Columnists

Clerk of the House Craig James (left) accompanies Speaker Darryl Plecas to the B.C. legislature chamber after Plecas’s surprise election to the position, September, 2017. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press/pool)

B.C. VIEWS: Speaker Darryl Plecas splits legislature looting spree open

Long road to accountability began with MLA disclosures

Clerk of the House Craig James (left) accompanies Speaker Darryl Plecas to the B.C. legislature chamber after Plecas’s surprise election to the position, September, 2017. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press/pool)
Jock Finlayson, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the Business Council of British Columbia (submitted)

COLUMN: Four questions on the B.C. economy in 2019

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

  • Jan 20, 2019
Jock Finlayson, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the Business Council of British Columbia (submitted)
B.C. Finance Minister Carole James and B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver announce rate reduction for Canadian citizens paying new property tax on homes empty six months of the year or more. (Black Press files)

B.C. VIEWS: Fact-checking the NDP’s speculation tax on empty homes

Negative-option billing is still legal for governments

B.C. Finance Minister Carole James and B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver announce rate reduction for Canadian citizens paying new property tax on homes empty six months of the year or more. (Black Press files)
Brant geese in flight. (Michael L. Baird/bairdphotos.com)

On the Wing: Christmas Bird Count #4 — Skidegate Inlet

By Margo Hearne The marine forecast read “winds northwest 15 to 25…

  • Jan 14, 2019
Brant geese in flight. (Michael L. Baird/bairdphotos.com)
Alexander Joseph (second from left) travelled from Lake Babine Nation, one of 20 communities supporting the Coastal GasLink pipeline, to join the blockade near Morice River bridge. He told a Canadian Press reporter he was protesting because of residential schools. (Lorinda Campbell/Facebook)

B.C. VIEWS: Tracking propaganda around B.C.’s latest pipeline protest

‘Military invasion’ claims fly around the world in seconds

Alexander Joseph (second from left) travelled from Lake Babine Nation, one of 20 communities supporting the Coastal GasLink pipeline, to join the blockade near Morice River bridge. He told a Canadian Press reporter he was protesting because of residential schools. (Lorinda Campbell/Facebook)
On the Wing — Christmas Bird Count #3: Greater Massett

On the Wing — Christmas Bird Count #3: Greater Massett

By Margo Hearne The southeaster almost blew us off our feet and…

  • Jan 11, 2019
On the Wing — Christmas Bird Count #3: Greater Massett
COLUMN: Why must people talk on the phone while on the toilet?

COLUMN: Why must people talk on the phone while on the toilet?

Taking care of business is no one’s business but your own

COLUMN: Why must people talk on the phone while on the toilet?
Outside activists bring in supplies for salmon farm protesters occupying federally licensed aquaculture operation at Midsummer Island, fall 2017. A B.C. Supreme Court judge issued an injunction in December 2017, citing interference with operations and refusal to meet with operators. (Marine Harvest photo)

B.C. VIEWS: If this isn’t an Indigenous veto over development, what is?

Province surrenders salmon farms without scientific basis

Outside activists bring in supplies for salmon farm protesters occupying federally licensed aquaculture operation at Midsummer Island, fall 2017. A B.C. Supreme Court judge issued an injunction in December 2017, citing interference with operations and refusal to meet with operators. (Marine Harvest photo)
White-throated Sparrow in the holly. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)

On the Wing: Christmas bird count #3 — Port Clements

By Margo Hearne After getting beaten about by the four winds, it…

  • Jan 4, 2019
White-throated Sparrow in the holly. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)
Way out of normal range and the first seen here in 37 years of Christmas Bird Counts was a Wood Duck, paddling by the rushes in Tlell. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)

On the Wing — Christmas Bird Count #2: Tlell

By Margo Hearne We got blasted by a southeaster most of the…

  • Jan 3, 2019
Way out of normal range and the first seen here in 37 years of Christmas Bird Counts was a Wood Duck, paddling by the rushes in Tlell. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)
B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver and Premier John Horgan autograph a copy of the ‘CleanBC’ plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next two decades, Vancouver cabinet office, Dec. 5, 2018. (B.C. government)

