MP Dick Cannings to 'Ride the Riding' for third year in a row
Richard Cannings, MP (South Okanagan-West Kootenay) is happy to announce that he will “Ride the Riding” for the third year in a row. Each of the last two years he decided to complete a bicycle trip through the riding, which gave him a unique chance to meet the people, businesses and industries that make up the riding. The...
OP/ED: National lobby group calls for Victoria to give BC Interior a tax break
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on the provincial government to give interior residents a break by cutting fuel taxes, fixing ICBC and axing the Employer Health Tax (EHT). With many interior businesses depending on long haul trucking, tourism and shipping, the high cost of fuel and fuel taxes are punishing...
Opinion: Reconciling Energy and Indigenous Rights
In 2007, Canada was one of four countries to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (with New Zealand, the United States and Australia). With its single-minded focus on making Canada an “energy superpower,” albeit only with fossil fuels, the Harper government feared the declaration’s concept of ...
Column: From the Hill -- Columbia River Treaty issues
Last week I spent three days in Spokane at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region meetings. Over 600 legislators, business people, and other interested folks from BC, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Yukon and Northwest Territories gathered to talk about issues important to this region....
Column: From the Hill -- the Bus Service Problem
Greyhound’s announcement that it will be pulling all its routes out of western Canada at the end of October came as a surprise, and for many it was more serious news. It left them wondering how they were going to travel to work sites, to visit relatives and friends, or to go to university in the fall. For them, the bus isn’t...
Letter: PR levels playing field
To The Editor: One of the things that first attracted me to proportional representation, PR, apart from the fact that it just made sense, is that it is supported by people across the political spectrum. At my first PR meeting in 2004, I sat next to someone from the Canadian Rate Payer's Federation and Andrew Coyne was the...
From The Leg: Change for the sake of change, not always best option
And now we have the heat. Last year’s cycle seems to be repeating itself- first with flood levels far above the old “normal” followed by a heat wave. We were very fortunate last year not to have the massive fires in this region that the Cariboo experienced but the danger is very real. Despite all the water, the surface of the...
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...
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...
