Elizabeth MayWhen I heard that ForestEthics, a group targeted in a Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) memorandum as an ‘adversary’ of the PMO agenda, had decided to split its activities…
It has been nearly two years since my first column in Island Tides on the purchase of the F-35 fighter jets. It appeared just after the July 2010…
My first convention experience was, to put it mildly, memorable. I was 14 when my mom, an elected delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, decided…
In the last edition of Island Tides, I wrote about the attempts at electoral fraud, the criminal actions, encompassed in the catch phrase the ‘robocalls scandal.’ The scandal…
On May 2, 2011, Election Day, we had reports and complaints throughout the day that some voters had received bogus phone calls claiming to be from Elections Canada.…
I am so grateful to all of the citizen of Saanich-Gulf Islands who came out (in some nasty weather to boot) for my first MP availability sessions throughout…
A few people have asked me to provide a basic primer on the climate agreements that Canada has ratified. Four years ago, I co-authored Global Warming for Dummies,…
I have been home on Canadian soil for the last few weeks, happy to enjoy Christmas in Sidney, but having trouble shaking the residual depression from Prime Minister…
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…
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…
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…
In reading this heading, ‘The mystery of the muzzled scientists,’ I wonder how many readers would be put in mind of the game Clue—‘Colonel Mustard in the library…
Some of you may already know the name Fraser Smith. If you live in Sidney, you likely do. He was on the Chamber of Commerce Executive, was a…
People often ask me if I have encountered any big surprises since starting the work of an MP. Of course, I knew that the job of an MP…
On September 19, 2011, the 41st Parliament will resume in Ottawa. The May election resulted in tectonic shifts in Canadian political life — the diminishment of the Liberal…
Following on from my discussion, last edition, of the Murdoch media empire scandal, Murdoch’s influence in Canada, and Kai Nagata’s exposé of media integrity in his blog ‘Why…
For much of this summer, the international news headlines covered the travails of the Rupert Murdoch empire. The tabloid predators found themselves as prey, with legions of paparazzi…
Whatever happened to those contempt charges? What happened to release of Afghan detainee documents? One of the most aggravating things about the current state of Canadian journalism is…
The Quebec asbestos industry has long been a political sacred cow. In 2006, when I became leader of the Green Party, we were the only party to favour…
I am still coping with a sense of profound disbelief that such an undemocratic thing could happen in Canada. I like to think (but who can know for…
Scandals in ‘Harperland’ (as Globe and Mail columnist Lawrence Martin dubbed current-day Ottawa) are increasingly disturbing. The mystery of why aid group KAIROS was denied CIDA funding—and how…
The Harper Conservatives are facing a serious communications challenge on what is shaping up to be an election issue. Nearly every year since 2000, the federal government, whether…
It was a nice way to end a year peppered with disappointments. In my last column for 2010, appearing on December 9, I wrote about the inspiring work…
On November 30, I attended a public gathering dedicated to protecting old growth forests of Vancouver Island. Over 150 people attended a slide and information presentation in Victoria.…
For a country whose Prime Minister boasts of Canada as ‘energy super power,’ it should give one pause that Canada is a country without any energy policy. In…