COLUMN: From the Hill -- and home, by train.
When the House of Commons rose in late June, my wife and I decided to take the train home from Ottawa instead of flying straight back. It’s always been on my bucket list and I thought the trip would be a good way to unwind after a hectic June on Parliament Hill. I had some trepidation—things can always go awry when you’re...
Initiative Petition: 90 Days to sign against Site C
A BC voter has begun the next stage of an initiative petition process seeking to have the BC government cancel the Site C dam project; see this May 3 article first announcing the petition. The petition sheets were issued on July 3, so the proponent has 90 days to collect signatures. To move to the next stage of the process,...
COLUMN: From the Hill -- Cannabis
On June 20th, the House of Commons rose for the summer break. One of the last votes we took dealt with the message to the Senate regarding their proposed amendments to Bill C-45, the bill to legalize marijuana. And the final motion to adjourn included a message to the Senate regarding Bill C-46, which covers new...
City of Victoria wins lawsuit over plastic bag bylaw
More action on single-use plastic bags? Rossland City Council has stated that it was waiting for the outcome of the court challenge against the City of Victoria’s bylaw to ban plastic “check-out” bags. The Canadian Plastic Bag Association challenged the City of Victoria’s right to regulate plastic bags. Now the Supreme Court...
Guest Editorial: Wilderness, or heli-playground?
Editor’s Note: Many people are not yet aware of the proposal to turn about 700 square kilometres of the southern Purcell Range into a heli-playground, cutting new trails and building lodges, with helicopter flights carrying in skiers in the winter and hikers and mountain bikers in the summer. The...
Come on down to celebrate with I Heart Downtown Castlegar event this weekend
There’s never been a better time to head to downtown Castlegar than this weekend (Friday and Saturday), for the Second Annual I Heart Downtown Castlegar event. Organizer Shawna Tarasoff said it’s a two-day event intended to showcase the variety of diverse and dynamic businesses in the downtown core. “It’s to create some...
Interfor Resumes Operations at Grand Forks Sawmill
Another positive sign Grand Forks is getting back to a bit of normalcy after the Great Flood of 2018 happened Wednesday when Interfor Corporation announced that it resumed operations at the Boundary City sawmill. Management had closed the sawmill in Grand Forks for the past two weeks due to following severe flooding in the ...
Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction to reimburse funds wrongfully withheld from welfare recipients
Following a complaint to the BC Ombudsperson, Jay Chalke, an investigation determined that the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction had failed to follow the law in calculating entitlement to income assistance benefits. The Ministry had improperly imposed a policy of a one-month suspension the earnings exemption,...
New from the Kootenays: 'The VinylCast'
New goings-on in the Kootenay music world: a local group is putting a new spin on the resurgence of vinyl with a brand-new project. It’s called The VinylCast, and it aims to deliver music on vinyl to music lovers – right to their doors. (Or post offices, as the case may be.) It launches globally this month, and will also ...
COLUMN: From the Hill -- Canada far behind Europe
Julie Gelfand, the federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, released a report entitled Perspectives on Climate Change Action in Canada at the end of March. Canada has a pretty dismal track record when it comes to meeting its climate action commitments. We’ve already missed two targets—Rio in 2000...
