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BC premier John Horgan’s decision to spend $789 million on the reconstruction of The BC Royal Museum in Victoria was received with one-sided, negative criticism from the general public. BC residents say the premier has got his priorities all wrong, and that this decision makes no sense whatsoever. Some even went as far as calling him the modern day Marie Antoinette, because he seems so out of touch with the struggles of the average Joe and Jane.

Let’s for a minute put ourselves into premier Horgan’s shoes and try to understand where he’s coming from. Premier Horgan is undergoing treatment for throat cancer. He had previously survived bladder cancer earlier in his life. Although he is expected to fully recover this time, he has lost 30 pounds as well as some sense of taste.

If I were in his shoes, I must have pondered about questions like ‘What I definitely want to accomplish if today is my last day on earth.’ Indeed, the following are the exact words that Horgan told the media during an interview: “(His illness) is a reminder of the fragility of life. We only have so many days. What do you want to do with those days?”

So there it is. Mr Horgan’s mindset is about what HE wants to do, and not what the voters want him to do. He wants a cleaner environment so he refuses to lower the gas tax and couldn’t care less even if it costs us on average $120 bucks to fill up a tank of gas. While most of us cannot afford to drive anywhere other than to and fro work, Horgan is still rubbing it in and telling us to “Think before we hop into our cars.” In comparison, premier Jason Kennedy from our neighbouring province of Alberta made a sensible call when he gave a tax break of $0.13 per litre of gas.

While every dollar counts as we are struggling to make ends meet, instead of helping us, Mr Horgan is using $1 billion in funds to reconstruct a museum.

Recently my friend bought an electric bike from Costco for around $900. I went over to his house to check it out and boy, I had so much fun riding on it; the bike can go as fast as 20 km per hour and you can easily adjust the speed by turning the handle.

However, my friend warned me against getting one for myself: He says he simply cannot take the bike anywhere because no matter where he goes, the thousand-dollar-baby will likely be nicked sooner or later.

His worry is a very sound one. People have had their e-bikes stolen within minutes of leaving them alone ie, outside a 7-11, in a park, or even outside their homes; the bike-locks were no match against the professional, lock-picking skills of thieves!

I was taking a stroll in my neighbourhood in the evening when I saw something totally insane!

As the weather was quite lovely many of my neighbours were also walking their pets. So it seemed quite normal when I saw this guy standing there with his dog, around a half block away from me.

As I was approaching toward him, I heard him urging his dog to start walking. “Let’s go buddy. Come on, let’s go big fella…”. And his dog’s response? It simply turned its back against its owner, oblivious and with no eye contact whatsoever. I was thinking in my mind, “What an unusually disobedient pet”.

But what I saw next offered a perfect explanation to this canine’s behaviour: After the ineffective attempts in communication, the owner gave up talking to his dog and instead, he picked up his dog and held it close, just like the way one would hold a little child, and started walking on, with the dog in his arms. I couldn’t help cracking up – it was the first time I saw someone spoiling his pet in this manner. I think this owner is fully responsible for turning his canine buddy into a spoiled brat!

Throughout my high school years there was always a police officer stationed at my high school, and most students were glad that he was there for us. But lately there are talks of revoking the policing program for schools, and I strongly object to the idea.

Opponents of the program say they feel being spied on, and that their freedom is infringed upon by the police presence. But frankly most of us did not have these concerns when we were students, because we knew that as long as we didn’t do anything illegal or out of line, we wouldn’t be in trouble.

Things such as bullying, threat of violence, and gang recruitment do occur in school, and having an officer to turn to is a lifeline in these difficult situations. On a personal note, a classmate tried to get me into drugs when we were still freshmen in grade 8 – I declined and she didn’t press on; both of us knew full well then that having an officer on site definitely had a deterrent effect, even if the officer wasn’t actually involved in the incident.

On a brighter note, the officer certainly served as a positive role model at my high school, and some students even had aspirations to join the police force after they graduate.

Unfortunately it is currently a seller’s market, meaning that the demand for vehicles is greater than their supply. The supply chain crunch for cars is mainly a result of the continual shortage of computer chips. From car sensors to control systems (ie, controls for windows or audio systems), these $1 computer chips must be used to manufacture the various essential parts of a modern vehicle.

Thus, buyers wanting to buy a new vehicle are often wait-listed. Apparently there’s a 4-year waiting period for those looking to purchase a popular brand of pickup truck.

