Three days after he was sworn in as Premier of British Columbia, David Eby unveiled a series of new laws designed to increase the pace of new construction, remove age restrictions in stratas (except for the +55 restriction that promotes seniors housing) and tap the supply of vacant dwellings for the rental market.
Continue reading Coming before the SRD Board, proposed provincial responses to the housing crisisSome ideas are so elegantly simple and they explain so much, so efficiently, that their ingenuity creates an “Aha” moment of insight and satisfaction. The Peter Principle is one of these ideas—people are promoted to their level of incompetence. Another is The Law of Concentrated Benefit Over Diffuse Injury, articulated in 1993 by John Grofman and Egan O’Connor.
Because this law explains how things can turn out so badly when most people are so well-intentioned, its authors call it “humanity’s most harmful law”. If we all want peace, fair democracy, honest markets, healthy food, plentiful resources, abundant wildlife and a clean environment, why do things turn out otherwise?
Continue reading The Quadra Project: The Law of Concentrated Benefit Over Diffuse Injury
Whaletown Commons, on Cortes Island, is growing. A 9½ acre parcel of forest is being added to the Northwest corner of this Regional Park.
At their November 23 meeting, the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board passed the motion to annex this parcel of Crown land in less than two minutes.
Continue reading Whaletown Commons just got BiggerBy Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Low voter turnout in its leadership race reflects the multiple challenges the federal Green Party has faced in recent years, political scientists say.
The tumultuous tenure of former leader Annamie Paul, who resigned last November, coupled with further internal strife and financial woes, likely factored into the poor turnout, Cara Camcastle, a political science professor at Simon Fraser University, told Canada’s National Observer in an emailed statement.
Continue reading Can co-leadership help get the Green Party back on its feet?Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Businesses are urging the B.C. government to capitalize on Ottawa’s offer to invest hundreds of millions to save threatened ecosystems in the run-up to the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal next month.
A total of 250 businesses are backing a resolution urging B.C.’s new Premier David Eby to stave off the extinction and climate crisis by backing the federal government’s 30×30 promise — to protect 30 per cent of the country’s land and waters by 2030.
Continue reading Businesses ally with environmentalists to push B.C.’s new premier David Eby to protect biodiversity
