Pipelines & Tankers

The campaign to prevent the expected rubber-stamp approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline by the Obama Administration was not given good odds of success. The proposed pipeline would bring bitumen crude from northern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico where it would be processed and either sold in the US or shipped abroad. Secretary of ...

Fact Check on Kyoto Distortions

It has been a good week for the Harper Communications Machine. Peter Kent is a very effective spokesperson. The lines and spin work well. I like Peter Kent as a person. He is extremely kind in many ways. But his job in Cabinet is not unlike his job as a TV reporter. Read the news. ...

Remembrance Day

On behalf of all of us in the Green Party of Canada, members and staff, candidates and councillors, I want to extend our thanks and support for veterans of Canadian engagements in peace-keeping, war or with NATO. I have been so deeply impressed with the thoughtfulness and dedication of people in the Canadian military. Those ...

Strong Breakthrough in Canada

On May 30, 2011, I was officially sworn as the first Green Party Member of Parliament in Canada. The election on May 2, 2011 was bittersweet for Canadian Greens. After a difficult campaign in which we were kept out of the national leaders debate and received far less media than in 2008, when I had ...

Silencing debate: A government in a hurry

It was beginning to look as though I would not be able to deliver on a promise I made in the election.  If you (dear reader) made it to any of the all candidate meetings, or came to any smaller “house parties” to meet your Green Party candidate, you likely heard my plan for how ...

Transparency with Public Funds: What are an MP’s Obligations?

I had not been elected Saanich–Gulf Islands MP for long when my office had a call from CBC. The reporter wanted to know if I would be willing to post all my receipts (submitted to the government for reimbursement) on a website administered by the CBC. The background that led to the CBC transparency project ...