Jordan Bateman, BC director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation

By Jordan Bateman  

As Canadians, we have become conditioned to paying higher prices than our American neighbours for pretty much everything. Milk, cheese, clothes, electronics, books, airfares, sporting goods, cars, liquor: we know we’re being gouged, but we don’t know what to do about it. “Tax me, I’m Canadian,” is an all-too-familiar refrain.

Top of the overtaxed list, especially in the minds of beleaguered Lower Mainland drivers, is gasoline. But contrary to popular belief, it is not the gas itself that is cheaper in Washington State – it’s the BC gasoline taxes.

Greater Vancouver drivers pay 49 cents per litre in BC gasoline taxes. This is the highest gas tax rate in North America – save for Montreal’s 50 cents. But just a few miles away in Washington, drivers pay 15 cents per litre in tax.

Employment for women – new opportunities on Canadian oil rigs. Read it today!

That’s a 34 cent per litre price gap, just in BC gasoline taxes.

Amazingly, when you take out gas taxes, convert gallons into litres, and American into Canadian currency, the cost of a litre of gas in Surrey, B.C., and Blaine, WA, is virtually identical: in early May, it was 98.9 cents in Surrey, 95 cents in Blaine.

Yet, Canadians going south and filling up a 50 litre tank pay $18.95 less than they would here. All but a twoonie of those savings are due to gas taxes. In fact, if no gas taxes existed on either side of the border, that tank would cost $49.45 in Canada and $47.50 in the U.S. – and we would rarely hear of anyone crossing the border to fill up.

The lower the taxes, the cheaper the gas.

BC gasoline taxess are pushing more and more Canadians south. Last year, Canadians made 15.4 million trips into Whatcom County, the most since 1997. Those numbers don’t include crossings at Point Roberts or east of Abbotsford.

While TransLink raises concerns about diminishing fuel tax revenue, and environmentalists crow about the success of the carbon tax in reducing gas consumption, both fail to account for the 15-year high in trips south or through-the-roof fuel sales outside TransLink’s service area.

Canadian Oil Sands – The 21st Century Belongs to Canada. Read it today!

Don’t think it makes a difference? Even a smaller gas tax saving between Abbotsford (which is spared the 17 cent per litre TransLink tax) and the Lower Mainland sparked an 16.8 per cent jump in vehicle fuel sales between 2007 and 2010, while the population increased by only 5.3 per cent. Saving money motivates people.

Cheaper gas is essentially a gateway drug that gets Canadians hooked on other savings. Witness the long lineups, and parking lots full of B.C.-plated cars at Edaleen Dairy, Trader Joe’s, Target, Bellis Fair Mall, and other shopping hotspots in Washington State.

This Canadian invasion is why more than 4,700 Bellingham Costco customers have liked a Facebook page demanding U.S.-only shopping hours at their store. Bellingham Airport is spending $17 million to triple in size to better serve Canadian demand. As Bellingham Chamber of Commerce CEO Ken Oplinger points out, Abbotsford Airport isn’t the Lower Mainland’s number two airfield – Bellingham is.

Canadians are voting with our cars and wallets. We are stalling our own economic growth with sky high gas taxes – not only increasing the cost of every good and service moved in our province, but driving overtaxed Canadians south looking to save a few bucks.

The first step in this solution is simple: lower BC gasoline taxes. Start by killing the carbon tax and stopping the practice of charging GST on top of other taxes. That will save B.C. drivers nearly 9 cents per litre and be a good step toward evening the playing field.

B.C. residents, tell us what you think of the Canadian oil sands by filling out this brief survey. $2 will be donated to breast cancer research for every completed survey. 

CBC reporter Charles Rusnell, left, with Beacon columnist David Climenhaga, a former ink-stained wretch himself. Photo: David Climenhaga.

Charles Rusnell down-sized by Edmonton Journal before being hired by CBC

It was Mr. Rusnell who broke stories on, among other things, former Tory leadership candidate and senior minister Ted Morton’s bogus government email account; a host of illegal political donations, including the one from Athabasca University; Tobaccogate, wherein a law firm that had the premier’s ex-husband for a partner got picked for years of highly lucrative legal work; former Alberta Health Services CFOAllaudin Merali and his wonderful expense account; Alison Redford’s sister’s iffy political donations; and the disturbing tale of the whistleblower at Transcanada Pipelines.

Charles Rusnell breaks story of MLA Peter Sandhu

The latest Conservative caucus calamity (C3) uncovered by Charles Rusnell is the troubling case of Peter Sandhu, the Tory MLA for Edmonton-Manning, who since his election in 2008 has generally been assessed as a legislative under-performer but not much more.

A low performance rating is no barrier to re-election around here, however, as long as the MLA in question has official permission to put his or her face on a blue-and-orange PC lawn sign, something Mr. Sandhu proved in April 2012.

