Council "smells the coffee" and "jumps out of the pool," removing the four-season aquatic centre from the 2012 five year financial plan
As council continued to trudge through the draft 2012 five year financial plan (FP) on Monday evening, four of seven on council decided they did not want the $5 million four-season pool project in the FP, even though a contentious grant application for this project was submitted in December. The debate boiled down to two...
Debate to expand the Aquatic Centre subsidy program stalled until summer
Council voted to delay debate on a policy amendment to expand the Trail Aquatic and Leisure Centre (TALC) subsidy program until after a plebiscite is held this summer. The decision split council 4-3, with Moore, Coun. Jody Blomme, and Coun. Jill Spearn against. Coun. Cary Fisher was also against the delay at the beginning of...
Rossland Radio Co-op gets half their rent waived, but remain on the hook for roof repairs
Council voted 4-3 in favour of a one year deal with the Rossland Radio Co-op (RRC) to waive 50 per cent of the rent for their space in the city's Rotary Health building, 1870 Columbia, and to amortize the full bill the RRC was presented for roof repairs over 12 monthly payments. Two weeks ago RRC’s Marty Cancilla asked...
Canada supports the dark side of international finance
You can say one thing for the powers that be in the banking industry. They’ve got a lot of nerve. This past week our own finance minister Jim Flaherty, along with Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, came out strongly in opposition to a modest proposal to regulate the US banking system. Their interventions followed...
Bahraini ‘reformers’ in Washington, courtesy of American spinmeisters
By Justin Elliot in ProPublica. Earlier this month, a group of three young Bahrainis arrived in Washington to talk about reform in the small Persian Gulf nation, which has been rocked by Arab Spring protests for the last year. The delegation, including an NGO worker and a tech entrepreneur, both Western-educated, represented...
IntegrityBC releases 2011 Broomstick awards
IntegrityBC has awarded seven broomsticks in the first of its annual Broomstick awards signifying the most egregious examples of ineptitude on B.C.’s political landscape from the past year. “Our choice of a broomstick is meant to symbolize that it’s time to clean up a mess,” said IntegrityBC executive director Dermod Travis. “Yet it’s easy to […]
ATAMANENKO: Time for federal leadership on health care
Across our country, no other public social service is cherished as much as our healthcare system and its underlying principles set in the Canada Health Act. Canadians appreciate knowing that whatever health problem they have, help is available to them, regardless of their ability to pay. But our system is not perfect. There are still […]
Time to zip John Baird’s loose lips
It is hard to credit the latest statements and actions by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird. On both Iran and Israel Baird seems to almost deliberately seek to humiliate both himself and the country he is supposed to represent on the international stage. Taking an ultra-orthodox rabbi (whose organization opposes any Palestinian...
LETTER: Nurses' union speaks to Feb. 4 ER closure
BC Nurses’ Union members continue to be concerned about the closure of the Castlegar Emergency services on February 4. We want the community of Castlegar to know that our priority is to provide quality and safe patient care. The nurses at Castlegar Hospital will continue to advocate for improvements so that high quality care will […]
RDKB Town Hall meetings start next week
It’s budget season again and the Regional District Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) directors want public input on how to spend your tax dollars. RDKB directors are hosting Town Hall meetings in each electoral area beginning next week. During the meetings, directors will be discussing how the district operates, the 2012 budget and the 2012-2016 Five-Year Financial […]
