All the News, that's -
Well......NEWS!
BC Mary recently stated over at the bible of all things BC Rail related that -
I've found more BC news in the past week, since discovering Terrace daily online -- THAN I HAVE IN THE PAST 5 YEARS OF READING THE 3 CANWEST DAILY NEWSPAPERS IN VANCOUVER & VICTORIA.
In an e-mail to me she later elaborated as follows:
It was a pleasant surprise to discover that besides TERRACE DAILY ONLINE, there's also KITIMAT ONLINE DAILY telling the news we should be hearing. Maybe there are other small, local news services like this which are keen to get their real stories out. To my way of thinking, it raises a new possibility for restoring British Columbia to good health.
Is it possible that we should be building a province-wide News Network instead of trying to revitalize one of the old political parties or trying to create a new political party? I'm hoping that some of you will agree. Then comes the hard part: organization. And after that, the local expertise to keep the news coming.
Already this week, these gentle little online services have told us important things we didn't know: that Gordo is implicated in buying off the Haisla on BC Hydro; that Alcan's Kemano project may soon be only an IPP power supply and not a smelter; and that when EuroCan shuts down, it will enrich the riding of the Forest Minister Pat Bell.
Considering the fact that this blog and her Legislature Raids were both started as a response to the frustration about the cone of silence that Canwest and the other so-called media in our province had lowered over the entire BC Rail issue, it shouldn't be surprising that she, and I, are gratified to find media that do recognize and report on these issues. She suggests some kind of network that incorporates these humble but "real" journalistic outlets, their readers and we of the blogosphere, to help counteract the toxic influence of the Asper and Public Affairs Bureau controlled "Lame Stream" media represented by Canwest/Global, CTVGlobemedia and all the rest who treat the Fraser Institute as relevant.
I've started a new category over to the right in my Links section, currently named "Genuine Newspapers." This section is for newspapers, often community based, that consider the issues affecting their readers more important than the latest Asper/PAB talking points memo and have someone wiser than Kirk LaPointe or Lucinda Chodan making the decisions about just what qualifies as news.
I invite readers to submit suggestions regarding other media outlets that remember the press can and should be an important part of democratic society. Canwest and Black affiliates most likely need not apply!
Recently in Real Papers
The only possible multi billion dollar investment, if that is what is coming, would be to do with the Kemano hydro electric power generation facilities. On Friday the BC Wilderness Committee released a news item on the BC Provincial Government ordering BC Hydro to purchase more power from private independent producers, 6000 gigawatt hours.
Government Orders Hydro to Buy Power
Requiring BC Hydro to purchase power that it doesn’t need is an idiotic decision and a gift to the private power industry. Three months ago, the BCUC said buying this power was not in the public interest, and yet the BC government is ignoring their own regulatory watchdog and ordering BC Hydro to spend billions of dollars on power we don’t need.
Kitimaat Offices Searched
BC Premier Gordon Campbell was implicated in the trial when Wilson acknowledged writing him a letter claiming he fulfilled his part of their conspiratorial arrangement to keep the Haisla from interfering with the electricity purchase agreement between Alcan and BC Hydro during the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) hearings.
Wilson also admitted the signature of the highest Haisla Hereditary Chief supporting Alcan in the BCUC application was a fake and the stamp used to fake his authorization was improperly used.
If the RCMP have now raided the Kitamaat Village Council offices; a BC legislative assembly, and if this has anything to do with Steve Wilson and the alleged fraudulent deal he had made with BC Premier Gordon Campbell, the entire Haisla First Nations Trial, which resumes Monday, may be a small precursor to the BC Rail sale to CN Rail 'Fraud trial', which resulted after the BC Provincial Legislature was raided.
Are the political leaders of BC really involved in corrupt, fraudulent activity? We will continue to dig and report on what turns up. We have been informed the RCMP wish to keep this quiet as their investigation is ongoing. The Haisla community consists of only approximately 750 people. Quiet is unlikely.
