I think both the NDP and the Greens owe it to the public to make a peace treaty and find a way to show everyone that we can work together for solutions that are good for people and the planet. This is an important lesson for us to learn before the upcoming federal election, while we still have time to find ways to work together. Big Oil won a battle this week but they haven't won the war.

The BC Liberals and particularly Premier Christy Clark deserve the praise they're receiving for their surprise electoral victory. After all, the Liberals reversed a double-digit deficit in the polls and ended up securing a majority government. This moment of jubilation for the Liberals and their supporters will be short-lived however, as the reality of governing in difficult times takes hold. The litmus test for the success of this government, which they themselves established, is the success of the economy and in particular, jobs.

When B.C. filmmaker Velcrow Ripper started making Occupy Love in 2009, some of his activist friends weren't sure what to make of his questions. How can the crises we're facing socially, economically and environmentally become - of all things - a love story? But as he continued to film social movements from the Arab Spring to the European Summer, Occupy Wall Street and environmental movements, he started seeing a shift, with more and more people responding: "Of course it's a love story."

Information issues were smoking hot right up to the drop of the writ. But ever since, they've received hardly a mention. Looks like nobody wants to talk about the government's increasing unwillingness to create written records or its habit of sheltering public documents from FOI by hiding them in personal email accounts. Even multi-million dollar data linkage and information management programs like the Integrated Case Management (ICM) system, which has been slammed repeatedly by officers of the Legislature and civil society alike, don't rate a mention from the four major parties. This is pathetic.

The phoney campaign has finally given way to the real thing. The writ is dropped, the legislature is dissolved and politicians are out on the hustings. And as voters know well, that means big, glitzy promises. But imagine promises that wouldn't need sod-turnings or ribbon cuttings? Meaningful promises that every party can sign-on to, because they're about good government, not party ideology.

Parents please continue to learn about the story attached to Amanda Todd and today do not hesitate to talk to your children about the new story of Rehtaeh Parsons. Talk to your children about mental health, talking about social media is the first step in educating your kids about social media safety and outline your expectations about how your children will utilise this powerful tool for communication.

A few short days from now, the writ will drop on the 2013 provincial election, kicking off twenty-eight days of heated campaigning. And while there's no shortage of issues for voters to consider, recent controversies around government secrecy and attempts to undermine Freedom of Information make it clear that information policy should be a top priority for voters.

One evening, when one of the guys had too much beer and was getting rowdy, Black Betty, the taller of the two women, told him to calm down. "Or you'll what?" he sneered, "You'll call the Mounties on me?" Black Betty didn't hesitate to come around the bar, grab him by the scruff of his neck and the back of his belt and pick him up and throw him out the door. She came back in muttering, "I don't need any Mounties to help me run my bar."

VICTORIA - British Columbia Premier Christy Clark enters the next provincial election attempting to sell her "families first" image with a pair of bud...

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is questioning whether Transit Police will be worth their $27-million annual cost once TransLink's new fare gates ar...

A decade of feminism couldn't explain why the Married Man spooked me and how let down I felt by my female co-workers who excused his behaviour. Why were we divided? Most of all, I was disillusioned with myself; if I couldn't hold my own against the Married Man and sway my co-workers to side with me, what right did I have to call myself a feminist?

VICTORIA - Strong legal challenges from motorists forced to pay thousands of dollars in costs as part of the government's get-tough impaired driving l...

For the fourth year in a row, the B.C. government is hiking Medical Services Premiums in January, but that's not the only way taxpayers will be handin...

Porn can be an exciting, fun and easy way to get aroused. It can help to inspire you sexually and teach you about sex. But porn is "fantasy" and more often than not, a male-centric one. Real-life sex is quite different. If you are learning how to have sex from porn, you may be getting misinformation, especially when it comes to pleasing a woman. Don't get misled. This column contains what some could consider graphic sexual language and topics.

This week, the Union of B.C. Municipalities voted to support the decriminalization of marijuana in Canada. This step may seem small, but it signifies that public leadership in British Columbia has reached an historic tipping point on the war on drugs. It won't tip back.

I've had the privilege to partake in the birth experience at both the Fraser Health and Coastal Health institutions. I've had the pleasure of complete strangers who were not doctors or nurses barging into my room moments after I expelled my progeny asking if I wanted photos of them. How can you say no when you haven't slept in 48 hours and can't sit down because your nether regions feel like hamburger and you are consumed with crazy-making hormones?

Mounties in Kelowna, B.C., raided a well-known Hells Angels clubhouse on Saturday. RCMP officers wearing bulletproof vests and balaclavas ...

Former B.C. Premier W.A.C. Bennett once had a cabinet minister tell him he would treat taxpayers' money as if it were his own. "Oh, no, you won't," Bennett said, "not as long as I'm premier. That money is tax money, it's trust money, and I want 110 cents worth of value out of every dollar." That's a philosophy the overpaid executives at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) have clearly failed to embrace. That shouldn't be a surprise -- government monopolies are notoriously inefficient and expensive.

B.C. is already a pretty darn great place to live. A gorgeous climate, gorgeous people inside and out, gorgeous food... But how can we all make it eve...