May 1, 2013

DRUG BUST by Alan Cassels • The people’s briefing note on prescription drugs Dear new member of the Legislative Assembly: • You’re likely facing a steep learning curve in getting used to your new job so I’d like to offer you some translation help. For free. You can expect that, just as you are settling into your new office in the Legislature and...

May 1, 2013

SCIENCE MATTERS by David Suzuki • Access to information is a basic foundation of democracy. Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms also gives us “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.” We must protect these rights. As we alter the chemical, physical and biological...

May 1, 2013

FILMS WORTH WATCHING by Robert Alstead • This year’s DOXA Festival (doxafestival.ca), our version of Hot Docs, bristles with ideas and provocations over its 10 days in May. If the five films I’ve seen are representative of the whole program, expect some intelligent and well-crafted documentaries coming your way, along with lively Q&As and...

Apr 1, 2013

Ministry of Health carpet-bombs drug safety monitoring The tragedy of Roderick MacIsaa by Alan Cassels image by Anthony Freda • Unanswered questions around the death of a Ministry of Health employee might hold some clues to the biggest scandal to ever hit BC’s drug evaluation system. Linda Kayfish’s voice weighs heavily with exasperation as she speaks to...

Apr 1, 2013

by W. Gifford-Jones M.D. • Do you know that every day 290 North American citizens are killed by prescription drugs? To kill the same number of people, a jumbo jet would have to crash every day. So why are natural remedies being removed from health food stores while drugs that kill remain available? Dr. Zoltan Rona, an expert on natural remedies, recently told...

by Joyce Murray • When news broke that a by-election was imminent in Labrador following the resignation of Peter Penashue – the disgraced Conservative MP who stepped down following news about his election financing irregularities – I called Green Party leader Elizabeth May and asked her to consider having the Green Party Electoral District Association...

Mar 1, 2013

• Leadnow.ca is an independent community that brings generations together to strengthen our democracy and build a fair, open and responsible country. Leadnow.ca’s small staff team and 225,000 person community includes Canadians from across the political spectrum. Leadnow.ca was founded two years ago by a group of Canadians who wanted to find new ways to help...

Mar 1, 2013

An open letter to Canadians from David Suzuki • I am writing this as an individual citizen, not on behalf of any organization or political party. In fact, I do not belong to any political party. I will support candidates, platforms and policies of any party that move our country towards a more just and sustainable future. I was delighted to see that the...

Mar 1, 2013

by Paul Lemay • When I was a boy growing up in the ‘60s and into the ‘70s, I remember how we used to look up to our prime ministers, regardless of the political party they represented. But after Watergate it seemed the bloom on all political roses began to fall off. Now 40-plus years on, all we’re left with are a few thorny stems and the few precious...

Mar 1, 2013

How an ancient poet inspired a local initiative to preserve McLellan Forest by Susan McCaslin / photos by Erin Perry • Last Thanksgiving, I discovered that Glen Valley in Langley still had some mature rainforest. This discovery was bittersweet, however, as I also learned the Township of Langley was planning to sell it off to raise funds to build a recreation...