I don’t think it will come as any kind of wicked surprise to anyone that I’m a supporter of democracy – I’ve always pushed people to rock their vote, participate and be involved. I usually totally enjoy elections. This one? Not so much. I can’t wait until it’s over – which will be in roughly six generations, if the ugliness...

Ed Note: The following is a press release issued by the City of Castlegar in response to CUPE 2262's notice, given today, of full strike action. The union representing Castlegar’s unionized city workers has decided to take full-blown strike action effective Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. “We have bargained in good faith and at...

Ed. Note: This press release was issued Monday night, after CUPE's delegation to council's regular meeting, but before CUPE's public announcement of fullblown-strike action issued this morning: CUPE 2262, the Union representing city workers in Castlegar has taken to the press to boast about how they dominated the Castlegar ...

Two weeks after the senseless murder of a soldier on Parliament Hill (and another earlier in Montreal) there are several things we know and many we don’t. Obvious questions have been asked and inconvenient ones have been left aside. We know — and indeed could predict one second after the shooting — that Stephen Harper would...

Is Canada at war? This is not the simple question it once was. We have witnessed the steady degradation of language, as Orwell predicted, so that “war” has been cheapened by repetition. War on poverty, war on drugs, war on diseases, etc. have left us jaded about the meaning of war. War on terror is another such phrase with ...

Responding to specific needs in the region, Selkirk College has partnered with the federal and provincial governments in launching two tuition-free programs to get unemployed and under-employed residents the training they need to be job ready. Starting in November, eligible individuals have an opportunity to enrol in Professional...

I was recently honoured to be chosen as the NDP candidate in the new federal riding of South Okanagan-West Kootenay.  I thank all who took part in the nomination election process.  I especially thank and congratulate my fellow candidate, Margaret Maximenko, and her team, for a tremendous campaign—a campaign that added hundreds...

The City is responding to Mr. Norm Gabana’s Letter to the Editor, Bridge Reports and Statements Differ, that was published in the Trail Times on Oct. 23. Mr. Gabana is the individual who initiated a petition against the City’s Loan Authorization Bylaw 2775 that was advanced to provide the City with authority to borrow up to...

This Op/Ed was originally shared on a Boundary Facebook group and then sent to us for publication.  Ever wonder what motivates a person to run for municipal council? While some run with the best of intentions, some folks have really bad, or at least really misguided, motives.  Here are my top five bad reasons to run: 1) “People...

A guy with a gun. That seems to be how it always starts. World War 1, JFK, Martin Luther King Jr., Lennon. Just a guy with a gun. God knows, it’s what’s torn our little valley apart this week, and is tearing our country apart today. That’s no comment on Peter DeGroot, it’s just how it is. We all need to wait for the investigation...