Lawyer Starts Laughing in Haisla Trial
During the arguments being made as to whether or not an aboriginal elder could provide testimony on the culture and traditions of their first nation group, which would be considered as expert by the Court in making decisions, the lawyer for the Plaintiffs (Steve Wilson and the Kitamaat Village Council), Roger McConchie, burst out laughing after the Judge, Justice Punnett stated his friend, the lawyer for the Defense, Daniel Burnett, “Just wants to establish that [the court] existed.”
It was a classic case of theater watching this lawyer belittle all of the attempts to legitimize the Hereditary Chiefs and the aboriginal culture in a Canadian Court.
Justice Punnett even seemed amused as he chuckled along. He also, however, had to acknowledge the antics of McConchie continuing to jump up and object every time the defense team, Morris Amos and Burnett, started to ask a question or the witness on the stand began to answer, were becoming obstructive to the process
Lumber Giants Don't Like CN Anymore?
Now let’s see, these mills are complaining about a monopoly by CN rail but yet, want to have the government create one for them? That’s double speak operating at its finest.
It’s rather strange that a few rag tags with no lumber experience could see through the plan that CN put forward and the Liberal government tripped through its shorts to okay, but lumber barons who earn a million dollars a year couldn’t see the future. All the more reason that they shouldn’t be put in charge of our forests.
Eurocan Closing - Blow to the Entire North
Eurocan was not getting sufficient chips to enable it to operate efficiently, bearing in mind that the Port of Prince Rupert has been the area from which a lot of raw, round logs, are being exported . There are ships full of product heading out of the country to be milled overseas and there is little that either Eurocan, the Province or for that matter the federal government could do about it.
These local papers usually have engaged comment threads following articles dealing with items of local interest. It is illuminating to read comments by people involved and affected by the decisions of the Campbell Crime Family. By the time comments have passed the gamut of the Chodans and LaPointes of Canwest, there generally isn't much left but more of the same. Getting a letter published in the dead tree version of the Times-Colonist or Vancouver Sun may be more difficult than having an article published is for their (choke) professional journalists - of course we readers don't have the advantage of a Ms. Chodan or Mr. LaPointe pointing out what we are supposed to say (and not say)!
posted by kootcoot at 11:22 AM
10 Comments:
Koot, I certainly doff my tuque to these small, hardworking news services, too. It rapidly occurred to me, on reading the final results of the recent May 2009 provincial election in the northwest ridings, what BC needs most, right now. After looking at the fearless news being made available by these small presses, look at the vote-count for those northwest ridings. It seems evident that if people hear the truth about what's going on, they know who to vote for and who to boot out. New Democrats were elected in every riding. Gordo's so-called Liberals were at the very bottom of the list in each riding. So we need good newspapers more than we need political parties. That's my conclusion. Thanks for giving credit where so much credit is due.
"look at the vote-count for those northwest ridings. It seems evident that if people hear the truth about what's going on, they know who to vote for and who to boot out."
Good point Mary, but how do you explain the voters of Prince George? The Campbell Crime Family and their policies have done no favors for the Hub of the North, yet they keep sending members of the cabal to Victoria (of course that gets 'em out of town, I guess).
With the greatest respect to the management of this here site, I would think long and hard about including the opinion250.com site in with the rest of them.
Grumpy ol' Ben Meisner claims to do things different from the rest of the PG media, but if you read his site daily (I do), you'll see an awful lot of government press releases, printed verbatim without comment. Either they don't care to do any real journalism (you know, where offical views are counterbalanced, and not just the infrequent pieces by Peter Ewart) or he's carrying water for the local Libs.
Ben isn't madly in love with Gordon Campbell - although he tosses up softballs to the preem with the best of the 'media' - but he thinks the sun shines out of Pat Bell and Shirley Bond's ass. I double dog dare you to find something resembling criticism of either of those two in the four years Meisner's site has been active. I'll give you all the cat litter in the box (the unused stuff, of course) if you can find some. Has Ben ever tried to find out what Bell and Bond had to do with the BC Rail sale, for example? Paul Nettleton certainly thinks they were at least aware of it well in advance.
