LETTER: Canadian democracy not a matter of fairness
Canadian democracy is not a matter of fairness. Since European invasion, Canada has had 200 years of colonial autocracy, then 50 years of elections without votes for women, and an additional 50 years without votes for Indigenous people. In every form democracy has taken since Confederation, it has been used to defend the...
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...
Castlegar/Nelson to host Columbia Rivery Treaty public consultations
The Province will host a series of meetings this month to engage with and update communities about the recently launched negotiations on the future of the Columbia River Treaty. "As we begin negotiations around the future of the Columbia River Treaty, our government is committed to engaging in meaningful consultation," said...
OP/ED: Local advocacy group applauds Clear Referendum Question
The Castlegar and Area Fair Vote Chapter, a local citizens group for proportional representation, welcomed the announcement today of the referendum question by Attorney-General David Eby. “We're pleased to have a clear question for the citizens of BC. Now we can get to work on reaching as many voters as possible in our community...
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,...
Public to help ponder pot problem: city announces meetings in May
The CIty of Castlegar is seeking public input on how to proceed with the municipal aspect of cannibas legalization. In a press release issued Monday morning, the city announced two public meetings to take place later this month seeking feedback and offering information in discussing next steps within the context of communiity ...
From the Hill - MP speaks to local flooding
The flood situation in the south Okanagan and Boundary regions has dominated the news for the past month and the news seems to get more serious by the day. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes and many have lost everything—houses, vehicles, land. Last Friday and Saturday I drove from Penticton to Trail and...
MLA Conroy welcomes new playgrounds for Kootenay schools
Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy said students at schools in Slocan and New Denver are getting new playgrounds, thanks to $180,000 in provincial funding announced by the Premier and Minister of Education today. “Playgrounds should be part of a healthy childhood no matter where you live,” said Conroy, who is also the Minister...
Iniitiative Petition in the works to cancel Site C dam
British Columbia’s Chief Electoral Officer, Keith Archer, has granted approval in principle on an initiative petition application. The petition will be issued to proponent Ion Delsol Moruso on July 3, 2018. The title of the initiative is: “An initiative to cancel the Site C Dam project”. “This initiative petition application...
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...
