrew MacLeod
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