I don't follow the rest with as much regularity, simply because its not as iteresting to me. But Meisner, for all his claims to objectivity, has done an awful lot to maintain the status quo - and maybe that is part of the reason they keep electing Liberals in those parts.
Anon @10:38 - Maybe you've clarified why Bell and Bond get shipped to Victoria, even though they do so little to advance the interests of residents of PG.
I was favorably impressed with Opinion250 when they actually covered the so-called minor "switching accident" in the CN/BC Rail yard (according to most media in BC) that turned out to have been a derailment/collision along the river complete with toxic substances entering the river, water bombers preventing the town from burning down etc.
I don't read the Opinion250 all that often (being blessed with a genuine good paper in my own community - locally we don't send criminals - Reformatories or BC liaRs - to either Ottawa or Victoria) so I would be interested to hear anyone elses opinion about Opinion250 or any other paper - dead tree/online or both.
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Ben Meisner, in my view, is best described as being a survivor.
If you look up his bio., you see a guy who learned his lessons the hard way. And used his lessons to build a good life. He offends nobody, which is quite a challenge.
On the record, is a very good interview he did with Paul Nettleton ... drawing Nettleton out by using a sudden inability to complete a sentence, which I'm sure must be a practiced art.
I admire a tough old bird like Ben. Sure, I'd like to convert him. But I wish him many future years of doing business the way he thinks is necessary. It keeps us on our toes.
Once I wrote to him, as is the custom, and asked permission to reprint one of his stories. Yikes. He gave me what I asked for, and everything I thought I might want in the future, in whole or in part, without ever having to come back pestering him again.
Where would we be without our respected contrarians?
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Koot!!!!
This is a freaking fantastic idea.
Thanks.
(And expect many links)
RossK
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Although I'm not a member, I was given to understand the reason the Council of Canadians doesn't run a political party is both that it's a futile waste of effort and a distraction from monitoring issues.
These days I set up RSS feeds to keep tabs on what's going on. Bloglines and Google Reader are sharable, Opera Community allows RSS links, Netvibes and Pageflakes are supposed to have similar possibilities...in fact I'm sure I've seen private selections made available on Pageflakes.
Anyway, it's easy to put together a very comprehensive survey of news sources in other ways than Yahoo Pipes. All I do is set up my source page and Right Click/Copy in Firefox. That goes right into my Blogger Compose with CTRL-V or Paste. Every second day or so I issue an update - and it takes less than half an hour to put together my RSS SnapShot!
Mm. I log out of Opera before copying the Links page so as to miss playing around deleting copied controls.
Quote from Peter Ewart's paper on the Business Council discussion paper:
" ... the Business Council of BC and the big forest companies saw fit to support this sale, despite the fact that the “Committee to Save BC Rail,” labour unions, commentators like Ben Meisner and Ron East, and others, repeatedly warned that a giant rail monopoly was being created that would cause problems for industries like forestry and mining, as well as for communities in the Interior.
"So, if we fast forward to 2009, what is the Business Council of BC discussion paper saying now about the rail service? It is now making the confession that “BC’s rail monopoly … is a long-term strategic and competitive weakness for the industry” ... (p. 73).
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A year and a half ago the BC Liberals were saying they wouldn't interfere with the BCUC and now they do.....
http://www.leg.bc.ca/HANSARD/38th4th/h80303p.htm under the heading of "HAISLA FIRST NATION AND B.C. UTILITIES COMMISSION DECISION-MAKING PROCESS" on March 3, 2008
> * Hon. R. Neufeld:* If anybody tried to subvert the BCUC it was the NDP when they were in power, when they removed B.C. Hydro from its responsibility. We have never interfered with the BCUC process. In fact, we strengthened the BCUC process many times in this House to make sure they were back in charge of B.C. Hydro.
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