Mr. Rubin also did a Live Chat at CBC Online yesterday that provided some more direct answers and questions about his views on the global economy and energy issues.

One of his central themes is how energy prices affect food prices

more than anything else soaring oil prices will flow through to soarign food prices. moderm agriculture is really about truning hydrocarbons into food so the soaring prcie of hydrocarbons flows through to the prize of fertilzier , to the price of running irirgation systemns and tot he prcie of fueling your tractor and combine.

We will grow more and more of our food at home . as we do we gradually revert back to the diets of our parents when supermarkets where stocked with local produce.

Here’s the Online Live Chat “Replay”

Send this to Friends

Here are the results from the North and Central Island after 4 days of advanced voting:

Parksville-Qualicum: 14.5%
Comox: 14.2%
Cowichan Valley: 13.4%
Alberni-Pacific Rim: 11.9%
North Island: 10.7%
Nanaimo-North Cowichan: 10.6%
Nanaimo: 9.5%

Not sure if there is anything to read into those numbers or not… but there they are.

The moral of the story. Get out and vote! Don’t Vote? Don’t Complain!

Send this to Friends

One of the big crutches of the No side is the notion that big ridings have a lot of pitfalls. Well, here is one big reason why they could be a good thing.

Anyone of the baby boomer generation will likely remember the story of “Gracies Finger”.

In 1982, McCarthy was suspected of interfering in the re-drawing of the electoral boundaries of her Little Mountain constituency, to include an appendage of a wealthy westside Vancouver area, thus helping ensure her electoral success. This appendage and subsequent scandal became known as ‘Gracie’s Finger’. The actual area in question was between 16th and 33rd Avenues in Vancouver around the Arbutus Street corridor.[1]

This sort of advantageous redrawing happens all the time in Provincial and Federal areas. It’s possible because the ridings, especially in urban areas, are very small and precise.

Under BC-STV the ridings are more “regional”, Vancouver West, or Victoria South. So while there is certainly an ability to do the same sort of fiddling… it is without a doubt more difficult to greatly affect the fortunes of MLAs in a riding that includes so many more people, and areas.

And before someone says “but we’ll lose local representation”, remember, in a 4 MLA riding like ours on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, it would be very difficult for a party to elect only urban candidates as the swing votes would all be in the rural areas. If a candidate is seen to be urban-only, then the rural folks can band together and ensure that they vote for someone who represents them… 2nd choice votes would be the key in BC-STV, sow without the presumably 2nd choices of rural candidates, it would be very difficult for all 4 candidates to be elected exclusively from urban voters.

Send this to Friends

I saw on the CBC news yesterday that a WHO official had stated to a number of people that the influenza that infects pigs could persist in the meat and infect humans that way.

The CBC report then went on and did a very good job of refuting that claim, and then, when they showed their evidence to the WHO official in question he stated that he didn’t actually have any scientific data to backup what he said.

How incredibly irresponsible. The WHO website itself says in its FAQ on Influenza A H1N1/Swine Flu.

Is it safe to eat pork and pork products?

Yes. influenza A(H1N1) has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs. The influenza A(H1N1) virus is killed by cooking temperatures of 160°F/70°C, corresponding to the general guidance for the preparation of pork and other meat.

Send this to Friends

Supporters in the room:

There were probably 20 rows of chairs with an aisle in the middle. It was pretty much full, plus lots of people standing. The only large number of clapping Liberal supporters were directly in front of me… about 4 rows worth. There were a few others dispersed here and there but other supporters, mainly NDP, some Green were in the very clear majority in the room.

The very long line of questioning supports this as well I think. There were a few “neutral” questions, mainly from community leaders. There were 2 setups for the Liberal candidate and 2 for the Greens and STV.

As far as the candidates themselves… in order of importance….

The Refederation Candidate was passionate and had his talking points. When he didn’t have a clue about a question, he said it, and you have to respect him for that. I hope that this party gets its message down pat a little better and attracts more supporters and candidates. Their views seem to be traditional “center” politics with a little bit of libertarianism thrown in.

The Green Candidate, Paul Musgrave, was very dry at first with his opening remarks. He read his remarks to the letter and was clearly nervous. Lucky for him, I think he managed to loosen up after the first few questions and he came on strong on his points and was good at stating the Greens position and not only how they differed from both the NDP and the Liberals but how they might agree. I could hear agreement in the room from NDP supporters on some points… though his position on minimum wage was met with noted stone silence. The Liberal backers did not appear to support him in any way and were clearly annoyed with his implied accusations of corruption and backroom dealing.
His explanation of STV was cute but I think probably fell a little flat. It was a valiant effort and took a ton of courage. I hope it gets more people talking about it at least, but I think it’s going to end up being associated with the Green Party, and that might actually hurt its chances of success.

The Liberal Candidate Dianne St. Jaques can be described as “staying on message”. She made a few points that I have heard almost verbatim from other Liberal candidates and the Premiere himself. She was not in a friendly place and she knew it. I think she did well in getting her points across, but it is clear that the only ones who agreed with them were in a serious minority in the room and a good chunk of the rest of the room took major issue with how she dodged a number of questions and stuck so closely to her talking points. She did focus a lot on the work she has done in her community in Ucluelet and in the ACRD and the connections she has made but in the end she didn’t win anyone over.

The NDP Candidate Scott Fraser played up his familiarity with the community. He was smooth and attacked the Liberal policies and the words of the Liberal candidate in many instances. He also repeated many times the issues he has brought to the Legislature as MLA. He certainly got the most applause from the crowd but again, no ones mind was changed here. I think he did solidify the support of those who might be waffling. But the Green candidates strong performance I think could give him a run for his money in terms of carrying the riding.

The most interesting question, politically, of the night, was certainly the one asked to the Paul Musgrave of the Greens on whether he would throw his support behind Scott Fraser if Scott supported STV….

In all, a great meeting I think. It wasn’t nasty, but still had some strong points made. It moved quickly and everyone got their say.

Advanced Voting begins May 6 at the Lawn Bowling Club in Port Alberni. General Voting Day is May 12.

Should be an exciting night!

Send this to Friends