By Brian Lewis

Very few politicians would have the nerve or stamina to do what Delta North MLA Guy Gentner does to keep in touch with constituents.

It amounts to holding three unrehearsed town-hall meetings per week, week in and week-out, as well as performing the countless other tasks of elected officials.

Since last fall, the second-term New Democrat has been hosting a regular Internet-radio show from his North Delta constituency office or the Victoria legislature.

Listeners tune in via Gentner's website at www.guygentner.ca, where they can hear the separate one-hour shows live beginning at 8 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays or at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays. Podcasts are available for those who miss the live shows.

The Monday show covers issues specific to Gentner's riding or just the south-of-Fraser region. Provincewide issues are the focus of Tuesday's show, while Wednesday-edition topics are open.

By Vaughn Palmer
June 3, 2010

With former premier Bill Vander Zalm back in the headlines, turns out another populist ex-premier has something to say about the harmonized sales tax.

"The HST, I'm not going there," said former New Democratic Party premier Glen Clark, during a recent Web interview with NDP MLA Guy Gentner.

Then, in the characteristic fashion of a guy who couldn't resist controversy during his dozen years in public office, he did go there.

"The HST does not create more revenue," said Clark, who served as finance minister in the early 1990s and as premier later in the decade.

"The HST is a shift in the tax burden away from business and onto individuals and it's revenue-neutral. It's a great irony that a government would take this huge political shift away from business onto individuals and not gain, really, any more revenue ... The HST is a little bit more ideological than it is a tax policy."

Three premiers head on trade mission to Japan and China in May

By Derrick Penner

Canada's three westernmost provinces are betting there will be economic benefits in setting themselves up as a common market through the reconciliation of regulations among themselves and cooperation on international trade initiatives.

British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, Saskatchewan's Premier Brad Wall and Alberta's Premier Ed Stelmach signed the New West Partnership agreement Friday in Regina, a follow up from a promise they made in a joint cabinet meeting held in Vancouver a year ago, which will unroll cooperative efforts from 2011-13.

It will start as the three premiers conduct a joint trade mission to Japan and China in May.

The next step will see the three provinces enter into a common procurement system for tendering purchases on some $8 billion in annual spending between them, in areas such as pharmaceuticals and school supplies, starting in 2011.

Harold Steves, a longtime Richmond councillor and former NDP MLA, was in Delta this week to sound the alarm bells over the loss of farmland to various development projects. He says Delta could end up looking like Richmond in 20 years.

On the road to Richmond - Veteran politician warns Delta will end up like its northern neighbour if it allows farmland to be developed

By Sandor Gyarmati

Delta could very well be heading down the same road as Richmond in losing valuable farmland.

That's the grim warning from longtime Richmond Coun. Harold Steves, pointing to the South Fraser Perimeter Road construction, the Tsawwassen Golf and Country Club redevelopment and the housing proposal for the Southlands as the most recent factors.

Steves took part in an anti-Gateway Program sign unveiling Wednesday morning on a 28th Avenue farm impacted by the new highway.

By Sandor Gyarmati

Those who hinted they support development on the Southlands were clearly in enemy waters at a forum at South Delta Secondary Monday.

Organized by a pair of local residents concerned about the future of the contentious Tsawwassen property, as well as the Tsawwassen Area Plan process they say is shutting out public input, the event drew a boisterous crowd of more than 400. The overwhelming majority made it clear they didn't want any development taking place on the Southlands.

Dana Maslovat, one of the organizers, went over several concerns about the Century Group's proposed development and the area plan process. He said he couldn't understand the justification of "using green politics to pave over farmland," a comment that drew a thunderous cheer.