COLUMN: From the Hill -- Cannabis
On June 20th, the House of Commons rose for the summer break. One of the last votes we took dealt with the message to the Senate regarding their proposed amendments to Bill C-45, the bill to legalize marijuana. And the final motion to adjourn included a message to the Senate regarding Bill C-46, which covers new...
City of Victoria wins lawsuit over plastic bag bylaw
More action on single-use plastic bags? Rossland City Council has stated that it was waiting for the outcome of the court challenge against the City of Victoria’s bylaw to ban plastic “check-out” bags. The Canadian Plastic Bag Association challenged the City of Victoria’s right to regulate plastic bags. Now the Supreme Court...
Knotweed costs us all -- please don't spread it by cutting or mowing it.
Knotweed is one of the scarier invasive plants. It doesn't cause burns or blindness, like Giant Hogweed, but it does spread very fast and it causes expensive damage to things like the foundations of buildings – and property values. It can burst right through pavement, take over lawns and gardens, and we have it right […]
Water metering debate; more townhouses; more smoking restrictions; some gain short term rental zoning and some will lose it; and more.
Rossland City Council meetings, June 12, 2018 PUBLIC HEARING: Re: A bylaw to re-zone 2194 Park Street from R-1 Residential to R-1 GS (allowing for short-term rental of a guest suite.) One resident had written and expressed comfort with the application, as long as the off-street parking would be used, instead of the owner and...
Editorial PART TWO: About that referendum this fall, and the voting systems on offer
In Part One, we looked at the first question on the two-question referendum, and expressed an opinion, but did not describe the choices of voting system in the second question. I intend to discuss each of the voting systems separately, with re-caps along the way. This editorial will describe only Dual-Member Proportional....
Guest Editorial: Wilderness, or heli-playground?
Editor’s Note: Many people are not yet aware of the proposal to turn about 700 square kilometres of the southern Purcell Range into a heli-playground, cutting new trails and building lodges, with helicopter flights carrying in skiers in the winter and hikers and mountain bikers in the summer. The...
Op/Ed: How much do we care?
Few people here can recall war efforts in Britain during the Second World War, but more of us have read about them. Most everyone pitched in; they sacrificed personal comfort and convenience for the common good, obeyed blackout rules, saved even gum wrappers for the aluminum content, contributed pots and pans, rationed food,...
Editorial: About that referendum this fall on how we vote – and how we’ll be represented; Part One.
There’s a lot of palaver about the upcoming referendum on electoral reform in BC. The questions that will be asked on the referendum ballot have been released, and the government has made other commitments. Let’s look at these things. First, the questions. Based on news released so far, there will be two questions. The...
The Definitive Guide to Electric Cars in Canada
By Eric Swanson, for The Narwhal You’ve seen them around. They used to look ridiculous, but now they’re starting to look kind of cool. Electric vehicles are getting better all the time and represent the mostly undisputed future of motorized transportation. But should you get one? Like, right now? Or never? Or should you wait?...
Opinion: Your stoke won't save us
By Ethan Linck, for High Country News (republished with permission) The twin summits of the mountain that U.S. Geological Survey Capt. George Davidson called “The Brothers” are 60 miles from Seattle on the far side of Puget Sound. From my office in the biology department at the University of Washington, I can just see their...
