Rossland Telegraph

Canada-wide changes proposed by Canada Post that will see local mail rerouted from rural communities to sorting centres in cities have drawn the ire of local NDP Member of Parliament Alex Atamanenko (BC Southern Interior).

“This completely defies all logic,” said Atamanenko.

“In this riding, the result will be that some letters will travel over 1,200 kilometres, round trip, for processing in Vancouver on the weekends and back again prior to delivery on Monday.”

Canada Post is standing by a decision to ship local Castlegar mail over 1,200 kilometres (round-trip) for sorting in Vancouver, even if it's only being mailed a couple of blocks. This, despite the condemnation of union representatives and political leaders.

Colleen Frick, director of communications for Canada Post, explained the move won't impact customers or jobs in the area.

“It's not just Castlegar,” she said. “It's quite a few B.C. Interior communities. In those communities, we have twin boxes.”

Leave it to the NDP to introduce a Private Members Bill that I believe will not only be devastating to the Canadian economy but also one that is seemingly based on inconclusive science.

Bill C-311 requires the Canadian federal government to set regulations to attain a midterm target to bring green house gas emissions 25  per cent below 1990 levels and a long term target to bring emissions 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.

To oppose Bill C-311, a climate change legislation passed in the House of Commons on May 5, you must first reject the concept of climate change... so let's start there, shall we?

Can you find scientists to debunk the current modern reality that is climate change?

Sure you can!

You can also find scientists who'll tell you the government is injecting nano-tech mind-control chips into your blood stream through immunizations, others who will show you 'proof' the U.N. is run by alien cyborgs, and still others who will attest that O.J. really was innocent.

My colleague, Nathan Cullen MP – Skeena-Bulkley Valley recently issued the following Op-ed which I would like to share with you.

Days after the Deepwater Horizon offshore oilrig blew up off the coast of Lousiana killing 11 workers, British Petroleum assured the public that they would contain the leak quickly. They were wrong.

The leak has now quintupled to almost one million litres a day. This is an environmental and economic disaster beyond even that of the Exxon Valdez. 

Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) marks two milestones this year; a 15 year anniversary combined with a $15 million Delivery of Benefits budget. 

The month of May brings forth memories of war for those of Dutch descent. Memories of invasion and freedom. My mother was only five-years-old when the German soldiers took control of her homeland, Holland, on May 10,1940. Five years later, on May 5, 1945, the country was officially liberated by Canadians. For many Dutch immigrants here in Canada, these dates bring forward both pain and happiness.

After years of farmers protesting regulations developed in 2006 by the B.C. government that prevented farm gate sales of meat without use of a licenced abattoir, the province has sent the industry into confusion with the introduction of two new licences. Local producers are left feeling that they have been chasing their own tails for the last four years, spending time and money trying to build facilities that would provide local meat inspection. Now, it seems that the province is opening up the regulations to allow livestock producers to slaughter their animals again.

With the momentum gained by community donations, partners have come forward to make the Christina Lake North Bay Buoy Project to protect sensitive wetlands in the north part of the lake possible. The project, a partnership between the Christina Lake Stewardship Society (CLSS), the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB), and B.C. Parks, put out a call for support to raise the $6,000 needed to purchase equipment and in just two weeks matching funds guaranteed that the project will be done this summer. In fact, so much funding was received they are able to do an expanded project.

When I saw B.C. was taking a hard-line stance against impaired driving, I wanted to cheer ...I was delighted.

Turns out, I should've reserved judgment until I had more of the facts.

I'm all for throwing the book at recidivistic drunk drivers – in fact, I think it should've been done years ago. Why wait until someone dies – why not punish these folks before their actions result in vehicular manslaughter? It's a no-brainer, right?

Maybe so, but that's not what these new laws are about, now is it?