Columnists

B.C. Attorney General David Eby introduces former NDP cabinet minister Joy MacPhail as chair of the ICBC board, Aug. 19, 2018. (B.C. government)

B.C. VIEWS: How to get the best deal on your ICBC car insurance

ICBC slowly being dragged into the 21st century

B.C. Attorney General David Eby introduces former NDP cabinet minister Joy MacPhail as chair of the ICBC board, Aug. 19, 2018. (B.C. government)
Evan Wood (left) MD, PhD is an addiction medicine physician, a scientist with the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, and a Canada Research Chair and professor of medicine at UBC. Leslie McBain (right) is the co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm. (Submitted)

OPINION: Charting a new course out of the overdose crisis in B.C.

Regardless of where you look, the number of deaths from overdoses are staggering

  • Oct 19, 2019
Evan Wood (left) MD, PhD is an addiction medicine physician, a scientist with the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, and a Canada Research Chair and professor of medicine at UBC. Leslie McBain (right) is the co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm. (Submitted)
Caribou calf in a maternity pen near Revelstoke, 2014, to protect it from wolves until it is old enough to survive. (Black Press Media)

B.C. VIEWS: Wolf kill, not backcountry bans, saving caribou

B.C.’s largest herds turn the corner from extinction

Caribou calf in a maternity pen near Revelstoke, 2014, to protect it from wolves until it is old enough to survive. (Black Press Media)
Sketch of 10-lane bridge to replace George Massey Tunnel, which a local MLA says would be half built by now if the original toll bridge plan hadn’t been cancelled. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation)

B.C. VIEWS: Massey crossing a bridge too far for NDP

Premier John Horgan focused on high-speed train to Seattle

Sketch of 10-lane bridge to replace George Massey Tunnel, which a local MLA says would be half built by now if the original toll bridge plan hadn’t been cancelled. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation)
Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC. (Submitted)

COLUMN: And now the bad news about B.C.’s economy

Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC

  • Oct 3, 2019
Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC. (Submitted)
Jeff Scott chairs the Fraser River Industrial Association and is president and CEO of Fraser Surrey Docks. (Submitted)

COLUMN: Environmental stewardship essential for Fraser River productivity

Jeff Scott chairs the Fraser River Industrial Association and is president of Fraser Surrey Docks

  • Sep 23, 2019
Jeff Scott chairs the Fraser River Industrial Association and is president and CEO of Fraser Surrey Docks. (Submitted)
FILE - Tina Strehlke, CEO, Minerva BC (right) Launi Skinner CEO, First West Credit Union at the signing of the document promoting gender parity. (Submitted photo)

OPINION: Steps taken in right direct, still a long way to go for gender equality

A column from Minerva BC CEO Tina Strehlke

  • Sep 22, 2019
FILE - Tina Strehlke, CEO, Minerva BC (right) Launi Skinner CEO, First West Credit Union at the signing of the document promoting gender parity. (Submitted photo)
Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC. (Submitted)

COLUMN: A mix of good and bad news about B.C.’s economy

Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC

  • Sep 20, 2019
Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC. (Submitted)
Hammond Cedar employee stacks the high-value wood that remains in demand around the world. The Fraser River site has had a sawmill for more than 100 years, and it’s closing by the end of 2019. (Maple Ridge News)

B.C. VIEWS: Cutting wood waste produces some bleeding

Value-added industry slowly grows as big sawmills close

Hammond Cedar employee stacks the high-value wood that remains in demand around the world. The Fraser River site has had a sawmill for more than 100 years, and it’s closing by the end of 2019. (Maple Ridge News)
Big Daycare: Advanced Education Minister Melanie Mark and B.C. Premier John Horgan announce additional early childhood educator training spaces, Langara College, Vancouver, Sept. 5, 2019. (B.C. government)

B.C. VIEWS: It’s an uphill battle to build the nanny state

Training positions added, filling them is another question

Big Daycare: Advanced Education Minister Melanie Mark and B.C. Premier John Horgan announce additional early childhood educator training spaces, Langara College, Vancouver, Sept. 5, 2019. (B.C. government)
ICBC president and CEO Nicolas Jimenez. (Black Press Media file)

