If all that BC needed was a right wing government to get it back on track, why hasn't Gordon Campbell created a prosperous economy? The "blame the NDP" mantra is getting old. Your slights against unions and the left are without substance. Alberta should thank its oil revenues for its wealth. To suggest that Glen Clarke was responsible for Alberta's economic might is laughable. You assertion that the left does not care about getting the most out of taxpayer's money is ridiculous, unless you define this value as a return to 17 century capitalism.

In my case you're right: I read the Tyee to further my perspective of what's going on in the province and, to a lesser degree, the country. I'm a news junkie and The Tyee is now an essential part of my daily fix. As I’ve said before, the best thing about this site (besides an abundance of stories you won’t find covered in the mainstream press) is a hands off approach to reader feedback—something lacking at our two dailies and non-existent in television coverage. Agree or disagree with a story on the Tyee? At least you have an option to say so.

By the way, what are the The Tyee's readership (or daily hit count) numbers?

"Dave", sounds like they've gotten a little too close to the sour gas.

To Dave in Alberta, I regularly read these letters from Alberta or from people threatening to move to Alberta. Enjoy your life in Alberta, but it is not for me. You think it is paradise to be in the land of the King of neoconservative governments. What works in the cheap-housing cities of Edmonton and Calgary will NOT work in Victoria and Vancouver. The housing costs are so high in Vancouver that you just cannot reduce everyone wages and ask them to work as quasi voluteers and then contract out work to Alberta. I would rather live in a place like Regina or Saskatoon where there is compassion. It amazes me that someone can call themselves Christians, the religion centered on CHARITY (love of neighbor) like so many Albertans do and then not give a damn about anyone and prove it by voting for Reformers, Alliance, new Conservatives or Ralph Klein. The only charity they offer is a free bus ticket to their welfare recipients so that they can move out of the province and let someone else pay for their welfare. WE WON'T CHANGE. In BC, we do not have to be the economic capital of Canada. BC is soooo sunk. Across Canada, Alberta is regarded for what it is, a province of dominated by selfishness and greed, not willing to share the oil wealth with anyone. Please send them my article.

Dave, you are to be commended (for staying in Alberta). One can only wish that the likes of Phillips would join you there. And no, I'm not partiularly "left" in my political beliefs, but according to THIS weak mind, newspapers are not free press when their content is driven (read owned) by the an ideology that reduces all concerns, human and otherwise, to an entry on the bottom line of a balance sheet.

Would that all narrow-minded, corporate toadies move to Alabama, for Alberta doesn't need their unkind, either. I LOVE The Tyee and enjoy reading about something else besides the viewpoints of the greedy, miserly, self-centred despoilers of our planet. I have boycotted the ASPer media even when His Lardship owned it.

And doesn't the above diverse comments prove who does read the Tyee. I hope Dave tells more and more people to read the Tyee, the more who know what is happening here the better.

Lynette Harper, the comments are not diverse. Go to other sites such as canada.com to get other points of view. Dave is welcome to tell all of his friends and relatives to read the Tyee. The editors at canada.com will not print letters that the tyee.ca allows. Letters from the Daves of Alberta regularly show up in print at CanWest papers such as the Province, Sun and National Post. Vancouver does not have a progressive newspaper like the Toronto Star. We only have The Tyee. When editors of the CanWest papers are hired from the Fraser Institute, the perspective is narrow-minded right-wing twaddle like everything else that comes out of the Fraser Reports.

I must agree, and not with Ms Harper. Moreover Lynnette Harper, what do you mean when you say "diverse comments prove who does read the Tyee"? WOuldn't diverse commentary be a GOOD thing? WOuld it not be what you, yourself would profess to encourage? And what IS happening here? People with whom you don't agree post their "letters to the editor" containing viewpoints that, as Sue Clark says, don't generally make it to the pages of CanWest papers? Or what ELSE is going on here? Could it be that some people, frustrated by what they see as gruel for the masses on one hand, and a tool for the, yeah, call them the despoilers of our planet. And then let's talk about a freaking FOUR LANE highway through a wilderness area, and all for the sake of, errrrr, some Olympic games. Now there's a showcase for your ideals.

I'm a little puzzled why Dave (from Alberta) would turn to the Tyee to read about the raids in the B.C. legislature. Was he looking for fresh insight because he too realizes the Times Colonist, Vancouver Sun and the Province editorial copy is identical to what is offered in the Edmonton Journal or the Calgary Herald? Poor guy, seems worried that two opposition MLA's in Victoria are the ones responsible for selling off this province's best assets. Now I think I know why you left B.C. You're one of those crafty speculators who knew that while the B.C. Socreds (now B.C. Liberals) were blaming him for single-handedly tanking the Asian economy in the 1990s, he was really just transferring all that wealth to Alberta. BTW, is premier Ralphie still helping out in the homeless shelters at Christmas time. Our guy still does Hawaii.

Dave, That's great you like Ralphie the reindeer and all the other nonsense that is espoused in Asper world. Feel free to invite all your like minded red necks pals to join you in your paradise. Maybe when sitting around whittlin' , you can spin the fairy tale or legendary saga of " bame the NDP ". It is like the kid who cried wolf, soon no one will believe it and rightfully so. It is a feeble, tiresome mantra!!

As a former opinion pages editor at the Montreal Gazette, I was delighted to learn that the Times-Colonist has broken the mold of CanWest Global (and former Hollinger-Southam) newspaper by allowing Victoria's excellent daily to carry a true rainbow of political opinion. The Editor in Chief of the (now CanWest owned) daily paper that I worked for in the mid-1990s, required that I offer our readers a rather narrow and right-thinking slice of the political spectrum. He also insisted that I make no changes whatsoever to Barbara Amiel's weekly column and, occasionally, that I redo my pages to make room for a last-minute contribution from the eminent owner of the paper. That editor, Mr. Allan Allnut, later won a 4,000-mile- sideways promotion to edit the Times Colonist. The new Editor-in-chief of that paper, Andrew Phillips, is no doubt building on the foundations of the broad church established by No-nuts (as he was known in the Gazette newsroom).