Canadian Oil Sands – The 21st Century Belongs to Canada. Read it today!

Nevertheless, Mr. Sandhu is performing well beyond specifications in the press clippings department right now – indeed, to such a degree that he’s at least temporarily no longer a member of Premier Alison Redford’s PC caucus.

On Tuesday, the Edmonton investigative staff of the CBC was reporting that Mr. Sandhu’s house-building company, NewView Homes, not only has a history of chronic debt and faces dozens lawsuits for unpaid bills, but a goodly portion of its liabilities weren’t properly disclosed as required of an MLA under the province’s Conflicts of Interest Act.

Worse, Charles Rusnell revealed, his investigation “uncovered a false statement made by the MLA in a sworn affidavit filed in a civil court case involving a dispute over an alleged debt.” The CBC says it can show Mr. Sandhu was in Canada at a time he swore he was in India.

Yikes! Now the opposition parties of the left and right are screaming for Mr. Sandhu’s head and demanding that the RCMP step in and lay charges.

The Redford Government would really rather do nothing at all, thank you very much. Premier Redford and Human Services Minister Dave Hancock – who is also the Government House Leader and as readers of this blog will recall, according to the Edmonton Journal the moral compass of the Tory caucus – lamely tried to praise Mr. Sandhu for doing “the honourable thing” and jumping before he was pushed.

So, is Mr. Rusnell on a crusade against the Progressive Conservatives?

No doubt it seems that way deep inside the Redford cabinet bunker, but it’s said here that it wouldn’t really matter which party was in power, Mr. Rusnell would be going after bad behaviour with the same pit-bull fervour.

Employment for women – new opportunities on Canadian oil rigs. Read it today!

Charles Rusnell is just one of those guys who can’t stand hypocrisy, special dealing, rule breaking, insider trading and the idea that the law is for everyone else – just the sort of things you’d expect to be rampant in a province that has been run by the same party for 42 years and essentially the same crowd for almost twice that long. Really, probably the only way to get him off your case is to behave yourself.

If Mr. Rusnell were a police officer, he’d be the kind of cop who’d ticket the chief’s car at a funeral. Instead, he’s a former print reporter with a lot of knowhow about filing Freedom of Information requests.

Years ago, Mr. Rusnell worked for the Edmonton Journal, but they pushed him over the side along with many other skilled senior reporters who cost too much and knew too much for the beancounters in Ontario who run the paper.

So nowadays, while the investigation-free daily timorously ducks behind its leaky new paywall, Mr. Rusnell wins awards and breaks scandals one after the other for the national public broadcaster, which is hated by Conservatives everywhere for doing just this kind of thing.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised Mr. Rusnell will be breaking another C3 very soon.

Meanwhile, in other news, Mr. Merali, the former AHS CFO, is back in the news, demanding the payment of the $580,000 severance package he was denied when he was made to walk the plank for embarrassing the government when his sometimes lavish expenses turned up in one of Mr. Rusnell’s most famous reports.

And reading between the lines of the news coverage Wednesday, it sounds very much as if the people who run AHS recognize they’re going to have to pay him – which will be yet one more serious embarrassment for the Redford Government.

Alberta residents, tell us what you think of the Canadian oil sands by filling out this brief survey. 

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Photo: Handout.

Schadenfreude is all very well, but this whole Rob Ford video scandal has me feeling just the tiniest bit hinky.

It’s a due-process thing, and I recognize that there can be no due process in politics, as unjust as that may seem.

No, realpolitik demands that the operative rule in politics be summed up in the notion we abbreviate with the phrase “Caesar’s wife,” although it might more accurately be expressed as “Caesar’s Ex-wife.” To wit, the idea mere associates of public figures, not to mention the public figures themselves, must be above suspicion. End of story. (We’ll discuss Nigel Wright’s $90,172 gift to Senator Mike Duffy some other time, OK?)

Still, my problem with the journalistic prosecution (as opposed to persecution, I guess) of Toronto’s thoroughly disreputable and embarrassing mayor for being seen in a video by someone smoking something that is said to be crack cocaine is that there is really no evidence for this beyond hearsay from a small group of people, not all of whose motives may be entirely pure.

To wit: I haven’t seen the video, and neither have you – unless you’re the guys who took it, one of two Toronto Star reporters who watched it on a cellular phone in a smelly automobile or the editor from a gossip website in the United States, where, as we all know, you can say pretty well anything about anyone and get away with it if they’re a public figure.

Employment for women – new opportunities on Canadian oil rigs. Read it today!

But even if I had seen the video, I’m not sure I’m capable of telling what anyone depicted in a cell-phone image is smoking, even if it’s pretty clear they were smoking something.

