My role as Natural Resources critic for the NDP covers forestry, mining and energy—and the big issue these days in that trio is energy.  The pandemic has intensified calls for a national energy strategy that will direct federal investments to help us recover from the economic impacts of the crisis and put us on a good footing...

Roy Edward Conroy, known to everyone as Ed, was born October 21, 1946 in Rossland, BC, the first born of his parents Ed and Irene Conroy. Ed died on June 26, at Vancouver General Hospital due to complications following surgery for a broken hip. He was 73. Ed lived in Rossland for a few years before his parents moved back to...

Remember Cassandra, from ancient Greek mythology? The story is that the god Apollo fell in love with Cassandra, but she did not return his passion.  Attempting to win her love, Apollo gifted her with true knowledge  of the future, with truth-telling – but despite that amazing gift, she still didn’t return his love.  Angry and...

I’m fortunate. This slowdown is giving me time with my grandchildren who are with me, and to think about what has mattered most in my life, what has given me the greatest joy and satisfaction, and where I hope the world may go after I’m gone. As an older male, I’m in the population facing the highest risk from COVID-19, but...

Imagine a country where the top one percent of the population owned one quarter of all the wealth and the bottom 40 per cent together owned only one per cent.  Sounds outrageous?  That country is Canada. The source of those figures is the latest report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.  The disparity between the super-wealthy...

On June 22, 2020, over 100 health experts from around the world issued a statement about the relative safety of reusables compared with single-use plastics, cups, and so on, with regard to transmitting COVID-19.  Their statement can be found here; in it, they state, “Based on the best available science and guidance from public...

The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police has focussed the world on the blight of racism.  In the days and weeks since that event, millions have marched through the streets and there has been much said and written about racism, whether it be conversations around systemic racism or articles about the use of...

  Indigenes and Incomers What freedom we possess! To live as an individual, with choice to create one’s own singular culture! Where else in the world can people do this? Canada, a land colonized by massive immigration from Europe, is lucky indeed to be one of the few. People like me are unlikely to live anywhere but within ...

(Editor’s Note: There are different interpretations of the call to “defund the police.” Few people mean, “do away with all police” – but some do.  Our local RCMP detachment suffers already from lack of personnel, and appears to take a humane and preventative approach, to the best of my knowledge. This opinion piece includes...

By Karen foster, for The Conversation Like any crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to rethink how we do things. As we near the 100-day mark since the pandemic was declared, one area getting a significant attention is the workplace, where a window is opening for good ideas to move from the fringes to the mainstream....