For all Can-West's blather and ballyhoo the Campbell Liberal cabal still continues it's decline in popularity. The BC Can-West editorial serfdom must be feeling the heat. Izzy is haunting and harassing them from the grave. I've been reflecting that in almost no jurisdiction in Canada have contemporary conservative platforms panned out as advertised. Harris and the Common Sense Revolution exploded the Ontario debt and then Eves exploded it some more and lied about it. Ontarions became more divided than at any other time in their history. Our own Campbell cabal arrived in the New Era with promises of tax cut milk and honey, open government and fiscal responsibility. We have the largest annual deficit in the history of the god-forsaken province. Our own provincial debt is imitating the Ontario model. Whatever tax cut there may have been is long since more than wiped out in a deceitfully implemented blizzard of new fees. Getting information out of our government has never been more complicated and difficult. While BC has always been more politically polarized than any other province I can't remember a more polarized time in my 35 years of watching. And yet, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, Can-West keeps the trumpets blowing. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Can-West Global is a poison in the body of Canada. They are not a news source. They are a propaganda source. Mr. Phillips, if you're reading this, I want you to know that I hold you and your editorial brothers and sisters in the Can-West empire in about the same degree of esteem as I hold a garden slug. My apologies to garden slugs.

There have been more responses to lonely Dave in Alberta then to the David who wrote the piece on the right-wing think tank mind control scheme. I would buy into it if I didn't know better than to say that right-wingers actually think. The concept of an educated mind and an alignment with the far right of being right is as oxymoronic as the term "progressive conservative" (which always draws a chuckle from me). Any credible source of information would not use the Fraser Institute's scientific analysis of the state of global warming for Pete's (or Dave's) sake - the only science going on there is the political kind. I'm more chagrined at the usurp of the term "liberal" when identifying the neocons of what used to be our truly progressive province when it came to environmental and educational advancement. BE is now becoming just a good landing if you don't have shelter due to the pleasant weather.

I would like to thank Andrew Phillips for making clear the error of my ways. Yes, I admit it, I'm one of those close minded individuals who thinks that The Tyee offers an important alternative point of view for the citizens of BC. How foolish was I to think that perhaps more than one point of view is important and in fact necessary for a democracy to function properly? I suppose with a little more time and media support, the Liberal Government will take us to that economic promised land. I want to apologise to the people of BC for ever doubting the good intentions of the Liberal Government and the business establishment. The Liberal Government and their corporate friends know what is best for us. Who am I to ask questions, think for myself and not believe religiously in the narrowly interpreted tenets of Adam Smith?

" Across Canada, Alberta is regarded for what it is, a province of dominated by selfishness and greed, not willing to share the oil wealth with anyone." Sue Clark. Graffiti seen in the porta pottie of a construction site in Vancouver. "Here I sit, gruntin' and hurtin', giving birth to another Albertan." As you can see Dave, your kind are legend out here.

It is great to be able to write a comment without it being edited. I do not consider the Tyee as left a leaning publication. What I do consider is the ability to express my opinion and in turn read about other peoples thinking. I read the Vancouver Sun and other privately owned papers, if only to read about the corporate agenda--one needs to stay well-informed after all. But I read it at the library because it is not worth paying for.

Gee Dave, are you the same guy who was making up statistics about child welfare in B.C.You know Dave, good investigative journalism is always a threat to those on the right and those spouting the right wing corporate agenda, because there is much to hide. i know and expect that this kind of journalism would be welcomed if the NDP was in power because people want the truth and not the made up CanWest pap fed to us by the Fraser Institute hot tubbers. By the way, not everyone is a fool in Alberta and not everyone is fooled either. There are serious longterm concerns about the environment and resource management in your corporate shrangila that Albertans are going to pay for dearly, and I suspect in BC too now that we also have big business running the public business.

I worked North of Edmonton quite few years back. At that time I read an article from some local rug were the author was trying to raise the collective edmontonian consiousness over the fact that a century ago their merchants were deceiving gold prospectors by failing to advice (they actually encouraged them) that they can't cross the rockies in time to arrive to the gold fields if they were to start their journey past mid summer and thus sending them to their freezing deaths in order to keep their possesions and bank accounts left behind in endmonton for "safe" keeping. It's remarcable that that kind of breed of "men" still flourishes in that area. I wonder if it Is the minus temperatures. Maybe "our" dave can enlighten us.

The odd thing about Andrew Phillips' comment is that he seems to think that the only people who read Tyee are self-filtering lefties.

Not likely. Whether to raise our blood pressure or simply to get another, and usually well written and researched, view of the world, even those of us on the right look in daily.

Now I admit, about half the time I LOL and generally have a grand time marvelling at just how simplistic the left analysis can be. But compared to rabble.ca, tyee is a bastion of intelligence and fair mindedness. Better still, David keeps it interesting.

As newspaper readership declines and as television news ceases to either inform or amuse, Mr. Phillips might look at the Tyee as the forefront of the competitive force which, with his complete approval, will eat his lunch.

Putting old opinions on dead trees is, at best, old fashioned; at worst it is a dying industry.

Think I'm kidding? Read it and weep:

Fewer people in their 20s nowadays read newspapers. At last year's University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism conference on younger readers, Duane Sweep, the director of research for Minnesota Opinion Research Inc. (MORI), presented data showing that young adults are increasingly less interested in newspapers. Scarborough Research found that 44.6 percent of young adults read a newspaper each weekday in 1996 but only 38.5 percent did in 2001. MORI found that 39 percent of 18-to-34-year-olds read a newspaper daily in 1997 but only 26 percent did in 2001. And at a Newspaper Association of America research conference in 2001, John Bartolomeo -- of Clark, Martire & Bartolomeo -- warned that just 9 percent of 20-to-29-year-olds will read weekday newspapers in 2010. online journalism review (I do hop the link works, it is a great article)

Jay Currie, what do you think is going to happen after April 5 when the Can West online newspapers are only available to subscribers? If less and less people are going to be reading these rags of superior journalism, what is going to happen to their influence in Canada? We will not be able to read Michael Campbell, the Marie Antoinette of Canadian media. So sad. I *am* weeping.

