The way to ruin the American people is to give them everything they want. -- John Steinbeck The nobility of poverty I’m always hearing people extol the virtues of humanity when we are in a dire crisis, whether it is earthquake, flood, fire, famine, tsunami, or war. We are at our best when we have to help each other, because...

Our party is committed to earning back Canada’s respect on the world stage so that we can win back our seat at the Security Council table.  We want to project a bold and ambitious agenda for cooperation, and to build a more compassionate, peaceful and sustainable world. Since that work has already begun, I thought it might ...

Whales have shorter gestation periods. For the third time since the Local Government Elections Task Force tabled its report, the B.C. government has been stricken with a case of cold feet. In 2010, the task force made 31 recommendations to improve local democracy, including: setting campaign spending limits for candidates; ...

It’s so common to see loose dogs that people don’t often think twice about it – start thinking. We have leash laws for the comfort and safety of everyone including our beloved dogs. It seems obvious that dogs with behavioural challenges should be on a leash. You never know how they are going to react in any given circumstances...

A single parent of two boys recently went public in a letter to the editor (Terrace Standard) with a detailed outline of the harsh financial reality facing her due to difficulties in collecting maintenance payments the boys’ father has been ordered to pay. Her reality is not unheard of, and the defaulting parent is not a...

With summer holidays over, and the return to school for many children, memories of our own educational experiences may come to mind.  However, there is a large disconnect between our experiences and memories of what school was like, and the reality of what education in today’s society is all about. Even at the post-secondary...

  “When your only tool is a hammer, you see nails everywhere.” attributed variously to: Mark Twain; Abraham Maslow; an anonymous rabbi. The twentieth century’s mark on the mind Historians of recent history have a rough consensus that the century that closed in 1999 witnessed the tremendous power of totalitarian ideologies –...

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s recent mission to Latin America cannot mask Canada’s unprecedented diplomatic isolation in the hemisphere. Despite shifting ‘aid’ to the region and claiming to have made Latin America a priority, Ottawa is increasingly offside with a region breaking free from centuries of Western imperialism. On July 9 the Organization of American […]

Just across the border, in the sleepy town of Northport WA, lies a place like no other.  It can provide you an escape from the everyday, and has a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that seems to have been lost as the years have progressed.  Rosslanders have been coming down here regularly for years now, […]

Letter to the Editor: This week is Gay Pride Week in the Kootenays. This is a celebration of love and understanding to millions of people worldwide and, in many cases, the acknowledgment of equal rights for LGBT couples. I am afraid to say that I have been remiss in my duties as a councillor as I did not bring up the topic ...