The Official Community Plan (OCP) is a bylaw like no other. The Municipal Act not only requires councils to adopt an OCP; it establishes a time limit for its adoption. The procedure for developing and adopting an OCP is also without equal. The Act requires councils to hold public hearings and it prescribes the form, content,...

Finally, I’m going to talk about actual food (bet you were starting to wonder if THAT was ever going to happen!) One of the problems, for me, is that over the years I’ve stopped measuring ingredients – I just chuck stuff in until it looks right, or smells right, or tastes right, depending on the […]

Dear Readers, This is a message from the aunt of the beautiful girl who was in the fatal April 20 accident in Castlegar. I would like you to read this, and have it in your mind the next time (God forbid) something of this nature happens. Facebook is an amazing site, that can be used […]

Well, Rossland, it's been a while coming: the final outcome of the "DemocracySTORM" on ways YOU felt our city should budge its budget. We asked three questions:   1) What should the City of Rossland spend MORE money on? 2) What should the City of Rossland spend LESS money on? 3) What other key points should council consider...

I came across an old Cherokee story last night about a grandfather telling his grandson about a battle going on inside of him. It is between two wolves, one that is good and represents kindness, love, and truth, and the other that is evil and stands for resentment, hate, and lies. The little boy, engrossed […]

For a while, I was wondering whether Christy Clark and her supporters realized THEY were in government, not opposition! They all spent much of the Liberals’ half-hour paid advertisement on Global TV Sunday night warning against the evils of deficits and debt: BC NEEDS a balanced budget “for our kids”; BC should NOT leave those...

To begin, and to keep my focus sharpened, I will quote what I set out last column as my goal: “My subject for next column is, can we look to “old-fashioned” mystery-teachings to lead us forward?   Can “return” to pagan or medieval astrology, kabbalah, alchemy or magick, work for us now? Does the East have spiritual truths to...

The purpose of local government, as defined in the Municipal Act, sec. 3(a), is to provide “good government for its community.” The Act does not define what a community is, and there are many ways to define a community. For the purpose of local government, a community can be defined as “a body of people living in the same...

I’m sorry I didn’t get this posted in time to make Sunday dinner – I’ll aim to post Sunday mornings from now on, but …well, it’s Sunday morning, so don’t watch the clock. Cartoons end when they end, man. The reason for my tardiness is that I couldn’t settle on a recipe – I kept […]

Hmmmm – it looks like the provincial election isn’t going to be the humdrum rubber-stamp we were all expecting for the West Kootenay region. Bill Bennett, MLA and B.C. Minister, was in Castlegar today to acclaim Jim Postnikoff as the BC Liberal candidate – meaning two-term incumbent Katrine Conroy (NDP) won’t be just walking away […]