A 33-year-old Grand Forks man dies near Revelstoke
A Grand Forks man, Mark Douglas Dickson (33) died in a motorcycle incident 40 km south or Revelstoke, July 4th. Dickson and a friend were riding motorcycles southbound on the Crawford Forestry Service Road, an active logging road, at about 4:15 pm when Dickson’s machine collided with a northbound pickup truck. According to...
B.C.'s plan for protecting vulnerable species
British Columbia’s five-year plan for protecting species at risk was released today by Environment Minister Mary Polak and Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson. “Our new plan provides a clear and certain path forward for B.C. to show leadership in conservation of species at risk,” said Polak....
COMMENT: Palliative Care
Canada has an aging population and, as a result, will face many challenges. While we have been engaged with some of the items affected at the federal level, there is a vacuum for government initiatives related to end of life care, which is known as palliative care. To be clear, a person doesn’t have to be elderly to benefit...
Manitoba declares state of emergency
The Manitoba government is declaring a provincial state of emergency to take effect at noon today; requesting Canadian Forces support; and establishing a unified command centre near Portage la Prairie to assist with liaison efforts with the affected communities, Premier Greg Selinger announced today. This will allow emergency...
LETTER: EMFs in hydro meters a big reason not to install them
Dear Editor: (An Open Letter to Ian Dyck, Manager, Electric Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Fortis BC) Thank you for your package of information regarding the Smart Meter installations in British Columbia. I still feel the insistence by Fortis to install Smart Meters, purchased without sufficient research into the effects...
LETTER: Why change voting process?
Letter to the Editor: To date, we have had the most secure voting procedures available! Why would we want to change that?! We've been told that electronic vote counting would likely be faster... But, may there be some unintended consequences? The quality of electronic voting machines cannot be determined "because their...
B.C. preserves local governments' tax revenues from medical marijuana growers
The Government of British Columbia is excluding federally-licensed medical marijuana production from the list of agricultural uses that qualify for farm classification for assessment and property tax purposes. The decision will ensure local governments do not lose potential property tax revenues from the Health Canada...
B.C.’s Agrifoods reputation grows stronger in China
Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick and the B.C. delegation have returned home after completing a successful trade mission to China. The tour included several deals that could increase B.C.’s agrifood exports by about $100 million within a few years. The trade mission featured a strong B.C. presence led by Letnick and representatives...
Naramata becomes B.C.’s newest Bear Smart community
Located in the heart of wine country, Naramata is prime territory for bears to roam. Naramata has been honoured for their exceptional collaborative approach to reducing human-bear conflicts as the sixth community in the province to achieve Bear Smart status. The Bear Smart Community program encourages local governments,...
COMMENT: Lack of dropped antlers and deer bones a bad sign in Boundary
I have been following hounds the last five weeks and in the process have walked a significant distance in the deer winter range and only on one occasion did I find the bones of a deer. Bones and dropped antlers for centuries have been a strong indicator of a healthy deer herd. Remember for decades the Boundary had the largest...
