In real life, people often link predictability to dullness. "You're so predictable," we might snipe. "Why don't you surprise me?"

But in leadership, predictability is a strong suit. Erratic, flip-flopping leaders breach the trust of taxpayers and should cause all of us concern regardless of...

If the University of Victoria is going to be fiscally sustainable, its board of governors needs to have the courage to take a Viking-size battle axe to its payroll - not a measly toenail clipper.
Last week, The Times Colonist reported that UVic will raise tuition fees and...

In his final days on the job, outgoing Auditor General John Doyle cleared off his desk by issuing five important audits. Some, like the scathing report on the thoroughly discredited Pacific Carbon Trust, received a lot of public attention. Others, like one on school board governance, did not.

If "information is the currency of democracy," as Thomas Jefferson is believed to have said, British Columbia is going broke. Taxpayers deserve far better when it comes to open, accountable government.

Most citizens will go their entire lives without filing a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. But every single one...

What if a public company gave one set of sales numbers to its board of directors, another to its shareholders, and a third to its auditors? Would you feel comfortable entrusting the executive of this company with a $29.6 million investment?

Incredibly, that's precisely what has happened with the Transit...

Whether by the B.C. independent business tax panel, the B.C. Healthy Living Alliance or a Kamloops city councillor, the idea of a fat or sugar tax continues to pop up like the pesky mole in that old midway game. Unfortunately, it's taxpayers -- and the provincial economy...

When Christy Clark took over as premier of British Columbia two years ago, she had a window of opportunity to change taxpayers' perceptions of her government.

To improve her chances in the 2013 election, Clark needed to throw out unpopular and unworkable ideas brought in by her predecessor Gordon Campbell. In...

Forget the parochial concerns of local mayors. The greatest argument against a regional police force is the performance of Greater Vancouver's two existing regional agencies, TransLink and Metro Vancouver.

While TransLink's habitual tax increases, never-ending budget deficits and lack of direct accountability have been well documented over the...

Like the proverbial girlfriend we just can't seem to get over, the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) has dominated British Columbia's collective political and economic mind for the past four years.

We curse our old college buddy Gordon Campbell for introducing us to her in the first place. He rushed us...

With all of the media, pundit and opposition wailing over the impending departure of B.C. Auditor General John Doyle, one can be forgiven for jumping on the bandwagon to reappoint Doyle for another six years. However, that would be a big mistake.

No doubt, Doyle is...

Once the champagne is drunk, the noisemakers go silent, the balloons pop and the New Year's kisses end, 2013 will bring one nasty hangover for cash-strapped B.C. taxpayers.

Taxes, fees and levies from all levels of government are set to go up, leaving even less of your hard-earned money...

Regional politicians seem more concerned than ever with looking green — all while sucking more green out of taxpayers' pockets.

Whether it is the $783 million sewage treatment plant in Greater Victoria, the $450 million waste incinerator in Metro Vancouver or the $3 billion subway line to Vancouver's University...

"You can't put feathers on a dog and call it a chicken," TV's Dr. Phil once opined. B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Finance Minister Mike de Jong would do well to remember that advice as they prepare what could be their government's final budget.

In recent months, we've seen...

When British Columbians rejected the Harmonized Sales Tax in the 2011 referendum, they were promised things would go back to the Provincial Sales Tax normal. But an independent panel has recommended adding taxes to things that virtually every B.C. family buys -- a plan that will increase our already sky-high...

Vancouver's Bixi public bike-share program may sound like good public policy but in the end, it will be taxpayers who will get taken for a ride.

It seems like a no-brainer in a city with three thriving car-share companies and a massive taxpayer investment in new bike lanes...

Once upon a time, a popular opposition firebrand named Christy Clark stood up in the B.C. Legislature to rip the NDP government for spending tax dollars on shameless, self-promoting advertising.

"People don't want the government to spend 700 grand of their money so they can find out how to access...

Every time B.C. taxpayers think MLAs will put their expenses out, they pull them back in.

In August, rocked by public pressure and a scathing report from the Auditor General on their bookkeeping, B.C. MLAs promised to finally make their spending open and transparent. Speaker Bill Barisoff made the most...

It seems the further you get away from Vancouver, the more hated the carbon tax becomes.

The B.C. government has sent its Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services around the province to hear submissions on what should be included in the 2013-14 provincial budget.

The Vancouver...

It's impossible to keep a good idea down for long -- and a looming NDP landslide may put electoral reform back on British Columbia's political radar.

With the NDP more than 20 points ahead in most polls and the rest of the vote split between the B.C. Liberals...

If the business across the street from yours, with fewer resources and higher prices, had increased its share of customers every year for 35 years, wouldn't you be curious why?

Wouldn't that interest intensify if your own customer base had shrunk in 24 of those 35 years? This is the...