Trail Champion

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. 

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.

Another Monday, and more than a million British Columbians head off to work: to earn a living,  pursue careers, provide services for clients, satisfy their own desire to contribute to society and share the stories and challenges of their lives with their closest co-workers. Lisa Reimer, however, is forced to stay home.

There’s no easy answer for School District 51’s Board of Trustees in the case of the possible closure of the Beaverdell Elementary School if the decision is based on the public meeting held on Tuesday, Apr. 27 in Beaverdell. The community came out in full force to support their small school with over 100 people attending the first meeting in the closure consultation process. The board heard their impassioned call to keep the school open, but did not comment or engage in any discussion at the meeting.

As I drove home from the emotionally charged public meeting about the possible closure of the Beaverdell Elementary School, CBC radio was my company. The program was about the shift in our historical culture when the responsibility for caring for the population shifted from church to state. For a large part of history, churches provided education, as well as spiritual, physical and emotional care. At some a point in time that focus shifted and people turned to the state to provide some of these important institutions.

Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy will not be available for her official duties as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for approximately one month, beginning on May 7th, 2010.

Conroy and her husband Ed will be participating in a ‘domino’ kidney transplant in May, which will ultimately see Ed receive a much needed kidney transplant. 

The Columbia Basin Trust is offering Community Service awards in partnership with four Basin-based Colleges. The 22 awards, valued at $2,000 each, are divided amongst students attending Selkirk College (10), College of the Rockies (10), Valemount Campus of College of New Caledonia (1) and the *Revelstoke Centre of Okanagan College (1). Residents who are thinking of going back to school, but need some financial help, and have been actively volunteering in their community may qualify for these awards.