Which is where the schadenfreude comes in. Of course it’s satisfying to see the mighty brought low, especially when the mighty one in question is an arrogant and ignorant so-and-so who espouses positions on just about every issue that I personally find to range from idiotic to outright repugnant. So it’s fair to say I’m ill disposed toward the guy.

What’s more, the mayor in question exhibits a range of behaviour from his driving habits, to voting in council to excuse himself from paying back lobbyists for political donations, to his defence of his private property line that seem entirely inappropriate under the circumstances and which he seems to think were completely reasonable. So, on top of the last point, I’m quite prepared to think ill of him.

Finally, now that he’s been accused, the guy insists on behaving in a way that screams guilt – he won’t discuss the specifics with anyone or even indicate what he plans to do next. So, it’s darned hard not to just say to heck with him, and assume he’s guilty.

Perhaps my problem is that what he’s now accused of doing – instead of backing policies I disagree with or generally behaving like a lout – is an actual Criminal Code offence, and that makes me want to think some of the standards of the courtroom ought to be observed, even in the realm of politics.

On that topic, Bill Clinton admitted he smoked pot, even if he didn’t inhale, Barry Obama supposedly smoked a little too, and we probably all wish Prime Minister Stephen Harper had also smoked something, and maybe inhaled as well!

Regardless, are we confident the two known Canadians making the accusation Rob Ford was smoking crack are without an agenda?

Canadian Oil Sands – The 21st Century Belongs to Canada. Read it today!

They work for the Toronto Star, after all, and the Star has been involved in a crusade against Mayor Ford, ever since he stupidly refused to talk to the newspaper’s reporters because he didn’t like the coverage it was giving him. This may prove he’s an idiot who doesn’t listen to his PR counsel, but I’m not sure how much we can extrapolate from that.

However, there have been several times I thought the Star went over the top on this war too. Didn’t they go after the guy for being caught eating fried chicken when he was supposed to be on a diet, for heaven’s sake? Well, I’ll have to plead guilty to that particular sin myself, I’m afraid.

So do I distrust the Star reporters’ conclusion that it was definitely Mayor Ford in the video and that he was most assuredly smoking crack? Like Richard Nixon, let me say this about that: I don’t doubt they saw what they said they saw, but I’m not certain I completely trust their deductive powers.

As for the drug dealers trying to sell the video, supposedly for $200,000, excuse me, but these guys just don’t sound like public-spirited citizens. As for their appearance with Hizzonor, having one’s picture taken with a politician hardly makes one an associate. As readers of this blog will know, I’m proof of that myself.

Then there is the matter of purely practical politics. Are we going to call for the resignation of every politician accused of doing something unsavoury, as the Star did in the case of Mayor Ford yesterday? If so, get ready for politicians you agree with to be subjected to the same demand on similar or weaker evidence, probably sooner than later.

And imagine what will be said of the left, the centre and the media in the event Mr. Ford can somehow establish, say, that it wasn’t him, or that he was just blowing bubbles!

Moreover, you’ve got to admit, every minute Mayor Ford now remains in office is a bonus for progressives. The guy is not exactly a stirling reference for the people who see the world the same way he does, like his pal and Mr. Wright’s boss, Prime Minister Harper, for example.

Mayor Ford is a disgrace. He richly deserves to be voted out of office. If he committed a Criminal Code offence while in office, I’ll personally be delighted to call for his head.

But it’s said here that the Star’s case doesn’t make the grade, even by the low standards necessary in politics. Not just yet anyway.

This genie won’t go back in the bottle. It’s time to make the video public so we can judge for ourselves.

Alberta residents, tell us what you think of the Canadian oil sands by filling out this brief survey. 

BC Liberal leader Christy Clark on the campaign trail. Photo: BC Liberals/Facebook.

The dust is beginning to settle after Tuesday’s stunning election victory for Christy Clark and the BC Liberals.

Premier Clark still has to find a seat for herself, of course — and rumours are strong that she’ll choose to compete for one outside the Vancouver area.

When the inevitable resignation occurs to create the by-election opportunity, you can also be sure that BC’s other parties will not give Christy Clark a free ride back to the legislature (as was strongly recommended in an editorial this week).

No, the goal will be to make her work for it.

Clark motivated the BC Green Party to pour resources into that fight (wherever and whenever it occurs) by making comments this week that seemed to favour various of the pipeline proposals for the province moving ahead.

Canadian Oil Sands – The 21st Century Belongs to Canada. Read it today!

She’s already planning a summer Asian trade mission, to lock in deals for BC exports of natural gas and ensure her dreams of gas bailing out the province’s debt come to pass. But she also went on the record favouring at least one pipeline proposal for oil sands exports via BC ports, when she noted that Kinder Morgan was adapting their twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline to Burnaby proposal to fit the conditions Clark had laid down to get her support.

