Law society, with help from Claude Richmond, rejects hearing for former Kash Heed prosecutor

February 5, 2011 Straight.com
Former West Vancouver police chief Kash Heed's decision to enter provincial politics in 2009 has ended up casting a pall on the careers of a growing number of people.  Members of his campaign team, including high-profile political organizer Barinder Sall, are facing criminal charges.

This Week in BC Politics … week of January 30th

It’s the weekend, and so we’re back again with another exciting round, of This Week in BC Politics.  Usually I try to keep things in order, but this first story, which I became aware of early Friday afternoon, really needs to go first.  So read on, and enjoy these stories you may have missed during the past week:

Christy Clark's Liberal team tries to fix housecat that showed up on voters' list
The BC Liberal party is reviewing the details surrounding the sign-up of a cat who shows up on the voters' list as Olympia Marie Wawryk…

BC Liberals in hot seat over patronage appointment
Political analyst Sean Holman with Public Eye Online says it looks like Hochstein is being rewarded for supporting the Liberal Party…

The “New” BC Liberals … the "Feline" variety

This is the kind of stuff that can't be made up ... read on if you care ...

The Province:  The cat is out of the bag on Christy Clark’s campaign faux paw.  Now Clark and her organizers are scrambling to explain why a housecat has been signed up by her campaign team to cast a ballot for the next premier of B.C.

The BC Liberal party is reviewing the details surrounding the sign-up of a cat who shows up on the voters’ list as Olympia Marie Wawryk.  On Dec. 14 Olympia was signed up, having paid $10 for the privilege of casting a ballot for the next premier of the province. The vote happens later this month.  Read the Province story -- click HERE

A look at Run of River Power Projects in BC

Like many issues, run of river power projects in BC have stirred up the passion of many residents in the province.  Two sides however that many would consider opposed to each other, are seeing the government mandated “Green” light for BC Hydro’s rush to Run of River Power Projects, an issue they can see eye to eye on.

I really don’t need to say much on the matter as there have already been many many people that have touched on it, including David Suzuki who I honestly have to say spreads far too much doom and gloom.  But this time … I’m not so sure … read on …

CBC NEWS (May 2009)

… a forestry official involved wrote, "I am becoming increasingly nervous about the lack of attention to the projects."  Last fall, inspectors from the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Forests and Range — who dubbed themselves "strike teams" — dropped in on the construction sites of several private run-of-river hydro projects.

Liberal Leadership (lack of ) Debate

Last nights BC Liberal gathering in Kamloops turned out to be just as most people expected it to be … all fluff and not much meat ... although maybe the plan was for the meat only to be served at their fund-raising dinner. 

Environment – Conservatism – and a ‘Tree-Hugger’

In recent weeks I have been encouraging both Conservatives … as well as residents of the region who are interested in exploring new ways to improve how we are governed in this province … to send in their ideas.

There have been many well thought out ideas presented, including a number of people who spoke with passion and concern for the environment ... solar energy ... and the negative impact of the Carbon Tax on people who live outside the greater Vancouver area.

Want to know what they’ve had to say?  Well read on …

·         My concern is government taking on a mantel of being green because it is popular rather than scientifically sound.  The issue of carbon taxes is front and center in my mind.  The rational for them is unfounded in science and faulty.  Included are the alternate energy sources that are subsidized by the rate payer.  If they are a good idea let them stand on their own economic merits.  Let’s reduce government and reduce taxes--our children will be better off.

·         The Carbon tax is a big issue for the folks who live in all the outlining areas of the province – it penalizes us unfairly because of our postal code.  The intent of the Carbon Tax was to lower the demand for fuel by making it increasingly expensive.  Outside the lower mainland, B.C. has winter for at least six months each year, and there are long distances to travel. Both homeowners and businesses depend on fossil fuels for warmth and transportation.  Heating and transportation are not choices, they are necessities.  The lower mainland, with its more clement climate and varieties of readily available transport, has not been affected by the carbon tax to the same degree as the rest of the Province.

