When looking for inspiration for columns it is sometimes the little things that keep coming up. This week I saw the name “Boundary Country” in several locations with the main one being the recent new visitor’s guide that has been distributed across the province. We live in the Boundary region – which by the way Wikipedia...

Dear Editor, I would like to clarify for your readers the facts regarding statements that Mr. Alex Atamenenko made is his opinion piece on June 9. It is important for Canadians to understand that the Budget bill will not change the fundamentals of environmental assessment. These changes are about process in order to remove ...

B.C. Southern Interior MP, Alex Atamanenko is extremely disappointed that the Conservative budget bill C-9 was adopted in the House of Commons on June 8.“This bill paves the way for the privatization of Canada Post and authorizes the sale of the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. with no debate or public scrutiny. It also approves...

As of July 1st, the governments of Canada and B.C. intend to institute a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) of 12 per cent, combining a 7 per cent Provincial Sales Tax (PST) with a 5 per cent federal Goods and Service Tax (GST). As well, despite the Provincial bill still not being passed at the time of this column’s writing, some...

The sorry spectacle of Conservative cabinet ministers flying around the world defending banks from a tax to cover their next, inevitable, meltdown is bad enough. What is perhaps worse is that it is being largely justified by the perpetuation of the myth that Canada did not have to bail out its banks.Wrong.We are, according ...

The oil spill that now jeopardizes the entire ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico, and potentially beyond, is a chilling reminder that all is not well with our planet. And what’s actually worse: the amount of oil gushing from the seemingly impossible-to-stop deep-sea oil well or the complacent attitude taken toward the spill by...

I went to the local Shell the other day for snacks, yes it was a late night munchy attack, and as I was perusing the shelves for the appropriate chip a label on a bag jumped up to catch my eye - 100% compostable bag. I was so excited I had to buy it! Good thing it was a chip I like – Sun Chips.Recently I have been having some...

How often do we complain that our governments are passing legislation or bylaws that affect us but we have no control over? How many times a year do we grumble about the high cost of this or that? Well a small group of citizens have pushed hard enough to allow us to have the chance to say no to new taxes. In the next 90 days...

Canada’s flax industry is scrambling to repair damage to our export markets because of contamination by unapproved genetically engineered (GE) flax. This problem will reoccur as more genetically engineered crops are approved without rules that consider existing regulations in export markets and the potential negative impacts...

It seems that everyone agrees, from our regional rural development chair at Selkirk College to the federal government, the biggest problem threatening our economic future is babies. Or rather, the lack of them. Its not that our population is declining, immigration is boosting the numbers, but that, overall, the population is...