I’ve listened with interest to the two very different narratives coming out of the Paris climate talks. The dominant narrative is that at long last, significant achievements have been made in hammering out an agreement that will see world temperatures kept, at worst, to 2°C and possibly as little as 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures. The…
Author: Tim Louis
Let’s put HandyDART users back in the driver’s seat
As co-chair of the HandyDART Riders’ Alliance, I was scheduled to speak at the public session of the TransLink Board of Directors’ meeting in New Westminster on Wednesday. (Check out CBC Radio’s coverage of some of the points raised by my co-chair, Beth McKellar, here as well as a video clip of some of the…
Check out the new DTES markets
Many of you may be aware of the street vending that used to happen along the 000-block of East Hastings Street between Columbia and Carrall streets. For a large number of people living in the Downtown Eastside this was a desperately needed opportunity to earn income by selling things such as used clothing and dishes…
How Syria’s refugees echo Second World War’s Jewish refugees
When I last blogged about the Syrian refugee crisis September 16, Stephen Harper was still in office and offering to bring in a paltry 10,000 refugees over the next three years. It was a promise he later revamped to 10,000 by year end when, closer to the election, he realized he was on the wrong…
All sides must stop their terrorism
If we are to ever succeed in bringing terrorism to an end, we must categorically denounce all acts of terrorism, no matter which side these acts are committed by and no matter whether they’re committed by non-state actors or nation-states. The first-ever instance of terrorists blowing up a civilian airline was Cubana de Aviación Flight…
Trans-Pacific Partnership — Free trade agreement or investors’ Bill of Rights?
There was a time when borders were wide open for people and much more restricted to capital flowing in or out of countries. Only toward the end of the 20th century did it change when significant controls were enacted to restrict people’s ability to cross borders while money could flow freely. For centuries, nation-states could…
Making gold dust out of viaducts
No. 1 issue on City Council’s agenda over the past few months has been the removal of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts. Last week this issue was finally put to a vote. With 5 in favour and 4 against, Council decided to remove them. At first blush, Council’s decision would appear to be the right…