Jay Currie, here is a simplistic left-wing analysis for you: http://www.youdontknowwhoiam.org/lol.html

As an expatriot BC'er I regularily turn into the Tyee to read well written informative articles that are not the cookie-cutter variety commonly seen on Canada.com. I for one will not be a subscriber to their website after April 5 as I cannot find any value in it other than to read one-sided clap trap. On the other hand if there were a subscription necessary to view The Tyee I would gladly buck up as it would be a dollar well spent. I guess in my weak minded state of uneducated leftness I enjoy the viewpoints and the wide variety of articles available. I also appreciate the opportunity to speak with careless abandon without the worry of having my thought process edited by someone else who will either delete or change my words to suit themselves. Carry on David with your publication and I will carry on reading it.

Yes, after 5 Apr you have to pay to read the online versions of those Marvels (connotation: comics) of intelligent journalism, The V Sun and The Prov Inquirer. Curious (and of course, weak)minds want to know: are there others who would refuse to pay for the privilege? And Mike Campbell, the Marie Antoinette of the Canadian Media. Oh I laughed. Problem is that when he reads this, he will take seriously the notion of "canadian media" and think that he's actually arrived, cake in hand. Anyone who has had the unfortunate pleasure to listen to him, say, suck up to Bertuzzi or more broadly, express his (not-so) deep analyses on various socio-political concerns will know the validity of the comparison. And what gives with Vancouver's ruling elite anyway? You've got a whole nest of them and someone keeps giving them their own radio programs. Well, sort of. And if it isn't the premier's own brother, it's someone yammering on about how much we should all appreciate the likes of Brian Burke? What a shame that he doesn't yet have another multi-million dollar contract? Uh, huh? And Burke's wife (another example of Deep Thoughts NOT) lying there on her birthing bed so that Mike can have a shot at the mic. WHO CARES? The problem is I guess that even discussing it gives certain individuals and management groups the mistaken idea that it's all insubstantial complaining from weak-minded, self-filtering lefties who are pissed because they don't get invited to those dinner parties where news, sports, and wheather sit together quaffing their martinis (how many of them?), nibbling their cake, and worst of all, sipping each other's bath water.

It's amazing that more and more, the neo conservative movement has adopted an almost evangelical approach, that their ways are the ONLY way, and to oppose them or even debate them is blasphamous. And more so, how they won't engage in debate in BC. More and more, people are thinking with critical and open minds. Alternative media outlets like The Tyee, Straight, Terminal City Press, and others offer a counter prospective to the massive amounts of right wing spin, and american-ism spouted by the CanWest Globals and other media conglomerates throughout the world. Why has it become such a sin to live the Canadian way of life, with our publicly funded health care system, and compassionate social safety nets. In the last 15 years, we've been told by the Paul Martin's and Gordon Campbell's of the world, through their soapbox media outlets, that we need to be flexible with our ways of life, and that because we're competing with the likes of Mexico and China, that we have to sink down to their standards of living. And to Dave, who seems to revere Ralph Klein like a god, if a drunk pissant going into a homeless shelter in the middle of the night and throwing pocket change at people in need is your idea of ideal life, do us all a favour in BC and stay right where you are. No one in Texas North talks about the amount of federal money poured into oil and gas exploration over the past 40 years. Or how that investment has allowed Alberta to keep the royalties flowing into the provincial coffers.

Actually canada.com does have a forum where readers can post there views on their acticles. I sometimes get a kick out of reading the mindset of their readership. On the odd occasion, i've felt compelled to respond criticizing their views. on more than one occasion, my comments have been edited, all the while they let some posters personally attack others with name calling. I believe the tyee has become an essential source of information and although the leaning is a little to the left, at least they're offering an array of opinion. i mean, i've even seen links to michael smyth articles. i truely believe that globals goal is to keep the populace dumb. all one has to do is watch the news hour once and while and the irresponsible journalism is supports. last nights top story was about the liberal mla who turn independent (i'm sorry, her name escapes me) who then accused another mla (again, the name has slipped my mind) of sexual misconduct. anyway, the global reporter bent the story in such a sexist way that i was beside myself in disbelief. the reporter made an insuation that because the indepentant mla (Elayne ??) made sexual jokes with her co-workers in the past that her accusations some how have no merrit. how global gets away with that sort of nonsense is beyond me.

I knew that when I wrote my piece that it would generate some responses. It took a while longer than I thought, though - everyone must have been waiting for Bill Tieleman and David Schreck to finalize their talking points, copy them onto recycled paper with the union label on it, and then fax them out to you all. But you didn't disappoint. Just like the fast ferries: "Better late, more expensive, and not fully functional than never!" Steve - actually I preferred to use actual statistics from Budget documents - they made my point more clearly than any made up numbers could. Dave (Other Dave) - actually we talk a lot about the federal money that helped the oilsands get off the ground. You see, as a "have" province (something BC used to be), a lot of that money was ours anyway. Well, I gotta run for now - I don't get 6 coffee breaks a day, and those tax breaks don't count themselves.

In 2000, I had a subscription to the Vancouver Sun for six months. I would open the news paper every morning and not find a single worth while article to read, not even one. By the end of the subscription period the newspaper ended in the recyling bin unopened. Why bother! It is refreshing to read the Tyee. Wow! critical thinking in Vancouver Media.