As well, although she did not say anything favourable about the Enbridge Northern Gateway proposal to indicate that that company had also heard her conditions and responded, she linked exports from the Port of Kitimat (Northern Gateway’s proposed terminus) to David Black’s proposed refinery in Kitimat to process diluted bitumen into various oil products.

None of these find favour with BC’s Greens (or, indeed, a good part of the NDP).

The Greens — who are delighted with the election of Andrew Weaver (Oak Bay-Gordon Head) and the strong showings made in Victoria-Beacon Hill and Saanich North & the Islands — may still see a leadership change take place, although that won’t stop the party from rallying to make a showing in whatever riding Christy Clark competes in.

The NDP, likewise, won’t let leadership concerns get in the way for them either. Clark has also made it clear things like the ten year deal with the teachers’ union will be back on the table sooner rather than later, and that her budget from last February will be back more or less the same later this year.

For BC’s New Democrats, that’s more than enough reason to pour volunteers and money into whatever riding Christy Clark ultimately takes a shot at.

But the NDP will also be focused on who follows Adrian Dix.

Dix is seen as damaged goods. His strong connection to the government of former Premier Glen Clark (Dix was Clark’s chief of staff) means that it’s likely the party will face the same round of attacks they underwent this time again come 2017.

Even if the NDP had matched attack with attack, gone negative themselves over the Liberal record, insiders in the party figure that there really is no answer for the record they built from their last time in office.

That means finding a new leader — one with no connections to that era — and yet one with a track record of winning that goes beyond a school trustee’s role (as with Dix’s predecessor, Carole James).

Speculation about recruiting Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson to return to the legislature (Robertson was an NDP MLA before leaving for municipal politics) is rampant, especially since Robertson, as a former CEO of a food products company, has credibility on economic matters. There are also calls for MP Nathan Cullen, who represents Skeena-Bulkley Valley in Ottawa, to switch to provincial politics, as a well-known figure from the resource-oriented part of the province. Those wanting to see the Liberals held to account daily look to MLA John Horgan (Juan de Fuca), the current NDP house leader and critic for energy, mines, and petroleum issues, who first entered politics in 2005, or newly minted MLAs George Heyman (Vancouver-Fairview), former head of the BC Government Employees’ Union and former executive director of the Sierra Club in BC, or Judy Darcy (New Westminster), former national president of CUPE and former official with the Hospital Employees’ Union in BC.

As for the Conservatives, the future holds a more cloudy future.

If Clark does choose to run in an Interior riding, the party is likely to want to make a strong effort there. If she stays close to her home in Vancouver, that’s (depending on the riding) less likely. Unlike the Greens, the Conservatives’ failure to elect anyone last Tuesday has created a different dynamic.

Things have been quiet this week amongst the Conservatives. There’s a recognition that there’s more to do to bring voters to the party than just playing shuffle the leader.

Not that that’s a vote of confidence, either, but the party realized in this election that electoral success will have to be built on more than just saying “we’re a better version of the free enterprise movement that you already like” (which is how their message was often perceived — and one of the reasons why potential Conservative voters went back to the Liberals).

The next two years will be a turning point for the party: will it slip away the way BC Reform and others (including Social Credit itself) have, running just a few candidates and getting one per cent of the vote or less, or will the party figure out an approach that gets it up past the just under five per cent it polled this time?

A summer of corporate negotiations (getting those energy exploitation deals in place), trade negotiations (locking in the buyers), ending with a by-election and a fall session of the legislature — and then the leadership races and policy sessions will begin.

B.C. residents, tell us what you think of the Canadian oil sands by filling out this brief survey. $2 will be donated to breast cancer research for every completed survey. 

Canada’s housing market is slowing down its decline with sales growth in several cities, most notable of which is Calgary,

The Canadian housing market has slowed its decline to 3.1 per cent year over year, with a 0.6 per cent increase in home sales last month, according to BMO Chief Economist Doug Porter, citing recent data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Porter notes that since the implementation of new mortgage insurance rules in July 2012, Canadian housing market sales have risen in three out of the four previous months based on seasonal adjustments.

“Most of the other key metrics are also fully in line with a well-tamed market,” said Porter. “Sales to listings stand at just over the 50 per cent line, and the backlog of unsold homes is now at an unremarkable 6.6 months.”

The report notes that the market’s stability is even more evident when considering the steady increase in Canadian housing market prices.

Employment for women – new opportunities on Canadian oil rigs. Read it today!

“Despite concerns, Canadian home prices remain incredibly calm, cool, and collected,” said Porter. “Every major index for home prices is now up between 1.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent from year-ago levels. The MLS Price Index, a measure of repeat sales in seven of the largest cities, is at the top end of that range, while average transactions prices are at the low end.”

Porter points out the narrow and persistent increase in Canadian housing market prices among Canada’s 26 biggest cities as further debunking speculations of a hard landing.

