Media as weapons of mass distraction
By Leslie Campbell, June 2015Whistle blowers, citizen activists and persistent journalists are the antidote.On May 15 I attended a stimulating talk by David Barsamian, the award-winning founder of...
View ArticleA life-saver
By Leslie Campbell, July/August 2015Will Victoria take responsibility to provide safe consumption services?Did you know that our fair city has the highest number of street deaths per capita in BC? I...
View ArticleSummer's bounty
By Leslie Campbell, September 2015Animals, vegetables, and a thought-provoking book.Four years ago David and I decided to combine Focus’ July and August editions. This has allowed us to spend a good...
View ArticleWhen spin doctors make policy
By Leslie Campbell, October 2015The provincial LNG fiction-writing exercise has some lessons towards October 19.Here’s a cautionary tale, gleaned from a recently received Freedom of Information...
View ArticleThe last strategic vote
By Leslie Campbell, November 2015Let’s make sure that next time we can vote our conscience and know it will count.As I was working out the details of how I would get my mom, Jade, to the polls on...
View ArticleEmbracing decarbonization
By Leslie Campbell, December 2015It’s time for Christy Clark to wake up from her LNG dream before it becomes a nightmare for the rest of us.After 20 years of climate negotiations, most nations now seem...
View ArticleIntent City
By Leslie Campbell, January 2016The encampment at the law courts grounds provides evidence of our collective failure to meet the need for housing.The homeless camp at the Provincial law courts grounds...
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Our focus is changing
By Leslie Campbell, February 2016After 28 years as a monthly print magazine, we’re going to begin to decarbonize.IN 1988 I STARTED the pre-cursor to Focus, a monthly magazine called Focus on Women....
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Moving from "Them" to "Us"
By Leslie Campbell, March 1, 2016A tent city on provincial land has pushed the Province a little closer toward a solution to homelessness in Victoria.AS I WRITE, there are still campers on the...
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Fear and funding weapons of choice in the sewage battle
By Leslie Campbell, March 1, 2016Mayor Helps’ forceful push to a billion-dollar sewage facility at Rock Bay takes some twists and turns—and ain’t done yet.LATELY A NUMBER OF PEOPLE, from seniors to...
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Our limited right to free speech
By Leslie Campbell, May 2016BC’s defamation laws are downgrading our democracy.THIS EDITION BRINGS YOU an update on the Shawnigan Lake situation by Judith Lavoie. When we learned of threats of legal...
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Seeking reason in a sea of sound bites
By Leslie Campbell, July 2016Here’s to a summer of books, reason and love.AS AN ANTIDOTE to the bombardment of modern life, I’ve turned to reading more books. Even when their message is unsettling,...
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Speaking up for seniors
By Leslie Campbell, July 2016BC’s Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie makes the case for more government intervention on behalf of seniors.I MEET WITH BC SENIORS ADVOCATE Isobel Mackenzie weighed down by...
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The quest for affordable housing
By Leslie Campbell, September 2016The gap between incomes and housing costs has grown so wide that bold action is long overdue.WHEN I MOVED HERE from Winnipeg 30 years ago, I quickly found myself a...
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Focus announces The Diane Carr Community Service Award
By Leslie Campbell, September 2016A community force for truth, beauty and justiceWHEN MY FRIEND Diane Carr was asked recently by a Hospice nurse if she had any hobbies, she asked right back, “Is...
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