BC Conservatives Plan "Policy" while BC Liberals hold "Fund-Raiser"

It’s Wednesday February 2^nd, and that means the arrival of the BC Liberal Party leadership candidates to the city of Kamloops.  Here for a fundraiser / debate will be former MLA Christy Clark, current MLA’s George Abbott, Mike de Jong, Kevin Falcon and Moira Stilwell, as well as the former Mayor of Parksville, Ed Mayne.

Residents of Kamloops and surrounding area arriving at the Kamloops Convention Center – and hoping to hear real debate, and future plans and policy of the party -- will find this a closed door event however.  The event is being held exclusively for member of the BC Liberal Party.

That’s very disappointing because voters of all ages across the province have been clearly saying they are tired of the closed door policies of the BC Liberal Party, and their lack of accountability with the voters.  This is just one more example, of how it’s business as usual, even with the leave taking of current Liberal leader Gordon Campbell.

Liberal MLA Ida Chong recall effort has failed

The campaign to oust Liberal cabinet minister Ida Chong from office has failed, and if similar fights in Comox Valley and Kamloops don’t succeed it’s unlikely there will be more recall campaigns, says Fight HST’s top organizer.

Read the full story in the Times Colonist -- click HERE

CFLs … Mercury … and making a shaker for kids

When you were younger did you ever do what many kids did years ago … turn an old light bulb into a maraca or shaker?  We would take them and multi-layer the light bulbs with strips of old newspapers dipped in flour paste – and add a handle from the same materials.  Once the covering over the old light bulb was thick enough, and the glue was dry, you would smack it on a hard surface to break the bulb and voila --- you had a maraca, or shaker.  Add a coat of paint and it became a work of art.

Well don’t expect to do that with our new Energy Saver Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFLs) – they are dangerous!  Do a Google Search to dispose of these things and what do you find??

Variety of CFL's available for sale

CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing - an average of 5 milligrams (roughly equivalent to the tip of a ball-point pen). Mercury is an essential, irreplaceable element in CFLs and is what allows the bulb to be an efficient light source. By comparison, older home thermometers contain 500 milligrams of mercury and many manual thermostats contain up to 3000 milligrams. It would take between 100 and 600 CFLs to equal those amounts.  There is currently no substitute for mercury in CFLs; however, manufacturers have taken significant steps to reduce mercury used in their fluorescent lighting products over the past decade.

Okay so maybe it isn’t so bad after all. But, if that is true, then why do I also find the following from a news story in the Vancouver Sun dated January 11^th, 2011?

Improperly discarded CFLs could release mercury into landfills and watersheds. Because coal-fired power plants release a significant amount of mercury into the atmosphere, governments hope that reducing our energy needs for lighting with longer-lasting, more efficient CFLs will mitigate the amount of mercury released into the environment.

CRIME. What’s the cause, what’s the solution?

Growing up as a kid in the 1960’s certainly allowed for a lot more freedom than it does today.  Mind you I grew up in the Cariboo, and not the city of Vancouver where I was born.  Even in Vancouver though at that time we still had the freedom of a couple of blocks from home before there would be trouble.  Today’s saying of, “I want to be able to see you when I look out”, still had not been born.

In Williams Lake where my parents moved when I was ten, we had the run of the entire community for miles.  Down to the creek below McKenzie Avenue that ran out of the lake … into the woods next to the old grassy strip that had been the airport to built forts … across the highway to hike up Fox Mountain (really not much more than a hill) … and biking down to the lake for a day of swimming.

There was a lot more freedom in those days – and I guess safety as well.  I don’t recall hearing about cases like Robert Pickton … the bullying and murder of young teens like Reena Virk in 1997 … child pornography on the internet (mind you there was no internet back then) … and about teachers like Robert Noyes who prayed on young children.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying those kind of things didn’t happen.  Even in the Cariboo we had the still unsolved murder of 16 year old Colleen McMillan.  She had last been seen hitch-hiking near Lac La Hache in August of 1974 – a month later her body was found.  What I am saying however is that I don’t believe cases like the ones mentioned above happened to anywhere near the same degree as they do now. 

And so what is the cause – and what is the solution?