“While some are highlighting the fact that prices are now rising at their slowest pace since the 2009 recession, the plain facts are that they are still rising faster than inflation, and prices are at all-time highs, suggesting concerns of a meltdown were unfounded,” says Porter.

Porter also highlights stabilization in Vancouver’s housing market despite its weakness with a sales decline of six per cent from April last year and average prices keeping steady.

Conditions in Toronto are similar with a five per cent sales decline from last year and a two per cent increase in prices.

Calgary remains relatively strong with a 10 per cent sales increase year over year and price growth of up to four per cent.

“If planning to buy or sell a property, consider working with an expert who can help you make decisions that are appropriate to the health of your local market, and more importantly, that responsibly fit within your particular financial situation,” says BMO Bank of Montreal Mortgage Expert Laura Parsons.

Tell us what you think of the Canadian oil sands by filling out this brief survey. $2 will be donated to breast cancer research for every completed survey. 

In the 154-pound title fight, Remy Lavoie (black trunks with white) defeated Shawn McDonald (black with red). Photo: Lev Jackson.

Lavoie, Codilla and Yager triump at WBC Western Championships

Friday night the Cascades Casino in Langley played host to the WBC Western Championships. When the dust settled, three more B.C. pugilist qualified themselves for the first-ever WBC Canadian championships in July.

In the light middleweight (154 pounds) WBC Western Championships, Remy Lavoie from North Burnaby Boxing Club was a long shot as be battled hometown favorite and B.C. champion Shawn “Fatty” McDonald.

Shawm McDonald fans showed up in force to support their fighter Friday night. Photo: Lev Jackson.

The crowd erupted for McDonald’s ring entrance and fans could be seen screaming and holding signs for their Langley fighter.

Going into the bout McDonald had over 20 fights under his belt, while for Lavoie this was just his ninth trip into the squared circle in his very first year of competition.

The moment the bell rang the gap in experience appeared to vanish as Lavoie boxed a crisp, smart fight, working behind his jab and controlling the ring.

Lavoie set the tone the whole fight until late in the third round.

McDonald, clearly behind on the scorecards started to charge at a tiring Lavoie. With the crowd trying to will him to a late knockout victory, McDonald took it to his foe and landed some good leather, but it wasn’t enough.

Canadian Oil Sands – The 21st Century Belongs to Canada. Read it today!

The judges’ scores, though disappointing, were no surprise to the fans as Lavoie punched his ticket to the WBC Canadian championships this July.

Remy Lavoie with his father following the fighter’s victory over Shawn McDonald. Photo: Lev Jackson.

“I was training hard for this, I knew it would be a tough fight. He’s a champion, it was a tough fight for sure,” said an ecstatic Lavoie.

“It’s unreal, I couldn’t imagine I would make it this far in a year, fighting for the Canadian title, it’s great.”

In a very spirited super featherweight (130 pounds) WBC Western Championships bout, Francis Codilla and Raj Somal went to toe-to-toe for all three rounds of the fight.

In the first two rounds, it looked as though the match was up for grabs as both fighters did everything they could to get the edge on the other with neither taking a clear advantage.

The two were sparring partners before the fight, so there were few secrets between the two.

During the second round this was apparent when Somal switched from orthodox to southpaw stance. Moments after the adjustment Codilla’s coach Kevin Reynolds howled from the corner “I told you he would switch to southpaw!”

With a WBC Western Championships title shot at stake both men left it in the ring the final round, with Codilla landing sharp straight left hands to close the fight strong and earned a unanimous decision.

Jen Yager (black and yellow) defeated Jillian Sask (black and white). Photo: Lev Jackson.

In the WBC Western Championships women’s lightweight (135-pound) championship fight Jen Yager of Action Boxing Club controlled the bout against Jillian Sask of Port Kells Boxing.

Yager, the most experienced of the women entered in the tournament pressed the fight behind a solid jab that left Sask hesitant to throw.

“The fight was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun to get in there to test and see how my training has progressed over the past couple of months.”

The victory made Yager the first-ever WBC women’s western Canadian champion. The thought of a Canadian title shot in the near future is still surreal to her.

“It’s NUTS! That is just something I’ve not even thought about. It just seems a bit unreal to me, now that its within my reach, it’s extremely exciting and I have to work hard for the next to months. It’s real and it’s an honour to have that opportunity.”

B.C. residents, tell us what you think of the Canadian oil sands by filling out this brief survey. $2 will be donated to breast cancer research for every completed survey. 

Recently, fake polymer $100 bills have been found in the Lower Mainland of BC.  Photo courtesy The Bank of Canada.

BC RCMP are warning the public to remain vigilant and check the authenticity of $100 bills, even the new polymer versions, after a number of fake polymer $100 bills have been found in the Lower Mainland.

