Council discussed three major democratic issues on Monday evening, from local issues of ongoing fallout from the arena scandal and questions of transparency in email communications, to an official council stand on the controversial Jumbo Resort development near Invermere, BC. Auditor General soon to pick her cases   Coun....

Did someone say budget? May 15 deadline fast approaches There’s still no sign of a budget discussion at council as the May 15 filing deadline for municipal financial plans approaches.   Coun. Kathy Moore said, "I'm agitated that it's now April and we haven't started any serious discussion on our budget."   She asked if there...

The Columbia Avenue infrastructure project is going to cost more than our beloved mayor and former CAO proclaimed.  A lot more.  Our new, frequently absent and significantly overpaid CAO Cecile Arnott and Mayor Greg Granstrom have so far neglected, failed, or refused to inform council what the costs of the project have been...

My last column gave examples of referendum procedures with less than democratic consequences and of a two-stage referendum process which conforms to the principles of the Yukon’s Municipal Act. In this column we will examine the rationale for the Act’s exclusion of two politically sensitive issues, budget and taxes, from the...

The occasion of International Women’s Day is an apt time to discuss how abstract ideas of global sisterhood and women’s universal human rights hide the actual differences of class and social location which divide women in the real world, and how certain varieties of feminism not only cannot address the real foundations of women’s subjugation, […]

An issue that came before council last night could prove contentious enough to end up a platform issue in the upcoming provincial election, according to councillor Deb McIntosh. This after a presentation, at council’s regular meeting, by Dana Schmidt, of the Donna Schmidt Memorial Lung Cancer Prevention Society. The issue centres around radon-prevention measures in […]

Below we review key information discussed by council at the Monday evening regular meeting, including the new animal bylaw, a forthcoming grant application for broadband internet, the mysterious federal plan to downsize Canada Post, and other miscellany. Separate articles detail the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture (RCAC)...

Despite the mayor’s protests, council decided emphatically on Monday evening to delay a decision to spend $100,000 on downtown street furniture until detailed finances on the Columbia-Washington renovations are available. Council discussion also quickly galvanized around an idea presented by Coun. Kathy Wallace that local...

Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original form to reflect two corrections: 1) the NOL manager is Aerin Guy, and 2) anonymous surveys were included in the analysis. The Neighbourhoods of Learning Committee (NOL) told council on Monday evening that "time is running short" for Rossland and School District...

In my last column we examined the referendum and its role in a democratic local government. When talking about referendum we cannot afford to ignore the importance of the rules that govern the referendum’s application. As with elections, the rules determine the efficacy of the referendum. Efficacy for the purpose of this...