British Columbians who own homes worth up to $1.285 million may be eligible to receive the entire homeowners’ grant this year, after the Province raised the threshold to accommodate rising property values. BC Assessment estimates the value of all homes based on their market value on July 1 each year. The Province then reviews...

By: Rob McLister, Canadian Mortgage Trends   Cheap money fuelled another buoyant year for real estate in 2011.   That helped housing values climb a wall of worry (prices rose another 4.6 percent year over year as of November) despite numerous predictions of a correction. Mortgage balances went along for the ride, growing another 7 percent. 2011 was a […]

A Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) official says no decisions or action timelines have been made for any of the Midway, Boundary and other B.C. area border crossings listed in a document accidentally released in early December.   “Our government is focused on ensuring our shared border is secure while easing the flow of legitimate […]

A skier triggered avalanche left one man dead in Revelstoke, B.C. on Friday as a group of heli-skiers took to the backcountry.Ronald Gregory Sheardown, age 45, from Dubaï, a former Canadian from Stouffville, Ontario, was the victim of the heli-skiing avalanche on Friday, Dec. 30.Shearman was with a group of eleven skiers and...

A leaked government document about the future of Canada’s border crossings — including possible closure, reduced hours, sharing of facilities and remote monitoring —  lists Midway, Cascade, Nelway and Chopaka crossings.   The document, “Small Port Working Group – Initial Results and Paths Forward”, was done collectively between Canada’s Customs and Border Services Agency(CBSA) and […]

By Nicholas Kuznetz in ProPublica.Early last year, deep in the forests of northern British Columbia, workers for Apache Corp. performed what the company proclaimed was the biggest hydraulic fracturing operation ever.  The project used 259 million gallons of water and 50,000 tons of sand to frack 16 gas wells side by side. It...

Armenian and Greek priests have once again clashed, but this time at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, much to the astonishment and amusement of social media users worldwide. Apparently stemming from a dispute over which priests would clean which part of the church, such brawls are nothing new.  In November 2008, for...

It’s that time of year again. The re-set button moment of annual living. When some of us, or most of us, focus on creating change. At least for next week. There are times, of course, when we really do break with the way things have become. When we refuse to tolerate the way things are. […]

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of three articles by Nelle Maxey examining the wide-ranging ramifications for the Canadian public, economy and environment of the new Canada-US Border Security Deal and its ancillary agreements. With my first article on this topic I set the background for Canada's new trade deal with the US...

Selkirk College’s Recycling Department is celebrating 20 years of making the college a greener place to work.Established in 1991, the Recycling Department is run by the Kootenay Society for Community Living, a regional organization that provides support services for a range of people in communities throughout the Kootenays.When...