Just as roads with power and telephone lines strung down the side were transformative for people and communities, the next evolution will be a robust digital grid connecting the Southern Gulf Islands and British Columbians in every community. Let’s use the opportunity of the current circumstances to develop our digital infrastructure.We have all...
For Budget Estimates in Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness I canvassed a variety of issues in the 45 minutes I had with Minister Michelle Mungall. We covered a number of areas of provincial concern such as resilient supply chains, local manufacturing, focus on stimulus investments, employing youth, economic transitions, general...
Installing an Innovation Commissioner was an important economic initiative proposed by the B.C. Greens in the 2017 election. It became a key policy initiative of the Confidence and Supply Agreement, the founding document for the relationship between the B.C. Green Caucus and the B.C. NDP Caucus and the strength of our minority government. We are...
Yesterday I was hoping to get an answer to a straightforward question about the BC NDP's commitment to innovation, technology and the knowledge-based economy. I asked the Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness about whether three longstanding tax credits for the film industry (worth approximately...
The BC NDP government released their economic framework a few weeks back. There was no fanfare and in the end it was almost as if there was no 90-page document outlining their economic agenda. There is a lot in the framework that I take issue with and I will be exploring that in the coming weeks. I'm...
One year ago, I started listening to podcasts. I found Seth Godin's weekly offering, Akimbo, and it was a life-changer. Seth's podcast opened my perspective and I had a moment of truth about my life. I was measuring my success with the wrong metrics. As an early adopter of social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I had embraced...
Security certificate issue has been resolved! I have been blogging uninterrupted every day for the past year. Each day I schedule a post, readers get an email notification and you leave a comment if you feel inspired. It's all been working pretty well. Until last week. Last Thursday evening during my visit to Waglisla (Bella Bella) in the...
We watched the movie Yesterday a few nights ago with our kids. They had heard of The Beatles but that was the first time we had “the talk” with them.It goes something like this: “You know kids, there is this band. You have probably heard about them... it’s important you understand just how great they are!”I was introduced to The Beatles through...
I write many of these posts on my handheld device. It is a powerful machine. The processing capability grows with each new release as does the storage capacity capturing and keeping huge amounts of information.These devices are a marvel of technology and they have dramatically changed the world in the past decade, putting massive computing...
I absolutely devoured Byung-Chul Han’s Psycopolitics last weekend.It came as a recommendation to a post I did a while back about the panopticon. The idea was introduced to me in a Philosophize This! podcast episode on Michel Foucault where he discusses Jeremy Bentham’s idea of a prison layout where a single guard can visually watch a multitude of...
It’s one of those memories stamped in my mind. I'm seven or eight years old, lying in my bed and staring at the ceiling through tear-filled eyes. I was growing older. I didn’t want to get older and I really didn’t want my parents to get older either. It’s not clear to me now which thought was worse in my mind back then. My mom and dad took turns...
I had an interesting conversation with a couple of friends about the threat of digital intrusions. How far will you let the perception of convenience justify your personal vulnerability? Is it too much work to care about how corporations are using the data we trade for access to their latest time saving/consuming application or service? Does it...
I am moving away from social media. I'm not quitting, but I am thoughtfully evolving how I use it. Social media platforms are powerful tools for politicians because they create spaces for communities of people to gather with each other. Initially, we played Farmville together and reconnected with old friends. It was just like a high school...
A few of my posts recently explore the return of analog in a world of digital design.Indeed, everything old is new again. This weekend Silas was introduced to a pinball machine. Perhaps it wasn’t his first introduction, but it was the first time he had a cup full of tokens and time to play.It was loud! The snap, whir, thud, clank, ding, Ding,...
This blogging experiment is a fascinating exercise. It was inspired by Seth Godin's podcast called Akimbo. His podcast is transformational (for me). It has changed my entire approach to social media, how to evaluate "success" and where to focus energy in 2019. The goal is to contribute something everyday. As it turns out, by keeping the content...
A comment from a local businessperson at a recent event caught my attention. It's a warning."Our local businesses are competing with Amazon."Are they? Is any business competing with Amazon? Wal-Mart is struggling to keep up with them, because Amazon is a beast!So, should local retailers close up shop and move on? No. But, they are going to have...
John Elliott (STOLȻEȽ) is my uncle. He is a beautiful story teller.He generously shares the stories of the W̱SÁNEĆ people. His stories of creation, transformation, and relationships, describe a connected world. But, his connections are not digital, they are analog.Indeed, his stories capture his audience. They are an invitation to explore an...
What is your privacy worth to you?Do you read the privacy agreements before using your new device or that new app that helps with your productivity?Does it bother you that you are being tracked? The maps app that is telling you about the traffic jam down the road, can do that because it is processing the data from all the people, just like you...
On September 20, 2018 I began getting tagged in social media posts from residents of Galiano and Mayne Island regarding the Connected Coast program. The project goal is to “bring high-speed internet accessibility to rural and remote communities along coastal BC, Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island.” This project is led by CityWest and the Strathcona...
They work in a second floor space above my 2013 provincial election campaign office in Brentwood Bay. Their footprint is very light, but the work they are doing could revolutionize rural and remote medicine around the world. They are Caffeinated Turtle Enterprises and the Canadian office of 19 Labs, a Silicon Valley tech company. Together they...