Today is the 14th anniversary of Harry Rankin’s passing. Many of you may know that Harry Rankin is my hero and mentor. I know it sounds a bit corny to say it, but he really did have a heart of gold. He also had the most unbelievable work ethic, and he combined these qualities with…
Category: Canadian politics
The hidden cost of Uber
Uber is in the news again. B.C.’s transportation minister says it’s a matter of when, not if, Uber’s ridesharing business will land in our province. No doubt Uber’s introduction will improve customer service, especially in Metro Vancouver. We’ve all experienced far too many occasions where we’ve had to wait for sometimes up to an hour…
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…
High time for electoral reform
Election night saw a bunch of my friends, my partner Penny, and I all gathered at our house with munchies and a big screen TV to watch the action. Before the results even began to trickle in I was predicting a Liberal victory. I don’t take much credit for my prognostication abilities, however, as all…
Are we still in Canada? Or a banana republic?
We’ve all been hearing a lot of disconcerting stories in the last few days about the problems voters have been experiencing at advance polls for the federal election. We also know that, generally speaking, increased voter turnout is bad for incumbent governments. In other words, there’s a very high correlation between high voter turnout and…