The hurt has begun: BC consumers are now being hit with a higher sales tax (HST) almost every where they turn.  And as a result some of those who can hardly afford it, like food servers, are already taking the hit.A friend of mine told me the following story: each morning he has coffee and toast at a neighbourhood restaurant;...

Many people in British Columbia feel both dismayed and betrayed by the HST. It is a $2 billion shift in hidden sales taxes from business to consumers done by a government who said sales tax harmonization was not on the radar screen during the most recent election. True, government reduced income taxes to soften the blow of ...

Police states don’t appear full blown, over night. They are, like any other social phenomenon, part of a social and political process - the end result of a long term corruption of the political culture and the incremental diminishing of democracy. This is a process that has been taking place for at least twenty years in Canada...

Students from Selkirk College’s School of University Arts & Sciences dug into their studies through an archaeological field school at Zuckerberg Island in Castlegar from June 7-11. During the week, archaeological sites were set up in and around former kekulis (remains of underground houses built by First Nations people) and...

Selkirk College’s Co-operative (Co-op) Education program is continuing to provide students with opportunities to expand their learning experiences through effective work placements. Currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Geographic Information Systems Degree program (BGIS), Selkirk student Tammy Steen has had one previous work...

The destructive nature of oil on clean water environments is certainly no surprise to anyone who has watched the news recently. As oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, there is a group traveling around BC this summer informing folks that even the smallest spills of oil can have devastating effects on our environment....

 When is a bank bail-out not a bailout? When the Canadian bankers’ Association President, Nancy Hughes Anthony says so. In her letter to the Vancouver Sun (which published my blog on the issue)  Hughes Anthony points out that not a single bank went bankrupt and therefore did not require a bail out.But call it what you will ...

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...

Dear Editor,I'm writing in light of concerns expressed in Kootenay Boundary communities about the future of the Critical Care Transport Team. I know there was interest when our President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Robert Halpenny spoke about our strategic direction for transportation at the recent West Kootenay Boundary...

Selkirk College’s School of Renewable Resources in Castlegar recently hosted three exchange students from the Universidad Tecnologica de Tulancingo (Tulancingo Technical College) in Mexico.The students, Oswaldo Aviles, Victor Valderrama and Salvador Gonzalez, arrived in Castlegar on May 9 for three weeks to learn about...