What to do about the Senate? Abolishing it would put a merciful end to this remnant of royal trappings. Judging by the experience of the past few years, however, abolishing the Senate would bring us closer to a Vladimir Putin style democracy. I do not want to abolish the Senate, I want to see it restructured with a new focus...

Aaron Cosbey has objected to the unceremonious removal of Planner Mike Maturo from City Hall.  Was Mr. Maturo’s termination done properly?  The short answer is no, it wasn’t, but not for the reasons suggested by Mr. Cosbey.  I can’t agree with Mr. Cosbey’s lavish assessment of Mr. Maturo’s accomplishments and contributions ...

This is of more than academic concern right now as the Harper Conservative government will eventually unveil the full details of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). From what we know about it now this agreement is little more than a ‘corporate bill of rights’. It gives corporations...

What would Rossland’s longest running history column be without a piece on the most famous Rosslander ever? It would surely be much more desirable than this week’s plan B of mine, which was a history of Rossland’s longest running history column. That would be exciting - not. So I decided to provide my readers young and old,...

To The Editor In late September, at a Council meeting packed with public wanting to talk about Cooke Ave. rezoning and broadband, Council noted its in-camera decision at meeting two weeks earlier in which they voted not to renew the contract of the City’s Manager of Planning, Mike Maturo.   Maybe it’s that there was so much...

Even though I found it stultifying, the secondary school I attended was considered quite progressive, largely because students could elect in third year to stream their arts and science education into arts or science. I couldn’t wait to free myself of math and science. I was fine with basic arithmetic, but when teachers started...

Boston, Massachusetts is a city of firsts. One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded by Puritan colonists in 1630. The first public school in the country opened in Boston in 1635 and the first American subway started up there in 1897. The Innovation Cities™Program has ranked Boston as the number […]

Forty days of flood, forty days in the wilderness, forty names of God…. In our tradition, 40 is a Big Deal. As a historian, I think our Western tradition is a big deal too. It has created the global cultural matrix wherein all other traditions now mix. I reference Western historical icons of culture in the name of this column,...

Especially with the damp and now the cold weather this year, I’ll be expecting phone calls from parents with sick children (or themselves if they were dipping into the candy too much) about a week after Hallowe’en. I see many colds and flus due to the increased amount of sugar. As I stated in a past article, 1 tsp of sugar ...

I was talking with a friend from out of town the other day, and she was inquiring about ‘smart’ meters.  In her area, smart meters have not been mandatory, but more recently, BC Hydro has produced an ultimatum: either have the smart meter installed, or pay an extra $35 charge each month to keep the analog meter.  This prompted...