News

Mr. Fin Donnelly (New Westminster—Coquitlam, NDP): Mr. Speaker, for almost 40 years the B.C. coast has been oil tanker free. However, that is now threatened by the Enbridge pipeline proposal that promises to bring tar sand crude from Alberta to B.C.'s coast for export. All it would take is one accident to inflict serious damage on the coastal ecosystem and the economy. The risk is not worth it.

Will the government step away from this pipeline and reaffirm the moratorium on oil tanker traffic?

Canadian bill would ban tankers from key British Columbia waterways

Houston (Platts)--26Mar2010/1239 pm EDT/1639 GMT

Legislation to be introduced Friday into the Canadian Parliament would ban oil tankers in three British Columbia waterways upon which Enbridge is dependent for moving crude from Alberta's oil sands region to Asia and the USWest Coast.

New Westminster News Leader

Marathon swims of Fraser River led to The Ripple Effect

Fin Donnelly has swum from the Fraser River to the House of Commons in Ottawa as the new NDP Member of Parliament for New Westminster-Coquitlam.

By Andrew Fleming - New Westminster News Leader
Published: March 24, 2010 11:00 AM
Updated: March 24, 2010 11:38 AM

It is probably safe to say most Canadians don’t associate Members of Parliament with feats of athleticism.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 24, 2010

OTTAWA MUST ACT NOW TO STOP ANOTHER VALDEZ
21 years since Valdez spill Harper is moving to have Tankers off BC

OTTAWA – On March 24, 1989 at 12:04 am the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground on Bligh Reef causing one of the most devastating environmental disasters in North American history. Now, 21 years later, the Conservative government is pushing to start having oil tankers off the sensitive coast of British Columbia.

Published | Publié: 2010-03-26
PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN (FINAL)
NEWS, Page: 1 / FRONT

No coastal tankers
Donnelly

Gordon Hoekstra, The Citizen

B.C. NDP MP Finn Donnelly, who twice swam the entire length Fraser River to raise awareness of the threats to the watershed, plans to table a private members' bill this week calling for a moratorium on oil tanker traffic in the inland waters off of B.C.'s northwest coast.

MP pitches name change to his riding

New Westminster News Leader
By Andrew Fleming - New Westminster News Leader
Published: March 11, 2010 1:00 PM
Updated: March 11, 2010 1:31 PM

Fin Donnelly, the Member of Parliament for New Westminster–Coquitlam, wants people to remember his riding also includes a good chunk of Port Moody as well.

The neophyte NDP MP introduced his first Private Member's Bill on Thursday (March 11) with hopes of getting "Port Moody" tacked on to the end of his constituency's official name.

MP wants Port Moody in name

from THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Published: March 11, 2010 6:00 PM
By Gary McKenna and Andrew Fleming

New Westminster-Coquitlam NDP MP Fin Donnelly represents people from Port Moody, too, and he wants his colleagues in the House of Commons to know it.

The rookie member of Parliament introduced his first private member’s bill in Ottawa on Thursday to add the missing municipality’s name to that of his riding. Changing the name to New Westminster-Coquitlam-Port Moody would highlight a distinct part of his constituency, he said.

MARCH 11, 2010

WHAT’S IN A NAME
For New Democrat MP Fin Donnelly - A lot

OTTAWA – New Westminster-Coquitlam MP Fin Donnelly thinks his riding name could sound sweeter.

“Port Moody’s name has not been included in this riding’s name since it’s creation in 2006” said Donnelly, “as a distinct and important part of the riding, I’m hoping to correct that”.

Following through on a commitment he made during the by-election, Donnelly is making the riding name change his first Private Member's Bill.

Campbell's HST Illusion
The U of Calgary paper supposed to support the tax is full of holes and wishful thinking.
By: By David Schreck, 10 March 2010, TheTyee.ca

On July 1, 2009, France reduced its value added tax (VAT -- the equivalent of our GST or HST) on restaurant meals from 18.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent. They did that because they accepted the evidence that the tax on restaurant meals kills jobs; they expect 40,000 jobs to be created as a result of cutting the tax.

Why does Premier Campbell think that economics work differently in British Columbia?

Forecast not looking good for B.C.'s salmon stocks this year

Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun

Another disastrous season for B.C.'s iconic wild salmon appears to be unfolding even as yet another inquiry gets underway, this time into the collapse of last year's Fraser River sockeye runs.

Meanwhile, some scientists in the department of fisheries and oceans are warning that the outlook for 2010 is already worse than it was in 2009, when only about 10 per cent of expected Fraser River sockeye returns materialized.