Search results for “site/Pat Armstrong”

  • The sound of silence

    Weeks stretch to months, months to years as BC government clamps down on information  When debate on the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act began last fall Stephanie Cadieux, then Liberal MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale, was among many to note how British Columbians are waiting longer and longer…

  • Paul Leduc Browne

    D.Phil

  • Prairie Commons in Crisis

    Beneficial Community Pasture Program killed by Bill C-38 With the widespread damage to environmental protection inflicted by the federal government’s omnibus Bill C-38, it was easy to miss the fate of more than a million acres of humble prairie grasslands. These grasslands provide habitat for endangered prairie species and provide…

  • The unintended consequences of massive hydro rate increases

    The Province newspaper recently published an op-ed of mine that looked at one of the unintended consequences of our provincial government’s fixation on building the exceedingly expensive Site C hydroelectric dam. Even though actual construction of the dam has yet to begin, BC Hydro customers are already paying far more for electricity…

  • Resource Economics Project (BC)

    Rising hydro bills pushing mills to burn fossil fuel

    Premier Christy Clark’s vow to push work at the $9-billion Site C dam “past the point of no return” may be music to the ears of some construction contractors, but not to all pulp and paper firms. In a great irony, as the costs soar into the billions to build…

  • A path through the Bush visit

    Beyond the obligatory niceties, next week’s visit by George W. Bush will reveal little about the actual direction of Canada-U.S. relations. But it does provide an occasion to reflect on where we are going and what are our choices. In my view, the most important question facing Canada over the…

  • Comprehensive action on surgical waiting times is good news for BC

    The case for bold, evidence-based action on surgical waiting times—especially for hip and knee replacements that are among the longest in the country—is clear. That is why the BC government’s move to take decisive action to reduce surgical waiting times throughout the province is very good news for all British…

  • Public Interest Research Project (BC)

    Government Not Enforcing Health Laws

    The provincial government recently stated that user charges for emergency health care services provided at the new False Creek Urgent Care Centre are legal. Minister of Health George Abbott says he would not have any basis for legal action because the doctors providing urgent care at the clinic are from…

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    Opening the floodgates

    More than climate crisis behind last November’s rising waters, death and destruction; experts urge province to make course correction   First of Two Parts When Premier John Horgan declared a provincial state of emergency in the wake of last November’s horrific floods, landslides and deaths, he was quick to name the…

  • Oliver Mudslide, Photo: Darren Kirby - Flickr

    Damming the information flow: BC government officials button lipped on potentially dangerous dams

    Early last spring, provincial civil servants cut off virtually all communication about what the government knew about a sprawling network of potentially dangerous and unregulated dams in northeast BC on the pretext they could not comment because of the impending election. The coordinated effort meant there was virtually no comment…

  • Swamp Donkey Dam, Photo: Vicky Husband

    Easy Water: Time bombs, fracking dams and the rush for H2O on private farmlands

    The number of unlicensed and potentially dangerous dams built in recent years in northeast British Columbia is nearly double what has been reported, according to one of the province’s top water officials. At least 92 unauthorized dams have been built in the region where natural gas industry fracking operations consume…

  • Injured workers with chronic pain: the serious human costs of the WorkSafeBC system

    I have been a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation for over 30 years. A significant portion of my practice involves injured workers who have developed chronic pain and have been denied compensation by WorkSafeBC (WCB). Workers with injuries that heal in weeks or a few months are usually treated…