"the ole troller" gamers play "invent a name" come up with "folksy" prefaces, and then do what they really intended - vacuously flame/rant and back up "static" with zip, then "gotta go". Old as the hills "Dave". This will be common, folks. Above all, trickle theory publishing is not concerned about information - but dispensation of the status quo. An informed citizenry is powerful. All the misdirect attempts by slag posts will not sway better and better idea exchanges, and that transition to an informed citizenry one iota.

You'd think some of the editors on some of the (cash desperate) "official" media outlets would take a message from made cow disease, and not try to feed a population brain ruminants posing as ideas.

Over the last few weeks I've encountered a number of freee standing booths in various locations where someone is trying to get passers by to take The Sun or Province for free. For free! Now that's some business model! My suspicion is that both papers are in trouble numbers and dollars wise. If I was a believer I would pray that was the case. Being sold to 2 different buyers in a CanWest bankruptcy sale would be my dream come true. And then wouldn't it be fun watching the whores contort themselves into brand new self-evident sets of self-serving justifications.

After April 5, I will no longer have the "Sun "or Province on the net.Pay for it??I guess NOT. I do subscribe to the Colonist..though I don't know why, as half the time I dont even open it,except to pullout the crossword. When the Colonist was on strike, I found the "TYEE" and have been reading it ever since. It is " My goodness ..look.. there are two sides to all the stories out there." Well,.. I am sorry that my mind is "short and weak," but HEY ,dont stop guys and gals,I enfoy the Tyee and love the comments.

One last thought...as we are about to have a federal election why not start asking candidates if they are willing to lobby the Competition Bureau to look into CanWest's monopoly here? If it doesn't come forcefully from the grass roots nothing will be done. I'm done.

Dana, I would be all over that.

Mr, Beers, Obviously you havn't read RCRANIUM rcranium, 3/30/2004 5:31:44 PM, writes: "Dave, That's great you like Ralphie the reindeer and all the other nonsense that is espoused in Asper world. Feel free to invite all your like minded red necks pals to join you in your paradise. Maybe when sitting around whittlin' , you can spin the fairy tale or legendary saga of " bame the NDP ". It is like the kid who cried wolf, soon no one will believe it and rightfully so. It is a feeble, tiresome mantra!!"

Had quit buying the Canwest publications long ago, and now that they want some cash for their drivel, guess I`ll just have to live life without their one minded fairy tales as well. The Tyee is right on.

The attempt to marginalize tyee readers is an exercise in denial , which the mainstream media seem to be very adept at. There was a journalist in Ottawa I believe that wrote a year or two ago that readership was down ,in his opinion, because the media just did not resonate with the public. The papers had moved so far to the right that Canadians just diconnected with their message. This caused a huge controversy which I found amusing as this point was so obvious and had been for quite some time but no one had said it aloud, the audacity of a journalist to point out the problem. As for the comment that tyee readers are narrow minded I feel that comment shows a very low standard of journalism. What information is this based on , was there a survey , a scientific study or is rhetoric suddenly proof ? My daily information gathering consists of checking emails, reading the CBC, BBC, Asia Times, Toronto Star, Tyee, Times Colonist and other articles that link to other sites, every Thursday the new Georgia Straight is online and the New York Times gives an American perspective. ( I'm a fast reader). Modern news junkies know that one source of information just isn't good enough and take the time to educate themselves, and this scares the hell out of the media corporations that have invested so much time and money into creating information monopolies. The most right wing large size newspaper in Canada, the National Post, lost 20,000,000 dollars in 2002(?) and will probably show a similar loss for the fiscal year end of 2003. The fact that even with these losses the paper still spouts the same Victorian economic 'free market' drivel despite losses belies their own philosophy of sink or swim market place economics .The dubious business practice proves that the motivation to continue with a product that is an economic failure is based on ideology. Imagine a road to economic failure because of an inflexible idelogical stance - funny enough I believe that is a neo-con criticism of left wing politics.

There used to be a notion that newspapers served as a forum for our public discourse. CanWest with their near newsmedia monopoly in B.C. has made a joke out of that. They don't report diverse and/or widely held opinions from the communtiy anymore. They seek rather to restrict such dissemination of information to opinions that conform to their own perceived self-interest. The punchline is that they want us to pay for it!

The Tyee must be making its threat of "real info for the questioning mind" salient - I've been receiving free Vancouver Sun papers delivered to my door every friday. On top of this free dose of the mind altering substance - both daily CanWest papers are highly campaigning their "free trial" of their on-line versions. I consider this poor advertising - especially after getting a dose of Jon Ferry or Sue what's-her-name (the ultra-conservative editorial columnist who seems to live in her own little biosphere) from the Province. I used to think that they wrote such nonsense just to get a rise out of baitable people such as myself (any educated mind would either cry or laugh at the thoughts they put to print). It slowly dawned on me that these people actually believe what they were writing! (I witnessed their sincerity on a local "Christian" talk show which I also get fixitated on - I'm a glutton for punishment). What surprised me is that even the Vancouver Courier (that boasts opinions of more cerebral journalists - such as Geoff Olson) have made much-ado about nothing when it came to the Tyee. My fortunate awakening of its existence came from a Common Ground feature. Shared Vision's latest edition highlights Adbusters.org - so it seems that Vancouver is indeed the centre of revolutionary media despite the attempt to stifle thought by CanWest - the Globally numb.

Response to : , 4/01/2004 5:54 :56 The letter was directed to the first comment adressed by a " Dave", not the Tyee editor. I believe this publication and most contributors to it, create an informative source and service apart from the controlled media.

I read Tyee about once a week to get a broader and more balanced viewpoint than I otherwise would get by reading only the 'received wisdom' offered up in much of the mainstream media. I also visit the Globe and Mail, the BBC website, the Guardian, the Independent, the NY Times, the Washington Post and the Z-net website regularly. I occasionally read the Colonist, Sun or Province, but I don't like Can-West publications, and I don't believe Can-West should be allowed a monopoly on the local media. Although I can happily agree to being a Cambell and Bush hater, I consider myself quite close to the centre of the political spectrum; in fact, until about 15 years ago, I regularly voted Socred and PC. It is Campbell, Bush and their supporters and appologists that are the extremists and self-filterers, not me.

