Dear Neighbours, Friends and Community Members, June is National Indigenous History Month, a time to learn and show support for the ongoing work of reconciliation. This month, B.C. and the Tahltan Central Government entered the first ever consent-based decision-making agreement under the Declaration Act. This agreement honours...

Science, anti-science, pseudo-science, non-science, pre-modern science:  “There’s more under heaven and earth than is dreamt of” by homo sapiens Definitions: Science: what we commonly think of, when we hear the word. Medicine. Viruses. Stars. Atoms -- all studied by science. We tend to think this knowledge is valuable....

Two of the most important issues for Canadians right now are the affordability crisis—the impossibility of the housing market, the rising cost of groceries and the soaring price of gas—and the ongoing crisis of climate change. Recently the House of Commons debated an NDP motion that combined these two issues.  The motion asked...

It’s not science fiction to recognize that the landscapes we encounter daily, and whatever is in them, can be at various points in a time continuum. Put another way, most of the things we see are stamped with information from years gone by, and the way they are stamped differs greatly. A wooden table was once a tree. So too,...

Over 9,000 people have died in BC as a result of drug toxicity since the government declared a public health emergency into substance-related harms in April 2016. Year over year death tolls continue to rise, with 2021 the highest on record in our province - 2,224 people died, a 26% increase over the year before. “These are ...

Parents, workers and advocates across healthcare and housing sectors are celebrating some key wins the NDP secured from the Liberal government in Budget 2022. “It is day worth smiling about if you’re a kid or parent. By the end of the year all children under 12 will have access to free, quality dental care. The Liberals and...

As the cost of gas, groceries and housing continues to rise, NDP MP Richard Cannings wants to make it a bit easier at the end of the day to enjoy a cold beer. Cannings’ new Bill C--- is proposing to eliminate the federal excise tax on low-alcoholic beer. “An error was made and the result is that Canada doesn’t treat all...

Almost everything in your life, reader, is poised on a threshold of change. War does that. War is back. One man decided it. Deterrence failed. He calculated that expected gain outweighed potential cost, and that there was a military solution to his political problem. He believes what he believes and no one has access to his...

I am a neurologist working in Nelson. I talked to a man this summer to review his Parkinson's disease. He was not doing well. Usually he did not have any history of depression but he was lacking his usual motivation. He lived in a remote area and had lived there on a small remote property with a stream running through it for...

To the citizens of Kootenay Boundary, Everyone in our region has been stressed by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years. We have all been subjected to a barrage of information, advice, and instructions; always evolving and sometimes conflicting. We write to explain our perspectives as Family Practitioners (Family...