Another peculiar phenomenon is the appreciation of used vehicles. For example, people who didn’t want to wait 4 years for a brand new pickup would bid for a used one, and some were willing to pay ~$10,000 above the market value for a second-hand truck.

Sellers of used vehicles have been making capital gains on their year-old cars ie, instead of the expected 20% year-on-year depreciation, to their pleasant surprise they were making a 25% profit on cars that they had driven for around a year.

Dealerships for used vehicles are also taking advantage of the fact that they have the upper hand as sellers. One such dealership even refused to sell a used car to a buyer who offered to pay in full; they wanted the buyer to finance a car loan with them so they could take a cut based on the financing agreement! (At this point if you are thinking ‘Are you kidding me?’ then welcome to the club – that was my exact reaction too.)

Global easing of restrictions means many countries have lifted their quarantine requirements for travellers. Everybody is now super excited to be able to finally get out of their homes and go somewhere. We can’t wait to travel abroad for work or play, or to meet up with family and friends. And thus, here’s a warning: Expect delays on practically every step of the traveling process!

Firstly, check to see if you’ve got valid travelling documents; as most people haven’t taken a trip for quite a while, their passports may have gone expired.

So suddenly EVERYBODY needs to renew their passport. Staff at the passport offices say they are overwhelmed by the high volumes of applications. It follows that there were multiple complaints of lost applications or other errors which have resulted in extended delays. For the past month, Canadians are seen lining up outside passport offices at around 4am in the morning, and many have had to spend the entire day waiting.

Airports are also requesting that travellers arrive 3 hours before their international flights, or 2 hours before their domestic departure. Airport personnel say they are so short-staffed that there’s no way they can let someone jump the queue just because their plane is departing. Some travellers who did not arrive the airport ahead of time as requested have missed their flights.

But of course all that hassle is still worthwhile as our spirits are lifted by the mere thought of going on vacation. Have yourself a great trip!

While women and children were fleeing the country for their lives, this UN humanitarian went in the opposite direction and entered the war zone to talk to displaced Ukrainians and injured children.

This incident reminds me of an unforgettable image captured moments after one of the hijacked planes crashed into The Twin Tower during 9/11: When everyone inside The Tower were trying to escape by running down the stairs in one unilateral direction, there was this one person that was heading in the opposite direction – the loner climbing up the stairs was a fireman on a rescue mission.

I can’t pretend to understand what it takes for a person to head straight into the direction of danger, but I do recognize the unrivalled bravery of a hero or heroine when I see him or her in action.

Just last week, Twitter’s board of directors told the press that they had voted unanimously to deter Musk’s potential takeover by using the ‘poison pill’, a mechanism which could dilute Musk’s shares.

We now know that Twitter’s management did not really intend to execute that plan, and their previous public statement was merely a bargaining tactic: The parties have reached an agreement over the weekend, and Musk’s final offer was around $44B instead of his initial bid of $42B!

It’s as if these business people are playing a poker game; they conceal the truth or distract the public during the negotiation period, for the purpose of increasing their bargaining power. Would you have chosen to use a similar tactic, to gain an extra $2 billion in profit?

A recent survey has found that 65% of Canadians do not want Charles as our official head of state, and 76% of us do not want Camilla to be queen. These results do not come as a surprise: The more we miss Diana and sympathize with her tragic death, the more indignant we are with Charles and Camilla.

“There are three people in this marriage.” Who can forget these famous words?

If you had no intention of ending your relationship with another woman, it was quite foreseeable that the outcome of your marriage would be disastrous.

You understood very well that in the 1980s, it was unacceptable for the monarch to marry a divorced woman; but if you still wanted to be with her, why didn’t you at least have the guts to follow EdwardVIII’s path and give up your Royal title?

Easing of restrictions around the globe has led to another spike in COVID cases. For this reason, last week the US Centers for Disease Control extended the mask mandate for public transit, including air travels, to May 3rd.

There is something inherently wrong when an appointed judge is endowed with the power to single-handedly overturn the incumbent government’s policy. In a democratic country, the governing administration is typically voted into power by its people.

In other words, the Biden’s administration was entrusted to represent the wishes of the majority of the electorate. On the other hand, the judge who ordered the U-turn of the mask policy was not elected into power by the US people. In fact, US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, the federal judge who gave the ruling, was appointed by former US President Donald Trump. Yes, checks and balances from the judicial branch are needed to ensure that the executive branch does not become too powerful, but in this instance the balance of power is too disproportionate.