today refers to the Federal Liberals as a brokerage party, “a political entity without fixed principles or policies that exploits the power of the central state to bribe or bully incompatible constituencies to join together to share the spoils of government.”

See the full article here.

From the Law Society web page:

Tim McGee appointed head of the Law Society

The Law Society of BC is pleased to announce that Tim McGee has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Society effective June 1, 2005.

Mr. McGee was called to the Ontario Bar in 1987 and began his legal career with the Toronto law firm Torys LLP. Most recently, he was President of Bell ExpressVu, Canada’s largest provider of digital television. Prior to joining Bell ExpressVu, he was Chief Legal Officer of Bell Canada and was Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of AT&T Canada Inc.

Born and raised in Victoria, Mr. McGee was educated at Glenlyon Norfolk School, Harvard University and the University of Ottawa Law School. He served two years as Executive Assistant to BC’s Attorney General and has competed internationally for Harvard University in rowing. Mr. McGee is a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Bishop’s College School Foundation Board.

“Mr. McGee’s experience as a lawyer, as a business executive in a regulated industry and with corporate governance make him ideally suited to managing the Law Society’s regulatory and public interest roles,” Society President Ralston Alexander, QC said. “I would like to thank the selection committee, chaired by Law Society Past-President William Everett QC, for recommending Mr. McGee for this important position.”

“I want to bring strong leadership, solid regulation and a strategic vision to the Law Society and the legal profession,” Mr. McGee stated. “I look forward to discharging this important mandate and to ensuring that the public is well served by a legal profession that is honourable, competent and independent.”

A little plug for my other site: www.bcvote.ca. It’s a non-partisan, non-profit information resource of current media and events related to democratic events in BC. Log on to check out the latest developments in the Gomery inquiry, the upcoming BC election and the BC-STV referendum.

On Wednesday night, I went to a presentation of an author who had recently written and self-published a self help book. I couldn’t help but notice before the presentation that he appeared to be on a slightly different wavelength, in his own little world of sorts. He kept slightly apart from the group with a continuous smile on his face, giving the impression that his experience was that of observing himself interacting with the group rather than just focusing on the other people in the moment. He was extremely affable, and commented to me on how “blessed” he and his wife are to live where they do. I recognized a Tony Robbins seminar-attending type, the kind of guy who tells you to have a “fabulous day” on his voice mail and who seems oblivious to (or simply rejects) the age of irony we currently live in.

His book is basically a summary of current self-help ideas, like what someone would write if they camped out at Banyen Books & wrote a general summary of the major books in the genre, ie “you can design the life you want and live it fully”, meditation is good for you, visualize your goals and say positive affirmations, recapture childlike wonder …

That said, I found that his book was also full of common sense, the sort of things we all know to be true but lose track of when inundated with the demands and trials of every day life:
- don’t forget to take care of your body as it’s the only one you’ve got
- you alone are responsible for your own happiness
- to have better relationships with people, eliminate expectations and forgo judgement
- shrink your ego, as it’s the source of envy, dissatisfaction & fear
- forgive, yourself and others
- be grateful for what you have
- fight negativity and embrace positive energy
- love isn’t something that happens to you, it’s a choice and an action
- the path to success is an abundance not a scarcity mentality
- be kind to and help people and give without expectation
- despite what it may appear on the surface, we are all basically the same

I realize that this is all extremely schmaltzy, but I genuinely felt better after reading it.

Our North American cultural obsession with youth be damned. I love Camilla’s wedding outfits. US magazine et al blanket us daily with the cult of celebrity – and the assertion that youth & extreme thinness are the holy grails of feminine desirability. A benefit of the media coverage of the royal wedding is that it demonstrates that a middle aged, high profile man actually chose an age appropriate, normal sized woman to marry. And yes, being 57 doesn’t preclude a woman from being radiant and pretty on her wedding day.

mezzoblue.com has stunning photos of the impact of clearcutting BC Forests:

A picture is worth a thousand words and all that, so here’s a 4000 word essay on what the forestry industry is doing in British Columbia, as of whatever the date was when the satellite snapped these.

Behold the evidence of a legacy too much focus on volume rather than higher value products. If we’re going to decrease unsustainable rates of cut, but maintain forestry employment levels, BC is going to have to value-add every tree cut down in the province. A continued expansion of raw log exports will increase the prevalence of such pictures into our future.