Funny, I could consider myself among the Jennifers here (as she is the most recent post and echos my own views--though I can't say I ever "regularily" voted socred or PC, I do recall a time when, federally, PC looked like a better option and I voted accordingly. [shaking my head now, but the point is that some people actually THINK and vote by the issue, not by the party affiliation]).

I, too, read, online, the Globe and Mail, BBC, the Gaurdian, the Independent, NYTimes, Wash Post and until April 5, the Van Sun, ocassionally the Prov. I also look at some small town papers online. Vernon, Chilliwack etc.

It's not that I'm a news junkie, but I do like to understand things and I base my own understanding on as wide a source of information as I can. Hence, my CKNW listenining (and rants--not there's a propaganda machine!!), and my reading of the Sun and the Prov--though always with a great deal of vexation and the critical ability that I, thankfully, gained over the years. I will not pay to read Can West, as I find their editorial practice--errr, the word, the word. I am trying to think of a word for "slimy" in the sense that it would mean: to couch communication, posing as unbiased reportage, in strange and manupulative phrasing, wording, syntax, paragraph placement etc such that the ideological position and / or imperatives of the writer/publisher are foremost, though often hidden to the undiscenring reader. Gosh I should write a dictionary.

Point is that I fear the situation with Canadian "free" press, or let's say: MEDIA because I know that a MEDIUM isn't free when it's a corporate monoply with interests to foster and conserve.

I would reiterate something that Dana Owen Still said earlier in this commentary (I think it was she), and that is that this situation ought to be an election issue. Time is right.

I believe the TIMES COLONIST is actually scared of the truth that the Tyee adds a fresh look to stuff that gets stail in a CANWEST run newspaper. This coming from a PEI er. Keep up the good work TYEE.

One of the nice things about The Tyee is that the so-called closed-minded readers get to do a fair bit of the writing, closed-minded or otherwise. At this point, there is already ten times as much reader word count as the actual article. People responding to an article? And then having the chance to respond to the comments of others? Geez, this is getting too close to a dialogue. No wonder the Times-Colonist is so uptight. In their view, the last ones to have a voice should be the readers.

The only explanation for the CanWest editorial is that the Tyee will threaten their revenue base in the long-run.

Does anyone else see the irony of being called self-filtering by a B-grade hack for the Asper Family newsletter that is CanWest? One reason I like the Tyee is that it doesn't contain a bunch of pulp I've read elsewhere, or that was obviously written way out of the context of local readers. It was my reason for cancelling my subscription to the Vancouver Sun; it's the reason I avoid CanWest media altogether. That said, I have met few thinking persons who are not self-filtering, and utterly convinced that he or she was fully independent. That 'smash-Iraq' right-wingers find the National Post 'insightful' and 'snappy' is no surprise, though its readers are convinced that they have independently reached that conclusion. That weepy lefties find the Washington Post or CBC to be 'in-depth' and 'intelligent' is equally of no surprise. People gravitate towards those media that reinforce and marginally enhance their already-established positions. The pathetic thing about Andrew Phillips is that he believes he does not have the same quality about himself.

Come on now! I guess nobody is supposed to question anything presented by Campbell and his henchmen (and women). I think he just wants me fot the paying part. So far, I see absolutly no benefit or even possibility of one from his policies. What I see is a re-distribution of wealth. I suppose if you are one it is being handed to, you'll be satisfied. Watch what happens over the olympics. They're are already asking for more money.

Dave left British Columbia for Alberta. Still at least one province too close.

A short while ago we had the scandal of $400,000 being "written off" in the "Ministry of Childrens Services!" The "minister" GORDON HOGG, resigns, AND THAT'S IT????? THIS IS CORRUPTION! When the hell is our so-called "media" going to START doing its' job and investigate sticky fingered government departments? I can't keep up with the corruption taking place EVERY DAY IN OUR SO-CALLED GOVERNMENT! C.W. Sinclaire.

Yup, sounds like Dave is where he feels comfortable. I worked there for a while, but I didn't get sucked into the mentality of never being able to make it back home. I came back, suffered for a while with menial, low-paying jobs, and, yes (gasp!) even had to go on welfare for a little while. At least back then I had the option of getting a bit of support until I was on my feet again. I feel for the people denied that opportunity by our present government. By the way, with regard to that excellent comment by Sue about housing prices, it's at least partly due to people from Alberta (and from here and other places) coming and speculating in our hot property market that people like me are finding it difficult to buy a house.

Are compassionate people left wing by virtue of definition? Am I a Socialist because I believe that adequate funding to health and education is an investment into our future? Does being upset about the callous disregard the BC Liberals are showing to women, elderly, disabled and other "special interest groups" make me a subversive? Corporate BC can criticize people like me for having the audacity to take exception to what is happening out there, but the political polarization occurring throughout BC has a lot to do with the choices our government has made since taking office.

I am grateful that the Tyee is available and that there is another source of local news other than the Vancouver Sun. Keep up the good work.

WOW! LOTS OF WRITE-BACKS ON THIS ONE .... DID THE TYEE HIT A NERVE ? THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW NEWS PUBLICATIONS WERE ONE CAN GET SOME LABOUR NEWS AND ALTERNATIVE THOUGHTS ... GO AHEAD READ THE VANCOUVER SUN AND PROVINCE . THERE YOU WILL GET THE 'BULK NEWS' FOR MASS CONSUMTION ( THE CP NEWS WIRE STUFF ...) ... MAY AS WELL JUST TURN ON THE TUBE AND WATCH CNN . THE TYEE OFFERS A CHOICE ... IS THIS A BAD THING ?