There are a number of security features on the new $100 bills.  Police are reminding the public to protect themselves from fraud by checking those security features 0r compare suspicious notes to a genuine note.

All Canadian polymer bills in any denomination have the following features:

Image courtesy the Bank of Canada

“Protecting the economic integrity of Canada is one of the five National strategic priorities for the RCMP”, says Sgt Duncan Pound, RCMP Federal Media Relations Officer for British Columbia. He adds “Crime Prevention is a cornerstone of the RCMP’s overarching approach to law enforcement, and working with the Bank of Canada to help educate the public about the security of Canadian bank notes is vitally important to us”.

Anyone with information about counterfeiting is asked to contact the Federal RCMP at 778-290-4510, or anonymously through Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or www.bccrimestoppers.com

Training materials on counterfeit detection are available by calling the Bank of Canada’s toll-free number at 1 888 513-8212. They can also be accessed or ordered from their website

Sgt. Pounds says the RCMP would like to remind the public to check two or more security features on all bills they receive.

Pound adds “If you come across a bill you believe to be counterfeit, please contact your local police”.

Christy Clark’s ability to connect with BC voters part of reason for landslide Liberal win Tuesday evening. Photo: BC Liberals/Facebook.

The strangest scene of a strange election campaign was the final one: Liberal Leader Christy Clark taking the stage Tuesday night to declare a solid majority victory.

Clark’s come-from-behind win astounded many pundits and pollsters, who had the Liberal leader down by 22 points at the beginning of the campaign.

“Well that was easy,” Clark quipped as she took the stage. “Tonight we have received a mandate from the people of British Columbia. We will honour what you’ve bestowed on us … and together we will make British Columbia better.

“[Voters] told us that they wanted us to balance economic and environmental issues. We will heed those concerns…..British Columbians will always know what I stand for.”

But Clark’s victory speech came as her own Vancouver-Point Gray seat was still too close to call. NDP candidate David Eby was leading by roughly 200 votes at the time of Clark’s victory speech.

“Let’s wait and see until all the polls come in,” she told media after her speech. “I don’t know what the result is going to be, I’m just absolutely honoured tonight to be elected premier and have a chance to lead a government that’s going to grow our economy for four years.”

Canadian Oil Sands – The 21st Century Belongs to Canada. Read it today!

It’s believed Christy Clark would run in a by-election in a Liberal-friendly riding if she loses her seat.

But the surprise for many was Clark’s ability to buck the polls in a campaign that many had already awarded NDP Leader Adrian Dix. Although final numbers weren’t confirmed as of press time, it appears Clark has increased the number of seats her party had going into the election from 45 to close to 50.

“I think people are going to re-examine the truthfulness of polls and if there’s any lesson in this, it’s that pollsters and pundits and commentators do not choose the government,” Clark said. “It is the people of British Columbia that choose the government.”

Dix conceded the election earlier in the evening — an election many had said was his to lose. The defeat could go down as perhaps the biggest collapse of an election campaign in the province’s history.

“It’s our duty to accept [the voters'] decision and to accept responsibility for that decision,” Dix told supporters. “I am very proud of the campaign New Democrat candidates and volunteers ran across British Columbia.

“And as you know, sometimes in democratic systems, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose — and in British Columbia it often rains.”

Dix pledged to continue to fight for the issues he brought forward during the campaign, but did not state whether he would stay on as leader. It is expected he will be discussing the issue with the NDP caucus in the coming days. The party had captured 35 seats to form the opposition in 2009. It looks like they will likely retain as many seats.

“We’ve elected a very strong team that will hold the government accountable on all the key issues,” Dix said. “Today we are disappointed but we are unbowed.”

The Green Party of British Columbia pulled out their first win of a seat in the province, but it was not party leader Jane Sterk. Instead, respected climate scientist Andrew Weaver was the projected winner in the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head.

One independent candidate — Vicki Huntington — was re-elected in Delta-South.

The B.C. Conservatives failed to win a single seat.

Early numbers suggest  just over 52 per cent of eligible voters went to the polls, up slightly from 50.9 per cent in 2009. It is the B.C. Liberal’s fourth straight majority.

B.C. residents, tell us what you think of the Canadian oil sands by filling out this brief survey. $2 will be donated to breast cancer research for every completed survey. 

Wendell Cox, Troy Media

US newspaper industry faces a number of challenges as circulation numbers and ad sales drop.

It has been a difficult time for newspapers. The industry has experienced serious challenges due to multiple factors going back at least to the early 1960s when the three major television U.S. networks began their extensive and widely popular evening news programs, with the likes of Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley.

The rise of the Internet over the last two decades has posed a much larger challenge. More people were able to access more interactive news sources, including the Internet editions of major newspapers, nearly all of which were free in the beginning. Then there was Apple, with its ground-breaking iPad, which made accessing news sources more user-friendly. Newspapers competed hard to design their own applications, which often required paid subscriptions. Of course, iPad has competitors now and many newspapers have implemented paid firewalls for their Internet sites.

