LETTER: B.C. needs to fix its record of brutal inaction on poverty policy
Dear Editor, In response to Deb McIntosh’s recent letter re: the Community Harvest Food Bank’s struggles to assist families and individuals living in poverty, we suggest it is high time that our wealthy province makes some meaningful policy changes so that the families of one in five children in BC don’t have to be dependent...
On Choosing a New Electoral System
Hon. Maryam Monsef, Minister of Democratic Institutions, House of Commons, OTTAWA, ON K1A 0A6 Dear Minister Monsef, RE: Electoral Reform Democracy has been my life-long passion, and I believe that one of democracy’s primary elements is the process by which citizens elect their representatives. My reason for writing...
RANT: From coffee cups to remembrance to refugees - we are getting it ALL wrong
There’s an insidious either/or mentality invading our political lexicon that I think is actually becoming an outstandingly effective camouflage for genuine evil, and it’s making me crazy to see how few people seem to realize how totally they are being manipulated by it. It starts off benign enough – in fact, in such a stupid...
LETTER: Condemning kindness makes no sense - spread it, instead
A flurry of letters and Facebook posts demanding we stop the Syrian refugee immigration and take care of our homeless and vets before refugees got us thinking. We have made donations to two school Christmas funds, the Nelson Food Cupboard, the Calgary Food Bank, the Calgary Mustard Seed, the Poppy Fund, the Canadian Red Cross,...
Head of Food Bank says local working families going hungry, homeless
Dear Premier Clarke, Katrine Conroy MLA, Richard Cannings MP, Prime Minister Trudeau, Castlegar Community Harvest Food Bank can no longer meet the needs of the working poor. We can not continue to rob Peter to pay Paul. We do not have the capacity to raise any more funds than we already do. We operate 100-per-cent on volunteers...
OP/ED: How Common Are Doctors' Errors?
“Most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetimes, sometimes with devastating consequences.” This statement is from a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine. The article addresses a common problem in North American medical practice: wrong diagnoses, and inappropriate treatments based on wrong diagnoses. The article is by Dr. […]
Time out needed for bullies at city halls
There's something about local government that brings out the worst in some people. Staff get spat on. Mayors and councillors are often the victims of what can only be described as cyberbullying. In some towns, process servers would be well-advised to offer volume discounts to local governments. It takes place every which way...
Selections From the Past Four Years of 'Arc'
Why a retrospective? Believing as I do that history is of profound importance, I seek to discern the purposes and themes I have explored with constancy over the years of publishing this column. I hope by doing this to present a coherent statement of the issues and interests that have stirred current events in culture, […]
Thinking About Paris: Roots of Terrorism
The next time any of us go out to a restaurant, to a sports event or to a music venue, will we be imagining what it would be like to be suddenly confronted by ISIL Jihadists shooting at us with machine guns? In all likelihood we will. And we should, because every Western nation involved in illegal wars and regime change ...
Practical Financial Solutions: Planning for blended families
Blended families are becoming the national norm. Finances are challenging for any relationship and they become even more challenging in the case of multiple marriages or common-law relationships, especially when they include children from previous and current relationships. If yours is a blended family, here is some basic ...
