Be prepared for extreme heat and drought  As we kick off the summer months, now is the time to ensure people in your community are prepared for extreme heat. Making a plan is the first step you can take to keep yourself and your loved ones safe during extreme heat. Staying hydrated, finding ways to keep your home cool, and ...

With all the problems in the world, from massive inequality to the climate crisis, you’d think voluntary guidelines to improve corporate environmental and social practices would be a no-brainer. After all, addressing those critical issues can also boost a company’s bottom line. But for companies with business models based on...

In communities across B.C., farmers’ markets offer an opportunity for people to get locally grown, healthy, fresh food from the farmers in their neighbourhood. Farmers’ markets also are a place for social connection, as well as a support for food security across B.C. But, we know that this food isn’t always accessible to...

In 1989, I did a radio series for CBC called It’s a Matter of Survival. It examined how humans were altering the environment in detrimental ways, including heating the planet by burning massive amounts of coal, oil and gas for power and transportation. Listeners were so concerned that 17,000 sent in letters (this was pre-email...

By Alex Hemingway As the housing crisis continues apace, the BC government is moving ahead with implementation of the Housing Supply Act, passed in November. This is good news because the housing shortage in this province is as severe as ever. Ultra-low vacancy rates have taken hold in the province’s most expensive regions ...

Building a stronger healthcare system for people is one of our top priorities as a government. Over the past few weeks, we’ve announced a number of important new initiatives to make healthcare more efficient and effective. Your local pharmacist can now assess and prescribe medication for 21 common ailments, like pink eye,...

A long, destructive summer is coming to B.C. forests  British Columbia is poised to suffer a historically ruinous fire season and we have only ourselves to blame.  Warm, dry weather early in the season is part of the problem, to be sure. Climate change is likely making things worse. But B.C.’s history of fire suppression and...

Doing Good, Becoming Better, Following Leaders “I’ve lived my life at the exact half-way point between joy and rage, gratitude and dismay… I would think well of us if I’d never read a history book. Or read a newspaper. Or the comments sections of the Internet… “Is the world more terrible than beautiful? More beautiful than ...

By Maya Provençal, Rossland City Councillor The summer of 2021 was my first summer back in the Kootenays after being away for nearly five years. I was so excited to indulge in all of my favourite summer activities like taking the dog up KC, and swimming at Nancy Greene Lake. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do much of either ...

In the effort to limit and reverse the worsening impacts of global heating, the immediate goal is to quickly stop burning coal, oil and gas. That means rapidly shifting to renewable energy for electricity generation and transportation. But simply switching from one source of energy to another and trading gas-powered cars,...