Would CanWest publish the following?: Go to the BC NDP web site and take a look at the poll that was taken in the Surrey-Panorama Ridge riding with Carol James as the candidate. It shows half of the BC Liberal voters switching to NDP. Unlikely that this would happen in the next election, but try plugging a 50% reduction in to UBC 2005 Provincial Election Forecaster: http://esm.ubc.ca/BC05/forecast.html Carol James is *not* going to be running in that riding, so this *is* just an excercise in wishful thing. :) Nevertheless, a seat that the Liberals won with 58.9 vs NDP 19.9% is no longer so safe.

Perhaps if so many of the right wing posters were not cowardly lurkers trying to pass themselves off as variously, Gary Collins, Michael Campbell, etc, and who hastily try and change the topic whenever they begin to lose an argument... then perhaps these posters might get more respect. By all means, post a response whatever your ideology, but be prepared to back it up with facts and logic, not empty posturing about how everyone's stealing from you but the rich... and how things will be so much better if we just sell out our children. Minimum wage jobs do NOT lead to strong economies; they never have, never will. And.... HA HA HA HA HA ETC... THIS WILL BE THE SOUND OF THE REST OF CANADA LAUGHING WHEN ALBERTA'S OIL RUNS DRY AND IT BECOMES A DEPOPULATED SLUM... If you can't learn to feel then at least learn how to think.

Ah yes, where would we be without Canwest Goebbel TV? As an aside,apparently Rupert Murdoch is pulling up stakes(so to speak)in Oz and moving the main office of his media empire to the US-just in time to re-elect George Jr...

Well, I too am grateful for the hard work and the measure of courage that has made the Tyee possible.I think it's appreciated by many of us that reporters like Chris Tenove will actually still go to the legislature and follow their subject around for the day or days it takes to unearth the story. The legislature seems almost forgotten these days and there have been many riveting moments that have gone completely unreported.So many bills passed that will completely change the landscape of our lives in B.C., so much of our autonomy lost with hardly a mention in the mainstream media.Also appreciate that the Tyee and reporters like Barb McLintock value the details behind issues. I also like that our commentary on articles is allowed to stand on it's own and not tampered with. Last August I wrote a letter to the Vancouver Sun replying to an editorial that compared Gordon Campbell's tour of the Okanagan forest fires to Winston Churchill during the London blitz ! I said the idea was laughable at best and that he had largely been a premier in hiding - certainly not there when schools, hospitals, courthouses, ad infinitum had closed. The editorial also said that voters would remember Campbell for this come election time.Now is that an editor or a campaign manager? Anyway they did publish the letter but above it they placed a large photo of Gordon Campbell kneeling down to comfort a young boy in Kelowna and below the picture they said something like " one reader says Campbell's policies have been dangerous for B.C." I was astounded at the lengths taken to not allow that letter to stand on it's own. I think they have every right not to publish a letter, to disagree with a letter , but to set up a letter is really revealing.The freedom of commentary in the Tyee is to be commended.Hope this rare fish has a long life.

The new math invented by the fraser pimpstitute and recycled as divine revelation by Canwestsnowjob is also illuminating. Take the claim in the balanced budget ads. Oh, excuse me, I mean the "FORECASTED" to be balanced budget ads. Yes, BC DOES have the highest percentage growth of any province as claimed in the fullpage sun ads BECAUSE any increase in a low number shows up as a higher percentage than an increase in a high number: eg. If a dismal economy such as bc's goes up by one percent from a 2 to a 3% annual growth rate, (it didn't) this is a 50% increase. BUT, if an healthy provincial economy, say one running at 4%, goes up 1%, then the healthy economy has only increased by 25%. Of course most people read the statement without thinking and think this statistic is a good sign, rather than the dismal economic failure that is the bc liar's tainted reign over your future and your children's. Your tax dollars paid for this fraser institute new math and neospeak shat out by the fraser institute and faithfully regurgitated by the vancouver sun.

I absolutely have to read the Global Media Empire's view of what is news. How else would I know what NOT to believe? It is really sad that alot of people still operate under the delusion that unbiased journalism is still practised there.

I'm in the very early beginning stages of launching a complaint to the Competition Bureau in Ottawa about the CanWest domination of our print media in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Anyone care to assist, contribute, add their names etc etc are more than welcome.

Dana;I appreciate whatever efforts you take and any success your might have, but unfortunately, as long as we have the same patronage prone Liberals or double-dealing Conservatives running things in Ottawa, CanWest's string of nose-stretchers has little to fear. The last time I got slightly optimistic Ottawa might care about media ownership was the day the Kent commission recommended action be taken against the obvious collusion of the Thompson and Southam empires way back in the early '80s. Other than a little carefully vented hot air by a politico or two, that's the last threat we ever saw to those generous contributors to both parties. Now we have CanWest, Hollinger and BC's Island Publishing/Cariboo Press apologizing for these political dinosaurs in Ottawa and elsewhere. What we are left with now ( in the so-called mainstream media), almost makes one nostalgic for the old Thomson/Southam cabal. While I have long ago given up hoping for divine intervention, I suspect praying for such is probably a stronger bet than calling on the current gang in Ottawa to bite any of the hands that feed it. Better to support progressive media like Tyee and let the reactionaries at the Sun, Colonist etc., squirm as long as they spell Tyee correctly.

Well, yeah, but what the hell - might as well pretend there's a responsive government apparatus in Ottawa. Y'know? Fake it til you make it? :-) Besides, we don't want it to atrophy altogether altogether. Might as well make it spin on it's axis once in a while if for no other reason to prove that it's not entirely moribund. Furthermore, it's fun and keeps me from arming myself. That last comment was entirely in jest. I own no arms and have no intention whatever of acquiring any nor should that comment be taken in any way as a reflection of the opinions of The Tyee, it's publisher's,editors or staff. CanWest toadies are liable to be prowling these pages looking for signs of madness. LOOK IN THE MIRROR.

