Scientists' Warning on Affluence
[Editor’s Note: This is a very long article which supplies answers that such activists as young Greta Thunberg have been criticized for not providing – even though she has repeatedly said, “Listen to the scientists!” – and she has also provided many of the answers suggested here....
Editorial: A conversation with RCMP Sergeant Mike Wicentowich
Recent ongoing media revelations of abusive, discriminatory and deadly police practices across Canada, coupled with reports of numerous racist killings and hyper-militarized police actions from south of the border, have led some to demand “defund the police!” Others have begun using the acronym “acab” – meaning, “all cops...
COLUMN: The vital importance of diversity
Diversity is strength. That’s true in nature and human affairs. But recent painful events have shown society has yet to grasp this. The appalling deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Toronto’s Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Chantel Moore from Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and many others — all at the hands of those tasked to serve...
Petition: Mayor Moore responds to allegations
Editor's Note: Rossland has a rich history of community involvement. That tradition continues today, as groups of citizens agitate for and against various developments in the community. The most recent example is a petition, signed by over ten percent of Rossland voters, alleging various things about the City’s involvement...
Column: Green strings and doughnut economics
After the 2008 stock and housing market crash plunged the U.S. and world into economic upheaval, governments came to the rescue, with trillions of dollars in corporate bailouts. Executives at the insurance firm AIG were so happy with their US$152-billion package (more than U.S. and European countries spent in total on...
COLUMN: From the Hill -- Greener Hydrogen?
My role as Natural Resources critic for the NDP covers forestry, mining and energy—and the big issue these days in that trio is energy. The pandemic has intensified calls for a national energy strategy that will direct federal investments to help us recover from the economic impacts of the crisis and put us on a good footing...
Editorial: The Cassandra curse continues
Remember Cassandra, from ancient Greek mythology? The story is that the god Apollo fell in love with Cassandra, but she did not return his passion. Attempting to win her love, Apollo gifted her with true knowledge of the future, with truth-telling – but despite that amazing gift, she still didn’t return his love. Angry and...
Column: Reflections from an elder in isolation
I’m fortunate. This slowdown is giving me time with my grandchildren who are with me, and to think about what has mattered most in my life, what has given me the greatest joy and satisfaction, and where I hope the world may go after I’m gone. As an older male, I’m in the population facing the highest risk from COVID-19, but...
Local pro climbers raise awareness of racism and violence
Bouldering, a popular form of rock climbing, is trending in the West Kootenays like never before, partly thanks to the release of the area’s first Bouldering Guidebook. Rossland-born and raised filmmaker Liam Barnes films Nelson rock climbers Tosh and Tula Sherkat as they navigate the area’s biggest and most difficult climbs,...
Column: From the Hill -- Wealth gap a drag on the economy
Imagine a country where the top one percent of the population owned one quarter of all the wealth and the bottom 40 per cent together owned only one per cent. Sounds outrageous? That country is Canada. The source of those figures is the latest report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The disparity between the super-wealthy...