John Horgan is a guy who likes to point fingers. The NDP MLA has accused Gordon Campbell of being in a conflict of interest for owning shares in Alcan.

And he’s accusing Campbell’s advisor, Ken Dobell, of being in conflict in his role as a lobbyist for the City of Vancouver.

Horgan has introduced legislation to tighten up the rules and force those who hold public office to be straight with the citizens who elect them.

In John Horgan’s world, you have to meet a high standard if you want to serve the public.

But when it comes to being straight with voters, Horgan hasn’t exactly distinguished himself.
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My friend Michelle got the gift of a lifetime this year.

One morning, she got a call from the adoption agency telling her she’d been picked by an expectant mother to adopt her child. A week later, she was at the hospital when the baby was delivered.

Her hardest moment was seeing the sad looks on the faces of her son’s biological family as they handed him over.

Her happiest came months later when the biological mom signed the papers that formally gave Michelle and her husband custody.

Adopting is a deeply emotional experience. It is also expensive, lengthy and fraught with uncertainty. When a parent gets that long- awaited call, it feels a lot like winning the lottery.
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If your car gets broken into, chances are the person who smashed your window and ripped you off has done it before. Chances are they’ve done it many, many times before.

According to the provincial government’s working group on street crime, the addict who smashed up your car could easily have done the same to 19 other cars that same day.

And your thief will keep on breaking into cars every single day until he gets caught.

When he’s caught, he’ll get hauled into court. He’ll probably be released with a promise to appear another day. The judge will attach conditions. He might be required to get drug treatment or see someone about his mental illness.

Then, he’ll walk out onto the street, looking for a way to pay for his next fix.
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Imagine, heaven forbid, that you’ve been diagnosed with cancer. Then imagine that you go to 10 doctors seeking advice on what to do about it.

Nine of them say that, if you get treatment, change your lifestyle and quit smoking, you’ll probably survive.

One doctor says the cancer that’s been eating you up is just part of nature’s plan for your body. There’s no point in undergoing the painful treatment, starting an exercise plan or losing weight. You’re doomed and there’s nothing you can do about it. What would you do? I’m betting any one of us would get on with the treatments, pray we’d live to see our grandchildren grow up and tell that 10th doctor she’s a quack.

Except for the ending, the climate-change debate has unfolded in much the same way.
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Why is it so easy for governments to cut daycare funding?

Because politicians can rest easy knowing that when it comes to child care there are lots of voters who still live in the 1970s — people who believe that if more women would choose to stay home Canadian kids would be much better off.

They are completely missing the point. They’re missing the modern reality of our new century: Most women these days have to work.

It’s pointless to engage in a debate about whether or not moms should stay home. Most of them can’t.

Back in the 70s, and even into the 80s, it was affordable for many women to stay home. Not anymore.
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