IMGP0550
Originally uploaded by Andrew & Nicole.

and I’m exhausted from the week, too bone wearyingly tired for drinks with Kyly or dinner with Ron & Vivian. At least I have the boys for company & tlc as I sit comatose at my desk, attempting to get through my thank you notes.

The RAV line is scheduled to start construction in August of this year by SNC Lavalin/Serco. You can keep on top of what’s going on at RAVCO and participate in public consultation here.

Did you know? Every year, Greater Vancouver seaport, airport, rail and road infrastructure moves:
- 100 million tonnes of cargo;
- 15 million air passengers; and
- 1 million cruise ship passengers
through our region and accounts for 15% of BC’s GDP.

Whereas the US views transportation as essential to trade competitiveness (and thus in the national interest to improve it), in Canada we seem to view transportation as just another industry sector (and thus a source of tax revenue). In light of aggressive US investment in their transportation systems and growing US competition as a port destination, we need to treat our transportation sector as a higher priority as it benefits all sectors of BC’s economy.

I went to a CLE Tax Course today & came back to major office overload. Thank goodness for you, Marjon & Sharon.

Back to reality, I went to the Ambleside Town Centre Strategy Vision meeting today at the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce. The Ambleside area has needed re-invigoration for some time, with a lack of a cohesive character to the area and chronic turnover of retail businesses which fail to survive – in the middle a relatively prosperous demographic community. The West Vancouver District Planning Department has some very interesting ideas for the area, including possibly a hotel at the site of the current West Vancouver Police building – although whether a boutique-style hotel would be economically viable given the number of rooms which would be required due the land cost is a significant issue. I like the vision statement: “By integrating commerce, housing, civic activities, arts, culture, and the waterfront, Ambleside will be the vibrant heart of the West Vancouver community …” As they say, the devil is in the details so it will be interesting to see how this vision can translate into community and economic realities. You can email the Planning Department feedback here.

Upcoming events:

1. April 23, 2:00 pm, I’m hosting a coffee party for Joan McIntyre, BC Liberal Candidate for West Vancouver-Garibaldi at a private residence; you can email for an invite;

2. April 27, 7:00 pm, I’m giving a presentation on Discretionary Trusts for disabled beneficiaries to the BC Schizophrenia Society – North Shore Branch at Lions Gate Hospital;

3. May 2, 5:00 pm, Mark Sager and I are hosting a wine and cheese for Ralph Sultan, BC Liberal Candidate for West Vancouver-Capilano at Saltaire; you can email to rsvp; and

4. The Rotary Club of West Vancouver is holding a garage sale on Saturday, May 14th from 10 until 2 at St. David’s United Church (1525 Taylor Way, West Van) as its main fundraising event of the year. If you have items to donate for the garage sale, please email, as it would be most appreciated.

The April 7th edition of Vitamin V features a link to Nuit Blanche Tours, which entices prospective female tourists by way of a story …

Once upon a time, two North American girlfriends went to Paris in search of fun and adventure. Day after glorious day and night after glorious night they frolicked happily in the City of Light. Magic unfolded as they strolled down grand boulevards and medieval streets, feasted like Queens, partied like Impressionist painters and encountered delightful Parisians. Even the occasional haughty indifference of a waiter charmed them so.

All the while, gorgeous, well-dressed and well-mannered French men flocked to the girlfriends’ sides – in the streets, on the subway, while sightseeing and in cafés and bistros. Early one morning, as the girlfriends returned to their hotel after partying the entire night, the hotel clerk smiled at them knowingly and said in the Frenchest of accents . . .“In France, we call this a ‘nuit blanche’ – a ‘white night’. Bonne journée mesdemoiselles. . . ”

After returning home, the girls lived happily ever after with their wondrous Parisian memories and wanted to share their delightful experiences with women across the land. Thus is how Nuit Blanche Tours began . . .

Sound like a fairy tale? . . . well it’s not . . . this is Nuit Blanche Tours . . .

So, for $2100, not including airfare or spending money, you get pre-scouted Parisian culture – and the romance of flirting with handsome, mysterious men you’ll never had to do laundry for. It’s certainly more upscale frivolity than girls trips to Club Med Cancun – and no wonder it’s so hard to convince single working women to max out their RRSP contibutions these days.