October 2015

October 2015 Focus.pdf

4 Leslie Campbell | WHEN SPIN DOCTORS MAKE POLICY
The provincial LNG fiction-writing exercise has some lessons towards October 19.

10 Cheryl Thomas | WHY YOUR VOTE COUNTS
Halting the decay of our democracy isn’t difficult. It starts with valuing your vote.

12 David Broadland | AN ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE
There’s no scientific case for sewage treatment in Victoria, but the community faces a billion-dollar price tag anyway. Where do the candidates stand?

16 Judith Lavoie | MURRAY RANKIN V. CANADA
Rankin acted on behalf of an American mining corporation in its successful bid to sue Canada using NAFTA.

18 Briony Penn | LEGISLATED VOTER SUPRESSION
The Unfair Election Act is coming soon—very soon—to a polling station near you.

20 Liz McArthur | CANNABIS COWBOYS
Why are marijuana dispensaries the growth business in Victoria?

22 Katherine Palmer Gordon | A CHANGE OF FOCUS
As she leaves us, our correspondent reflects on a decade of First Nations treaty negotiations, court rulings and attempts at reconciliation.

24 Aaren Madden | A SERIES OF SMALL ABSTRACTIONS
Rod Charlesworth celebrates both place and paint.

38 John Threlfall | THE VIEW FROM HERE
Geographic and cultural history combine in a bold new play about one of Victoria’s most infamous locations.

40 Amy Reiswig | THE REAL THING
Briony Penn’s new biography of beloved BC conservation hero Ian McTaggart Cowan.

42 Gene Miller | SPARE CHANGE
That $90 extra million on the bridge could have transformed Victoria.

44 Maleea Acker | SALMON RESURGENCE
Thanks in part to volunteers like Dorothy Chambers, coho salmon are thriving in Colquitz River—but for how long?

46 Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | THE PROBLEM WITH SITTING ON YOUR BALLOT
Low voter turnout in 2011 allowed a small minority of Canadians to elect a majority government.