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6 days ago | 
princegeorgecitizen.com | Todd Whitcombe
Talking with people over the past few weeks about the federal election, two trends seem to dominate the conversation.
The first is “why bother voting?” as we know who is going to win locally. While it is highly likely both Todd Doherty and Bob Zimmer will win their respective ridings, that is not a reason to not vote.
After all, if only Conservatives vote, then only a Conservative will be elected.
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4 weeks ago | 
princegeorgecitizen.com | Todd Whitcombe
When I was a child, growing up in Vancouver, one of our annual traditions was to take the bus downtown and marvel at the display windows at the Hudson Bay Company store.
There were always some animatronics with elves making toys or reindeer prancing on roofs.
And then we would go upstairs in the store to the restaurant where we would have a Christmas breakfast with Santa Claus.
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Jan 24, 2025 | 
princegeorgecitizen.com | Todd Whitcombe
“We don’t need their lumber. We have massive fields of lumber. We don’t need their lumber; we have to unrestrict them because stupid people put, you know, restrictions on, but I can do that with an executive order, we don’t need anything they have. We don’t need their dairy products. We have more than they have. We don’t need anything.”
So says Donald Trump.
Trump seems to not understand that trade isn’t a favour nor is it “subsidizing” Canada, nor does trading with Canadians make us a state.
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Nov 7, 2024 | 
princegeorgecitizen.com | Todd Whitcombe
Well, we finally have the results for the 2024 provincial election. The NDP hold 47 seats, the Conservatives have 44 seats, and the Green Party has the final two seats.
Or, at least, that is the way it stands as I write this. There are still judicial recounts to come which may alter the final tallies in some of the closer ridings. They are automatically triggered in tight races.
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Oct 17, 2024 | 
princegeorgecitizen.com | Todd Whitcombe
Signs for local Conservative candidates in the provincial election have “Conservative” in big bold letters and “Party of British Columbia” in very small print. Driving by you would need to slow down to read the latter.
This is likely deliberate.
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Sep 5, 2024 | 
princegeorgecitizen.com | Todd Whitcombe
Wow!
Just plain WOW!
I have been following politics in British Columbia for all of my life and it has rarely been boring. But Kevin Falcon’s announcement and the demise of BC United was definitely a head-turner. A real once-in-a-lifetime event. Only a handful of people can honestly say they saw it coming and they were the ones negotiating the capitulation.
The decision to fold BC United leaves a province more divided than ever.
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Aug 16, 2024 | 
treefrogcreative.ca | Todd Whitcombe |David Elstone |Derek Nighbor |Kevin Mason
B.C. will continue to burn, so what can we do about it? By Todd Whitcombe, UNBC chemistry professor The Prince George Citizen August 15, 2024 Category: Forestry Region: Canada, Canada West On average, BC has experienced 1,483 wildfires per year over the past decade. We are certainly on pace to exceed that number this year.
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Aug 1, 2024 | 
princegeorgecitizen.com | Todd Whitcombe
There is little doubt that Canada has a housing affordability crisis. And there is little doubt this will be a major topic of concern during upcoming elections.
It is hard to know who or what to believe on the subject. Who is at fault? What should be done?
I would respectfully suggest the present housing crisis is not the fault of any government – municipal, provincial, or federal. Perhaps more to the point, it is not associated with any particular political party.
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Jan 22, 2024 | 
vancouverisawesome.com | Todd Whitcombe
It is 2024 and the clock is ticking.
Our economic model for the past two hundred years has been based on inflation. In order for investment to occur, the people with money wanted a return on their investment.
So rather than the cost of a new chair being based on the materials and labour spent in its construction, the cost was always at an inflated price. Sometimes at a greatly inflated price. A simplistic economic view but it has held sway since the times of Adam Smith and the invisible hand.
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Jan 8, 2024 | 
princegeorgecitizen.com | Todd Whitcombe
It is awkward when facts get in the way of fantasy.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is releasing a series of videos under the moniker “Debtonation”. I presume the name is meant to imply the whole country’s economy is about to blow up.
He claims Canada has racked up $10 trillion in debt. More than three times our annual GDP. A staggering sum. Guaranteed to scare anyone into thinking we are in serious trouble.
