I'm away for a few day ...

It's time for the annual motorcycle trip with my brother and father --- 8 days on the road doing 500 to 600 kilometers a day as we roll down the road.

This year we are making a northern swing in the province and will be going through the North Thompson to Prince George ... on to McKenzie, Chetwynd, and then to Dawson Creek beofr starting a south eastern route that will put us in Hays Alberta (about and hour west of Medicine Hat.

After that we'll be traveling along the South part of Alberta through Vulcan (have to stop there being a Star Trek fan) and then into the Rockies via Canmore.

From there it's into the Kootenays ... before heading back home to family, work, and back to the fun of BC politics.

So ... I will be away for the next week ... and will return Monday June 27th.

Till then take care ... I'm Alan Forseth ... on the road :)

“I cannot afford to reduce my carbon footprint any further, and taxing me more only impacts my quality of life”

Earlier this week I did a blog post entitled “The Myth of saving BC’s environment with a carbon tax”.  The carbon tax always stirs up comment, and given how it impacts people in a way they are unable to compensate for, I am not surprised.  One person said …

Alan, I took a "shot" at Ms. Clark on this issue a few days back but you have covered it so much better than my feeble effort.

One important item that you did not include was:  What with all of the volcanoes we have around the world spewing co2 into the atmosphere man's efforts to reduce this emission is akin to "pissing into the wind".

"We’re standing up for equal treatment for Canadians before the law."

Commercial fishermen, including BC Conservative Party leader John Cummins were in the news yesterday (Globe and Mail Update -- Tuesday June 14th, 2011) with regards to a court case heard a few weeks back,

The court case revolves around a government mandated native only fishery, which many believe goes against the equal rights allocated to all Canadians in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It appears the commercial fishermen in this case, including John Cummins, have been given the right to appeal a recent conviction against them

The Globe and Mail story said that:

The fishermen were convicted of unlawfully setting fishing gear, as well as fishing and possessing salmon, at a time when federal regulators had closed the commercial fishery. Despite the closure, certain aboriginal groups were allowed to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes.

The “Myth” of saving BC’s environment with a carbon tax

Did you know that owing a forest can make you big money with BC’s carbon tax policies??  It’s true --- it’s one of the ways that business – and even government itself – can make it look as if they are doing more for the environment than they actually are.

Those who read my blog will know that I detest the Carbon Tax as a pretend policy of environmental protection.   Rather than taking money to create efficiencies with energy usage, the government instead takes the resources of the Carbon Tax and transfers them to the Pacific Carbon Trust.  And who benefits from the largesse of the Trust --- well businesses like Encanna … and now in a Globe and Mail story from Wednesday June 8^th comes this story …

North America's largest forest carbon project launches, sells $4-million in credits
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is receiving more than $4-million in what it says is the largest forest carbon project to date in North America and the first deal of its kind in Canada.  The land conservancy organization announced in Vancouver Wednesday that it has sold carbon credits that are the equivalent of 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is receiving $4 million in carbon credits (ie this is money they receive as payment from government and businesses in exchange for NOT upgrading their own plants, facilities, etc). 

Adam Stirling's Comment

There have been several great editorials, polls, and news story's regarding the HST in recent days.  One is from Adam Stirling (CFAX 1070 radio), around some of the confusion people have with the question, and it follows below.

The Globe and Mail has a news story this morning as well on 'current' voter intentions (B.C. HST ‘fix’ not enough to save tax in referendum)-- and there is a letter of support from the BC Tourism Industry which has just been published in BCLocalNews.com.  

Meantime, here is the editorial comment from Adam Stirling: 

Which side will come out on top as British Columbians vote whether to keep the HST, or rather I should say whether to kill it?  The distinction between those two questions is important because the yes vs. no question still continues to be a significant problem in term of confusion according to a new survey.