Oct 6, 2016

by Eoin Finn B.Sc., Ph.D., MBA • The relationship between the LNG industry and the Site C’s power is tenuous at best. To date, four LNG plants – LNG Canada, Kitimat LNG, Woodfibre LNG and now Pacific NorthWest LNG – have received export licenses and environmental certificates from Canada’s Governments. Only one – the small-scale Woodfibre plant...

Oct 6, 2016

Tell Health Canada to leave our NHPs alone   by Helen Long • Health Canada has recently launched the Consulting Canadians on the Regulation of Self-Care Products in Canada document. Previously referred to as the Consumer Health Product Framework, this document has changed dramatically since its original inception, and proposes that, in the future, many...

Oct 6, 2016

The noose tightens   by Shawn Buckley   • Many of the broad powers that created concern years ago with Bill C-51 are now law in the Food and Drugs Act. The only saving grace is they do not yet apply to natural health products because of the public backlash that readers like you created during the Bill C-51 fight. Eventually, I predict the broad...

by Bruce Mason   • On October 2, when Canada’s environment ministers met in Montreal, they were made aware of how Canadians view key climate issues. Topping the list: the majority (66%) of Canadians support an effective climate plan to meet targets. The new public opinion research revealed a substantial majority of respondents (70%) believe climate...

For an increasing number of people from around the world, Monsanto today is the symbol of industrial agriculture. This chemical-intensive form of production pollutes the environment, accelerates biodiversity loss, and massively contributes to global warming. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Monsanto, a US-based company, has developed a number of...

Oct 6, 2016

by Mike Whitney • The conflict in Syria is not a war in the conventional sense of the word. It is a regime change operation, just like Libya and Iraq were regime change operations. The main driver of the conflict is the country that’s toppled more than 50 sovereign governments since the end of World War 2 [see williamblum.org]. We’re talking about the...

Oct 5, 2016

Will BC create a Peace Valley breadbasket or a Site C basket case? by Bruce Mason • Let’s focus for a moment on some fundamental issues for Common Ground readers – nutrition and food security, safety, sustainability and sovereignty – as they relate to the most costly ($9 billion and rising), unnecessary mega-project in BC history.As you read this,...

Jul 15, 2016

A Tale of Two Books READ IT by Bruce Mason • I just finished reading a couple of current, timely, best-selling BC books back to back – make that back and forth – that speak volumes about our worrisome future. They also cry out for comparison. The first book focuses on the life and times of our premier, the second, on the result of a five-year global...

Jun 2, 2016

The UN Habitat Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver, June 1976, and how it gave the world 40 years of inspiration. by Lindsay Brown •Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.– Margaret Mead (she was there too) May 31 2016 marks the 40th birthday of the opening...

Jun 2, 2016

Metro Vancouver scheme has the hallmarks of a pro-development and deeply flawed transit strategy by Elizabeth Murphy   For the price of this We can have this Equivalent electric streetcar network deliverable for same cost of proposed Broadway Corridor subway (Prof. Patrick Condon, et al, 2008, “The case for the tram; learning from Portland,...