B.C. VIEWS: For 2019, wishful thinking replaces evidence

‘CleanBC’ recycled strategies and gestures don’t help environment

B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver and Premier John Horgan autograph a copy of the ‘CleanBC’ plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next two decades, Vancouver cabinet office, Dec. 5, 2018. (B.C. government)
Even the luggage pass-through at Masset Airport got decked out for Christmas this year. (Andrew Hudson/Haida Gwaii Observer)

Tlellagraph: A Christmas of hard knocks and helping hands

By Janet Rigg Happy solstice, Merry Christmas, and happy Festivus for the…

  • Dec 25, 2018
Even the luggage pass-through at Masset Airport got decked out for Christmas this year. (Andrew Hudson/Haida Gwaii Observer)
Sanderlings by the surging sea. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)

On the Wing: Christmas Bird Count — Rose Spit

By Margo Hearne There is no place to hide when the weather’s…

  • Dec 21, 2018
Sanderlings by the surging sea. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)
COLUMN: Dickens, Scrooge and the message of A Christmas Carol

COLUMN: Dickens, Scrooge and the message of A Christmas Carol

Imagining a meeting between the author and the main character of a well-loved story, 175 years later

COLUMN: Dickens, Scrooge and the message of A Christmas Carol
B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson takes questions from Tom Fletcher in a year-end interview at his B.C. legislature office, Dec. 11, 2018. (Arnold Lim/Black Press)

B.C. VIEWS: Andrew Wilkinson on taxes, ICBC and union changes

Opposition leader sees unpredictable year ahead in 2019

B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson takes questions from Tom Fletcher in a year-end interview at his B.C. legislature office, Dec. 11, 2018. (Arnold Lim/Black Press)
On the Wing: Of treaties, feathers and shorebirds

On the Wing: Of treaties, feathers and shorebirds

By Margo Hearne It’s a blustery morning. The Green-winged Teal, which returned…

  • Dec 14, 2018
On the Wing: Of treaties, feathers and shorebirds
Red Crossbills on spruce. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)

On the Wing: Small birds and berries

By Margo Hearne Into the chill. The Christmas Bird Counts will be…

  • Dec 9, 2018
Red Crossbills on spruce. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)
Tayler Adams uncoils a fiber-optic cable along Tow Hill Road on Jan. 14, 2016. Crews started laying the buried the cable from Masset to Tow Hill on Jan. 11, the first stretch of a $10 million GwaiiTel-led project to install a fibre-optic internet ‘backbone’ for internet users. (Haida Gwaii Observer/File photo)

Tlellagraph: Community organizing, Tlell-style

By Janet Rigg Get ready folks, this is going to be newsy.…

  • Dec 5, 2018
Tayler Adams uncoils a fiber-optic cable along Tow Hill Road on Jan. 14, 2016. Crews started laying the buried the cable from Masset to Tow Hill on Jan. 11, the first stretch of a $10 million GwaiiTel-led project to install a fibre-optic internet ‘backbone’ for internet users. (Haida Gwaii Observer/File photo)
A Peregrine falcon at Skonun Point. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)

On the Wing: Of falcons, gyres and sickles

By Margo Hearne We don’t often see a tussle between different species…

  • Dec 2, 2018
A Peregrine falcon at Skonun Point. (Margo Hearne/Haida Gwaii Observer)
Former B.C. Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas is escorted from the legislative chamber by Clerk of the House Craig James (left) after his surprise election as speaker, Sept. 8, 2017. James and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz were suddenly suspended from their duties last week. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press/Pool)

B.C. VIEWS: Speaker Darryl Plecas demonstrates his character again

B.C. legislature speaker’s latest self-serving move is incredible

Former B.C. Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas is escorted from the legislative chamber by Clerk of the House Craig James (left) after his surprise election as speaker, Sept. 8, 2017. James and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz were suddenly suspended from their duties last week. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press/Pool)