Dana and Allan, excuse me for butting into your conversation, but I wonder what the two of you might think of a new form of political activism, which I am trying to put out there as an idea -I have few resources money or connections, but am simply hoping the idea itself will take root in fertile ground. Basically what I'm proposing is a new, intensified form of judicial leftwing activism: what if a website run by the Council of Canadians collected say, $20 memberships and then allowed members to vote online as to targetted leftwing class action lawsuits againt particularly pernicious moves by the right. I know the Council of Canadians already does lawsuits, but if this could turned up several notches on both a federal and a provincial level, imagine the possibilities for enhanced democracy and activism. Many of the most progressive reforms have come from the judiciary, few from elected politicians. I realize this has been a tactic of the right, but there are many good and talented lawyers on the left, who could reduce the advantage of money. Lawyers are the only thing the right really seems to fear. Members of such a site could write and argue what should be targetted first, and then vote, for a much more direct democracy, and eventually go international, targetting ineqitable free trade agreements. I have also espoused this idea in the comment section of the latest Paul Ramsey opinion piece. I would be curious as whether you have heard of this idea before. Imagine a leftwing slapsuit organization with a $20 million dollar budget. Obviously such an organization would have to be totally transparent and open.

Lewis: Your idea has much merit. (Dana, more below).It seems to me it has been raised before, but usually only as wishful thinking by fellow travellers who are close to giving up on our flawed electoral system. Good for you to start putting flesh onto the bones of a better idea. While I share your professed lack of resources, there are at least two weapons we haven't yet used to their potential. Tyee is opening our eyes to the power of the first - the internet - and most honest lawyers will readily admit our Constitution is a goldmine (pun intended) of untapped power. Yes, it takes money to launch a challenge under it, but the Constitution does open a door even the politicians can't shut on you, try as they may. It seems to me that so far the left has only used it in a desperate bid to protect a human right, while the right (not to be confused with correct), use it as a hammer to push unpopular agendas through groups like the National Citizens Coalition. In a truly transparent world that organization might be called the National Corporate Political Action Coalition or something more honestly reflecting its true intent. Your closing sentence is a wise caveat to those who might also contemplate deception as a means to an end. We live in a country where corporations, through NAFTA, can effectively tell our government to get stuffed and the traditional parties in power (Conservatives and Liberals) lust for even more complex and binding cross-border deals to hide behind. One would trust the Constitution would trump a trade deal if it ever comes to an option as bleak as that, especially if the issue becomes a public debate, unfettered by a controlled, top-down media. Your suggestion that supporters/members would ultimately decide where and who to fight is almost too enticing. The seemingly powerless little guy united with countless others in thrusting the equalizer onto the playing field. Tends to make the mind wander, doesn't it. Dana: I certainly wasn't trying to discourage your efforts and, your joke aside, you do have a weapon that scares the shit out of many. It's called a voice and you appear quite capable of loading and firing with some accuracy thanks to Tyee. Pick up on Lewis's new thread and let's see where this can go. I would encourage others to join the debate and will thank the editor of the Times Colonist (hey, you deserve the credit)for the incentive.

Thanks for your thoughtful response, Allan, and please, pass the idea along. One thing I particuliarly like about this idea is that the twenty dollar donation could be broken up into targetted segments according to the will of the donator. For example, a poor person could pledge $5 to fighting the two year welfare time limit, $5 to a federal lawsuit demanding restoration of specific rather than lump federal transfers (lump tranfers have meant that money formerly meant for the poor and disabled now often goes into the pockets of the wealthy as tax cuts) 5 dollars to attack the training wage in court, and say, $5 dollars to sue Gordon Campbell personally for gross deception and breach of trust. So we would have a kind of proportional dedication of money, that could be used for nothing else without the permission of the doner. Also, the site should be set up so that every doner has only one vote regardless of donation size. Persons or groups who wanted to speed the agenda of their choice could donate more money and hasten their cause by reaching the necesary threshold quicker to properly fund legal action. In a way, if The Tyee, the council of canadians, and bc opposition groups joined together now, the start of this scenario could be realized. I'm not saying this is likely to happen any time soon nor do I mean to suggest disrespect for any of these organizations who all do great work.

5 bucks for legal action against gordo sounds ... great!! ...i suggest,breach of contract-for starters !? . maybe the tyee could spearhead this ? ...would that mean all mambers would be alowed to go back to the "scene of the crime" ( hawaii ) ...to have a look ? greatcomments guys , great e-paper !! .

hey I got 5$ sign me up....

Here's a story that ended up in Calgary newspapers and media but not in Vancouver's Asper Empire. After the first hockey playoff game between Vancouver and Calgary a few Canuckleheads decided to take out their celebratory glee on a unfortunate Calgary Flame supporter, after numerous punches, the Flame supporter fell to the ground and then was brutally kicked by one of the canuckleheads. You heard about in Calgary, but the Asper Empire chose to spike that story here in Unbelievable BC. I work for a company that is headquartered in Alberta and at times am asked to work in that province on energy projects. I was amazed to hear from fellow workers that fuel costs have skyrocketed due to deregulation. Kind of funny, seeing fuel costs higher than Vancouver when the fuel actually originates from and is refined in Alberta. In addition, the cost of domestic energy to Albertans coming from power plants running on coal dug up just outside the plants is higher than BC. Could Dave explain why? In BC when a worker dies on a work site due to a company's negligence, the company is required (as well as an entire industry) to make modifications to ensure that another won't die due to the same circumstances. In Alberta, it's business as usual. It's cheaper to pay the relatives of another worker dying than to make changes even if it creates a more efficient and effective work site. But Dave could just be a troll waiting for a bite or two or twenty. One things for sure, Dave's one good fisherman.

