Columnists

B.C. Energy Minister Michelle Mungall debates in the B.C. legislature, March 26, 2019. (Hansard TV)

B.C. VIEWS: Hippie pseudoscience leaks into our NDP government

Energy minister clings to urban myths about gas drilling

B.C. Energy Minister Michelle Mungall debates in the B.C. legislature, March 26, 2019. (Hansard TV)
Jock Finlayson, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the Business Council of British Columbia (submitted)

COLUMN: Getting a handle on B.C.’s export economy

Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC

  • Apr 3, 2019
Jock Finlayson, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the Business Council of British Columbia (submitted)
B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver debates in the B.C. legislature. His efforts to stop new tax incentives for LNG Canada have been voted down 83-3 by the NDP and B.C. Liberals. (Hansard TV)

B.C. VIEWS: Is the NDP giving away our natural gas reserves?

Andrew Weaver again denounces the government he put in power

B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver debates in the B.C. legislature. His efforts to stop new tax incentives for LNG Canada have been voted down 83-3 by the NDP and B.C. Liberals. (Hansard TV)
COLUMN: Making the call to cut the cord

COLUMN: Making the call to cut the cord

Cost of a keeping a landline makes little sense in 2019

  • Mar 27, 2019
COLUMN: Making the call to cut the cord
Rather than ban cellphones from schools, parents and educators should work to ensure young people are taught to use them responsibly, argues Beau Simpson. (Photo: Pixabay)

COLUMN: Smart phone too powerful a tool to yank from students’ hands

Rather than ban them from schools, let’s teach kids to harness their phone’s power and use it properly

  • Mar 25, 2019
Rather than ban cellphones from schools, parents and educators should work to ensure young people are taught to use them responsibly, argues Beau Simpson. (Photo: Pixabay)
BC Centre for Disease Control naloxone kit (Darryl Dick/The Canadian Press)

Dying of embarrassment: Asking for a Naloxone kit in a small B.C. town

Naloxone is free for everyone, amid an opioid overdose epidemic killing thousands

BC Centre for Disease Control naloxone kit (Darryl Dick/The Canadian Press)
Students gather at the B.C. legislature for a Friday afternoon “climate strike,” March 15, 2019. Plastic orcas are a regular feature of anti-pipeline protests there. (Keri Coles/Black Press Media)

B.C. VIEWS: The hijacking of our education system gathers speed

Children taught to strike and shout fringe far-left demands

Students gather at the B.C. legislature for a Friday afternoon “climate strike,” March 15, 2019. Plastic orcas are a regular feature of anti-pipeline protests there. (Keri Coles/Black Press Media)
Of Wind, Weather and Opportunists

Of Wind, Weather and Opportunists

By Margo Hearne It’s a breezy morning and the March equinox is…

Of Wind, Weather and Opportunists
B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham will be under scrutiny in the B.C. legislature over her latest overhaul of the Agricultural Land Reserve. (Hansard TV)

B.C. VIEWS: NDP’s manufactured farmland crisis dies on the vine

Farmers no longer ‘persons’ to the Agricultural Land Commission

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham will be under scrutiny in the B.C. legislature over her latest overhaul of the Agricultural Land Reserve. (Hansard TV)
B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal takes questions from reporters at the B.C. legislature, 2009. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C. VIEWS: Get up earlier, Americans control your clock too

B.C. must wait for Trump to decide on Daylight Saving Time

B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal takes questions from reporters at the B.C. legislature, 2009. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
Richard Truscott is the B.C. and Alberta vice-president at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. (Richard Truscott)

COLUMN: Think B.C.’s employer health tax doesn’t affect you? Think again

Richard Truscott with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business talks about the payroll tax

  • Mar 9, 2019
Richard Truscott is the B.C. and Alberta vice-president at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. (Richard Truscott)
Garth Frizzell is a councillor for the City of Prince George and second vice president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. (Submitted)

COLUMN: National internet access plan needed in next federal budget

Garth Frizzell is a Councillor for the City of Prince George and Second Vice President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

  • Mar 6, 2019
Garth Frizzell is a councillor for the City of Prince George and second vice president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. (Submitted)
B.C.’s southern resident killer whale population has fluctuated between 70 and 99 animals since studies began in the early 1970s. One factor in calf survival is inbreeding with the small subgroup. (Black Press files)

B.C. VIEWS: Killer whales are the new polar bears of politics

Dip in southern resident orca population one of many since 1970s

B.C.’s southern resident killer whale population has fluctuated between 70 and 99 animals since studies began in the early 1970s. One factor in calf survival is inbreeding with the small subgroup. (Black Press files)
COLUMN: This Pink Shirt Day, let’s stop with the slut-shaming

COLUMN: This Pink Shirt Day, let’s stop with the slut-shaming

It’s the 21st century version of ‘witch,’ our columnist writes

COLUMN: This Pink Shirt Day, let’s stop with the slut-shaming
Green giants: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell meet at the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009. (Black Press files)

B.C. VIEWS: Power politics wins over rational energy policy

B.C Hydro continues to face interference on rates

Green giants: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell meet at the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009. (Black Press files)
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Dr. Evan Wood from the B.C. Centre for Substance Abuse discuss solutions to overdose deaths in the province, B.C. legislature, Feb. 7, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C. VIEWS: Time to listen to the doctors and legalize opioid drugs

Answer is the same as marijuana, get the criminal gangs out

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Dr. Evan Wood from the B.C. Centre for Substance Abuse discuss solutions to overdose deaths in the province, B.C. legislature, Feb. 7, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
Peregrine Falcon (Wayne Nelson photo)

Distractions, predators and losing our way

On the Wing | by Margo Hearne

  • Feb 9, 2019
Peregrine Falcon (Wayne Nelson photo)
Vancouver-Kensington MLA Mable Elmore, Social Development Minister Shane Simpson and Dawn Hemingway, head of the social work department at the University of Northern B.C., announce poverty reduction consultation tour at the B.C. legislature, May 27, 2018. (Black Press files)

B.C. VIEWS: NDP government resumes taxing, spending to battle poverty

Legislature scandal, speculation tax distract from NDP agenda

Vancouver-Kensington MLA Mable Elmore, Social Development Minister Shane Simpson and Dawn Hemingway, head of the social work department at the University of Northern B.C., announce poverty reduction consultation tour at the B.C. legislature, May 27, 2018. (Black Press files)
Long-billed Snipe and Ducks

Long-billed Snipe and Ducks

By Margo Hearne The big tides of the past week created quite…

  • Feb 2, 2019
Long-billed Snipe and Ducks
COLUMN: How you can get the government’s confidential stuff

COLUMN: How you can get the government’s confidential stuff

The Abbotsford News’ handy guide to asking public bodies for their interesting information

COLUMN: How you can get the government’s confidential stuff