2011 Summer Works program information now available
Applications for the Columbia Basin Summer Works Program will be available Feb. 22. Funding for the program has been increased to $500,000 up from $390,000 last year to allow more students to be hired. Fully subscribed in 2010, 90 per cent of businesses who participated in the program said they plan on applying again this […]
Basin communities to benefit from record budget
There will be $17 million in new funding in the 2011/12 fiscal year to support social, economic and environmental initiatives throughout the Columbia Basin, the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) announced this week. This is the largest allocation in CBT’s history and a 13 per cent increase over last year’s funding. Budget allocations include: • $3.6 […]
COMMENT: The West Kootenay's Incredible Shrinking Labour Force
Over the last couple of weeks I have heard several comments about a “mini boom” that will result from development projects such as the Waneta Dam, the expansion at Firebird Technologies in Trail, the new casino in Castlegar and some recovery in the forestry sector. Based on B.C. Stats data, we may have a long […]
BC leads in job losses, posts highest unemployment rate outside Atlantic Canada
By BC Federation of Labour Job numbers released Friday by Statistics Canada show British Columbia continues to lose jobs. BC lost 9,100 jobs in January and was the only province to see significant job losses. Most other provinces showed job gains, including Ontario which created 36,300 jobs in January, and Alberta which saw job numbers […]
Construction begins on Waneta expansion project
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily Construction begins this week on the Waneta Expansion Project as the $900-million powerhouse addition to Teck’s Waneta Dam starts in earnest. Crews are working to remove “overburden” in anticipation of blasting for the new powerhouse intake and adit portal areas, according to a press release from the Columbia Power […]
Drainage, density prove problematic for proposed Warfield condo development
A new condominium project proposed for Warfield took a bit of a beating this week as the developer was swamped by citizen concerns about drainage and density at a public meeting in the village Monday night. Kelowna custom homebuilder Paul Nesbitt has owned the 17.5 acre parcel of land in Lower Warfield between Montcalm Road...
Why tax cuts make us weak
I don’t think I have ever re-cycled a column before but the whole question of tax cuts and all the issues it involves never really changes. In November, 2007, I wrote a column for the Tyee and rabble focusing on Conservative finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s five year tax cut plan. This up-coming cut to corporate […]
Sinixt answer could come forth in February
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily The ultimate question of whether the Sinixt Nation exists or not will be one of the main side issues answered in BC Supreme Court when their court case to prevent logging on Perry Ridge resumes in Vancouver next month. Arguments are still in process but have been adjourned this […]
Environment becomes priority for the City of Grand Forks
The growing pressure to address environmental concerns in the Grand Forks area led city council to increase the mandate of their air quality committee to become the new environment committee tackling air, water and climate change.Chaired by Councillor Chris Moslin, the new committee held its inaugural meeting last week. Twenty-one people came out to the meeting […]
Gas prices inflate the rate of inflation: Statistics Canada
Pump prices played a big role in putting annual inflation at 2.4 per cent in December, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. That’s higher than the two per cent rate recorded in the last two months. Higher gasoline prices were cited as the main reason for the growth in inflation last month — they were up 13 […]