Comparing Gordon Campbell to Winston Churchill, only in the Sun! Would Winston Churchill have stood amongst the ruins of London after the first bombing knowing that he had cut firefighting costs by 30% prior to the bombing? That's what Campbell did? Since Campbell's reign, the Ministry of Forests Fire Fighting Suppression - Direct Fire Fighting Costs were reduced by 30%! And one would think that after one's experience with FireStorm 2003, Campbell would allocate more funds to direct forest fire fighting costs. Wrong. Campbell is allocating the same amount of funds even though forestry staff are saying that this year's fire season is shaping up to be worse than 2003. I wouldn't compare Campbell to Churchill, I'd compare him to Nero!

We should not be unduly impressed that the T-C runs columns by Dix and Ramsey: it's less an exercise in balanced perspective than a cautious *business* strategy. When the Green Party alone can poll upwards of 20% on the Island (never mind the NDP), it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is a sizeable chunk of Phillips' readership that needs to be mollified somehow.

At one time the victoria times colonist was at least as reactionary as the sun, but the liberals severe and early unpopularity on the island and barrages of negative letters forced them to include anticampbell views, no doubt after loosing market share...their editorialists remain heavily partisan. I would say the sun has grown more cowardly partisan towards gordon fraser instit... I mean, campbell, since the poll about the ndp's lead, printing palmer, the only semiobjective columnist less often and tremblingly running no more than one anti bc liberal letter a month, if that.

On "CanWest editor fears for your mind"...too bad you did not include his email address. I am sure a lot of us would have loved to tell him a thing or two.

"On the day the Liberal government rolled out its controversial new labour code, The Sun's lead story carried "exclusive" interviews with heads of B.C.'s two leading unionized construction firms, saying the bill was their salvation." And the despair of the workers. Right now in average, there are 4 deaths a week on the construction industry every week in BC. Last week there were many, including a man that died in Surrey due to a crane crushing him. With the desperation for new workers and finishing jobs fast and paying low wages, plus the new WCB Regulations that came in force in March, the construction industry is going to be between now and 2010, thanks to Gordo, the new killing fields of BC, just like in Alberta. The number of work relatade fatalities in Alberta, are incredible. The number of auto fatalities in Alberta are incredible too. So, don't fear, to become like Alberta, we just need to have the oil moratorium suspended and we will surpasse Alberta in death on rodes and at work sites. The Campbell Government is waiting for Paul Martin to give the go ahead to take the WCB from REgulating the future OIL and GAZ Industry in BC. So we will have lots of deaths as well lots of pollution... How wonderful! While the editor of Canwest fear for my mind, I am scared to shit to go to work everyday and get killed! That is fear for you!

Not only have WCB regulations been gutted, so have pensions (from BEFORE THE LIBERALS GOT IN BEEN GUTTED!!!) AND, people on compensation are harassed to return to work ,healed or not , ready or not, all to pay for the taxcut for the rich, gordon maggot somehow forgot to mention, while running for office, as the fraser institute continues to dominate the editorial pages of the sun and province. Your children now face gutted rent controls, safety, the training wage, no affordable education, no social safety net, NO FUTURE, unless their parents are RICH, and I don't mean people who still have a 3 or $400 tax cut, after the user fee clawbacks, sales tax increases etc, etc, etc. And just imagine what your taxes and user fees are going to be like after the last crown corporation that kept your taxes low is given away to gordon picton's friends for nothing.... I once saw a man's leg broken so that the bone showed while unloading a boxcar in goood old calgary, alberta, where to this day, you can't find affordable or decent rent or services. How anyone can betray their children for a $400 tax cut and feel good about it, remains beyond me. I guess I need a fraser institute pimp to explain it to me... I'm listening... And don't the fact that we still have the worst performing economy in canada, no matter what tainted fraser pimpstitute new math is employed to argue otherwise, with your tax dollars footing the bill...imagine what these backstabbing liars will do if reelected

It is important to listen to the BC Liberals and read the CanWest news so that we know and understand what we are facing in the next election in May 2005. I find that there is very little to read in the Vancouver Sun and most of it is bland and poorly written. I am very grateful to David Beers for the Tyee and I would definitely be a customer if/when the Tyee becomes available as a newspaper.

Great website. Its nice to hear a different perspective than the one CanWest Global tries to ram dowm our throats on a daily basis. Keep up the good work!

"The Manipulation of Information" at http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2000/6/22/article_02.htm

Just discovered the Tyee and think I will be coming back to help get balance in the local reporting here in BC. However in referance to Dave's comments and some of the replies, I have these coments: I might be hard to classify as a leftwing nut or a rightwing nut I believe in having a social safety net for those that need it, also Public healthcare is important to me. I believe in a Capital Punishment for certain crimes I believe in a strong military capable of fighting a war, not just “peacekeeping” (a term only used by those who never have done so) I don’t think Bush is the devil incarnate, just typical of any candidate that makes it to that level in US politics Although I come from a long time NDP family with a father who was an MLA, I don’t particularly like Glen Clark, I think he is the opposite side of the same coin as Gordon Campbell, they are two of a kind. Frankly I think that Gordon is a bit off his rocker, likely because of his unfortunate family history. I think the fast ferries were as well built as any in the world, but the program was screwed up by Glen’s politically interference and any hope of achieving something out of it was totally destroyed by Gordon’s political interference. I also own guns and enjoy using them and can’t stand the colossal waste that is the gun registry. I am old enough to remember that it was WAC Bennett that created BC Hydro from a Hodge podge of private electrical companies. (hmmm those who forget history….) I also remember that the Seabus was a NDP project, however we are still waiting for the third ferry… Despite tramping up down most of BC for most of my life, I have never been able to actually find “The Great Bear rainforest” I think Pot is an addictive drug that destroys lives or perhaps my own eyes deceive me. I find Albertans a bit smug, sort of our own House of Saudi and I guess the reform party must be the Whabbi’s? I think unions are necessary, but most of the unions and managements need their collective butts kicked I also believe that I am not alone in having a mix of left and right beliefs and feel that none of the parties represent me.