However, the Great Recession may have dealt the most important blow to the print edition. The collapse of the housing market brought a catastrophic decline in real estate and help wanted classified advertisements, a key source of revenues. Added to this was a drop in overall business, which also reduced advertising revenues.

Some large newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times claim they have gained circulation. However, looking beneath the gross numbers provided by the Alliance for Audited Media, it is clear that virtually all of the gains are in on line editions, while print editions continue to decline. Even the online gains may be overstated, because a print edition subscriber who is also an online edition subscriber gets counted twice for the same newspaper.

1998 US newspaper industry circulations at high levels

A review of the change in circulation in the U.S.’s 20 largest newspapers since 1998 indicates the depth of the losses. The year 1998 is chosen because newspaper circulations remained at high levels and the losses to Internet editions and other media sources has not yet occurred.

From 1998 to 2013, the 20 largest newspapers lost more than five million of their 13.4 million weekday print subscribers, a loss of nearly four out of 10 subscribers (39 per cent). At the same time, there were substantial differences among the top 20 papers in their losses.

All of the newspapers lost subscribers, but some lost many more than others. The New York Post, a tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, posted the smallest loss, less than 30,000 of its 1998 subscriber base of 438,000.

USA Today, Gannett’s unique national general-interest newspaper, experienced the second smallest loss, at 13.8 per cent. USA Today, also the newest newspaper on the list (1982), is the nation’s second-largest newspaper and fell from a circulation of 1.65 million in 1990 to 1.42 million in 2013.

Another Murdoch title, The Wall Street Journal, purchased in 2007, did a third-best in holding onto its print readership. The Journal retained its position as the largest daily newspaper in the nation, with circulation dropping from 1.74 million in 1998 to 1.48 million in 2013. This amounted to a small loss when compared to other newspapers (14.9 per cent). The 260,000 loss in actual subscribers was larger than the total current daily circulation of 10 of the top 20 U.S. newspapers (such as the Houston Chronicle and The Boston Globe).

The nation’s third largest newspaper, The New York Times, lost nearly one-third of its print circulation between 1998 and 2013. Even so, this was less than the loss rate of all but three newspapers (The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today).

The largest relative circulation loss was at The Boston Globe, which saw a departure of nearly two-thirds (63.5 per cent) of its subscribers. This was more than double the losses of its owner, The New York Times.

Two other newspapers lost 60 per cent or more of their readers between 1998 and 2013. The Chicago Sun-Times experienced a loss of 62 per cent while The Dallas Morning News saw 60 per cent of its subscribers flee. This huge loss is particularly notable, given that the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. For example, in Phoenix, which has also grown very rapidly, the Arizona Republic lost only one third of its readership, having taken advantage of the rapidly expanding market.

One of the biggest loser in US newspaper industry:  LA Times

Perhaps most disastrous has been the decline at the Los Angeles Times. For more than two decades, the LA Times had been the nation’s third or fourth largest newspaper, following The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and sometimes The New York Times. This ranking was not much changed in 2013, as the LA Times was the fourth largest newspaper.

However, over 15 years, the LA Times lost nearly six out of every 10 of its subscribers. In 1998, the LA Times had 1,000 more subscribers than The New York Times, at 1,088,000. By 2013, print subscriptions at LA Times had fallen to 433,000. Over the period, The New York Times managed to secure a stranglehold on third position, opening a nearly 300,000 subscriber lead over the LA Times. Should the losses at the LA Times continue at this rate, it could be passed by both The Washington Post and the New York Post within a couple of years.

In raw subscriber numbers, the LA Times losses were the most precipitous by far at 635,000, compared to second largest loss at the New York Daily News at 363,000. The Daily News continues a long slide, having been the nation’s largest newspaper for decades to the 1970s. It is now the third-largest paper in the three paper New York City market, having been passed by the New York Post some time ago.

Some of the larger declines in newspaper circulation are not evident in the latest data. For example, The San Francisco Chronicle experienced a drop of 65 per cent in its circulation from 1998 to 2012 (2013 data not available). The spectacular decline of Detroit’s two metropolitan dailies has outstripped all of the others over a longer period of time. In the middle 1980s, the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News each had circulations of approximately 650,000. By 2012, the Free Press had fallen to approximately 135,000 and the News to under 80,000. These drops were much larger than the city of Detroit’s population loss. Now, the two papers offer home delivery only three days of the week (Thursday, Friday and Sunday), while subscribers are encouraged to use internet editions on other days.

Of course, over the last 15 years, a number of familiar titles have been closed, such as the Rocky Mountain News (Denver), the separate Atlanta Journal and Constitution (now combined as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and the Cincinnati Post. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer took the intermediate step of shutting down its print edition, but retaining an Internet edition, which has remained a strong presence online.