LETTER: ICBC boss responds to accusations of failing to adapt

ICBC CEO Nicolas Jimenez responds to column by the CFIB’s Richard Truscott

  • Sep 4, 2019
ICBC president and CEO Nicolas Jimenez. (Black Press Media file)
Labour Minister Harry Bains joins BCGEU president Stephanie Smith and supporters recycling copies of the Employment Standards Branch “self-help kit” for workers reporting pay disputes, Surrey, Aug. 28, 2019. A teachers’ union representative holds a banner behind to protest the lack of a new contract. (B.C. government)

B.C. VIEWS: More Labour Day milestones for the NDP

Gift to U.S.-based construction unions keeps on giving

Labour Minister Harry Bains joins BCGEU president Stephanie Smith and supporters recycling copies of the Employment Standards Branch “self-help kit” for workers reporting pay disputes, Surrey, Aug. 28, 2019. A teachers’ union representative holds a banner behind to protest the lack of a new contract. (B.C. government)
Richard Truscott is the Vice-President, B.C. and Alberta, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (Submitted).

COLUMN: ICBC is not just broke, it’s broken

Richard Truscott is B.C. and Alberta vice-president at Canadian Federation of Independent Business

  • Aug 28, 2019
Richard Truscott is the Vice-President, B.C. and Alberta, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (Submitted).
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps is interrupted by protesters as she introduces Environment Minister Catherine McKenna for an announcement of a conservation project, Oak Bay, Aug. 19, 2019. (Black Press Media)

B.C. VIEWS: Pipelines set to roll as federal politicians posture

Projects to drive B.C., Canadian economy in years ahead

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps is interrupted by protesters as she introduces Environment Minister Catherine McKenna for an announcement of a conservation project, Oak Bay, Aug. 19, 2019. (Black Press Media)
B.C. legislature Speaker Darryl Plecas takes questions about the report on senior staff from former chief justice Beverley McLachlin, May 15, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C. VIEWS: Log exports and my other errors so far in 2019

Plastic bags, legislature overspending turn out differently

B.C. legislature Speaker Darryl Plecas takes questions about the report on senior staff from former chief justice Beverley McLachlin, May 15, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
Pellet plant recently completed at Terrace’s only sawmill uses waste wood to create a new revenue stream. (Skeena Sawmills)

B.C. VIEWS: Sawmill struggles as NDP boosts northwest log exports

Skeena Sawmills comeback threatened by B.C. government

Pellet plant recently completed at Terrace’s only sawmill uses waste wood to create a new revenue stream. (Skeena Sawmills)
A man looks over a brochures offering various retirement savings options in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

OPINION: Why is the B.C. NDP government abandoning pensioners?

Michael Powell is the president of the Canadian Federation of Pensioners

  • Aug 8, 2019
A man looks over a brochures offering various retirement savings options in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Richard Truscott is the Vice-President, B.C. and Alberta, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (Submitted).

COLUMN: Business owners hand B.C. government another dismal grade, CFIB says

CFIB wants policy makers to take three simple steps in order to improve their grade

  • Aug 6, 2019
Richard Truscott is the Vice-President, B.C. and Alberta, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (Submitted).
Burlington Northern Santa Fe train hauls one of many daily loads of thermal coal from Wyoming along White Rock beach, for export to Asia power plants. Shipments through B.C. ports jumped after California, Oregon and Washington stopped shipments from their ports. (Michael Chu/Flickr)

B.C. VIEWS: Politicians grasp at straws, avoid climate policy reality

It doesn’t matter what parties offer in the fall Canadian election

Burlington Northern Santa Fe train hauls one of many daily loads of thermal coal from Wyoming along White Rock beach, for export to Asia power plants. Shipments through B.C. ports jumped after California, Oregon and Washington stopped shipments from their ports. (Michael Chu/Flickr)
Forests Minister Doug Donaldson announces program to preserve 54 of the largest trees in B.C., Saanich, July 17, 2019. (B.C. government)

B.C. VIEWS: NDP pushes ahead with Crown forest redistribution

This isn’t the time for a radical Indigenous rights agenda

Forests Minister Doug Donaldson announces program to preserve 54 of the largest trees in B.C., Saanich, July 17, 2019. (B.C. government)