There have been other changes as well. Virtually all of the U.S. broadsheets (the wide, familiar print format) are now printed in more compact editions, having been reduced from approximately 15 inches wide to 12 or even 11 inches wide (28, 30.5 and 38 centimetres). There are international format changes, as well. The Times of London (weekday edition) converted from broadsheet to tabloid in 2004, while The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne’s uniquely named The Age switched to tabloid format in March.

The communications business has changed over the past two decades. Newspapers have been trying to cope, but it seems unlikely that print editions will experience any resurgence. The open question is whether the newer online strategies will save them from oblivion, but that’s hard to predict.

Wendell Cox is a Visiting Professor, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris and the author of “War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life. This column ran originally on newgeography.com.

By Roslyn Kunin, Troy Media

Kalum Ventures Ltd., a Terrace company owned by Kitsumkalum FN is one of the man successful BC First Nations enterprises.  Photo courtesy Kalum Ventures.

If it bleeds, it leads. This old media maxim, that it is always the bad news that makes the headlines, is certainly re-enforced with respect to First Nations and the economy in British Columbia.

First Nation Threatens to Shut Down Mine headlines a story about the Wet’suwet’en First Nation (FN) and the Huckleberry copper/molybdenum mine in northern B.C. Any environmental concerns expressed by FN with respect to any project is framed to give the impression that all FN’s are vehemently opposed to any and all economic development.

Douglas Bland, in a report put out by the MacDonald-Laurier Institute, a think tank, goes even further than seeing FN’s as a hindrance to economic activity. Bland, a retired professor from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario talks about “catastrophic confrontation” and violence between the “settler” community and Aboriginals. He quotes the usual numbers about low education and high unemployment among First Nations and sees the Idle No More events of last year as the thin edge of the wedge to a horrific future for Canada.

Fortunately, Bland’s is not the only outlook on prospects for Canada’s First Nations and the rest of the country offered by the MacDonald-Laurier think tank. They also released a study by Ken Coates and Brian Lee Crowley (READ: Growing Aboriginal power a good news story) which reached very different conclusions. According to Coates and Crowley, First Nations, especially First Nations in B.C. are in a “sweet spot”. Treaty agreements and settlements in courts, including the Supreme Court, have put FN’s in an excellent position to take advantage of the development of resources and infrastructure that will also benefit all Canadians.

Which of these two views is more likely to be right? The evidence, when you dig to get it, points to the more cheerful prospect even if that evidence is not always given the prominence it deserves.

If we look closely at all the bad numbers that have been true for FN’s in the past – education levels, incomes, unemployment, etc. – we see they are now improving, especially for the younger generations. We also see much economic activity.

The list of projects and communities below is by no means complete. It is just to provide some positive examples of successful First Nation economic activity that is generating jobs and income for them and usually additional economic benefits for non-Aboriginal companies and organizations.

BC First Nations projects

The Kitsumkalum FN, using their wholly-owned Kalum Ventures Limited, is engaged in several forestry related activities, hydro development and recreation. The Tahltan Development Corporation is involved in heavy construction, power generation, natural gas, mining, and resource management including environmental services. Their own activities and joint ventures they have generated over 300 jobs and a total value greater than some treaty settlements.

The Haisla in the Kitimat area have their income needs covered through joint ventures related to natural gas. The people there are so fully employed that the Haisla had trouble putting together a team for a recent basketball tournament – and basketball is the big sport in their part of British Columbia. The Tsimshian are working with CN Rail on transportation infrastructure. They operate a rock quarry whose top quality product is in great demand internationally for paving airport runways and building earthquake proof foundations.

The Lax Kw’alaams FN, also in the northwest art of B.C., have managed to employ their people and create good incomes by developing infrastructure and taking advantage of the natural gas on their territory. The Haida, off the coast, have forestry, fish packing and tourism operations. (Full disclosure, I am on the board of the Haida Enterprise Corporation.)

Turning to FN’s closer to the larger urban settlements in the southern part of B.C., the form of economic development is different, but no less successful. Osoyoos FN in the Okanagan is known for its winery and tourism. WestBank near Kelowna, Tswassen near Vancouver and the Tzeachten First Nation in Chilliwack have all benefitted from significant real estate developments.

Again, the above are merely samples and by no means a complete listing of all FN economic activity. But they do illustrate that First Nations want what any society wants. This includes preservation of cultures and traditions that have served well in the past. It includes concerns that each generation leave the world for their children in at least as good condition as they found it. And it definitely includes the need for and desire that communities and people be provided with the means for a good standard of living.

Troy Media BC’s Business columnist Roslyn Kunin is a consulting economist and speaker and can be reached at www.rkunin.com.