Letter: Looking out for the electrified biker
To The Editor: With the transitional relief of Spring lighting up our lifestyles – allowing us some space to refresh and relish our step, making room for hope, enthusiasm and a time for excitement. This year, though, I am beginning to sense a potential conflict while moving around Nelson. I’ve observed two things: firstly, a […]
Opinion: How do we pry apart the true and compelling from the false and toxic?
By David V. Johnson, from Aeon When false and malicious speech roils the body politic, when racism and violence surge, the right and role of freedom of speech in society comes into crisis. People rightly begin to wonder what are the limits, what should be the rules. It is a complicated issue, and resolving it requires care...
Study: Why mothers of tweens are more depressed than mothers of babies
By Lucia Ciciolla and Suniya Luthar, from Aeon The joys of motherhood quite literally wax and wane over time. If you had to guess, you might think that one of the most trying times for mothers is bringing home a new baby, given the sleep deprivation and the adjustment that comes with taking care of an infant. But some might...
Column: From the Hill -- Invasive Species Action Inadequate
Lost in the recent media frenzy over the SNC Lavalin scandal were the 2019 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. These last reports from Julie Gelfand before her retirement focused on protection of fish and their habitat from mining effluent, subsidies to the fossil fuels industry...
Column: When does plant and animal species loss become a societal crisis?
It’s heartening, in the midst of the human-caused sixth mass extinction, to find good wildlife recovery news. As plant and animal species disappear faster than they have for millions of years, Russia’s Siberian, or Amur, tigers are making a comeback. After falling to a low of just a few dozen in the mid-20th century, the...
COLUMN: Rapid Warming; What are we Doing About it?
Another week, another dramatic warning from scientists — met with shrugs all around. This time, a report commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada, “Canada's Changing Climate Report,” warned that this country is warming at roughly twice the global average rate, even more in the North and on the Prairies. Some of...
Column: PART TWO -- Politics, the People, Wilson-Raybould
April Fools: update since Part One Much to the chagrin of our Prime Minister I’m sure, this story adds weekly fuel to fires of controversy. I must comment now about the recorded phone conversation occurring December 19 between JW-R and Michael Wernick. The recording was made by JW-R, unknown to Wernick, and was aired on March...
Column -- From the Hill: Taxpayers and Abandoned Wells
The BC Oil and Gas Commission recently revealed some concerning figures about abandoned oil and gas wells in British Columbia. In one example, Ranch Energy recently declared bankruptcy, leaving up to 500 abandoned wells in care of the Commission. Much of the cost to clean up those sites will likely fall on the shoulders of […]
Column: Schlock and Odd in Ottawa; Part One
Political Sense and Nonsense I cannot help it: the Jody Wilson-Raybould / SNC-Lavalin political storm in Ottawa and in news media has fascinated me. Bewildered me at times, but in the main, it has kept me interested week by week. Politics can be a bore. Not this time, not for me, in this instance. Her resignation, followed ...
Column: Children are fighting for their future. We must support them
“And a little child shall lead them.” – Isaiah 11:6 At 16, Greta Thunberg may not be a little child, but she’s showing tremendous leadership. The Swedish student has galvanized a world movement, pressing adults to remove the blinkers of corporate and political self-interest and recognize that their refusal to respond appropriately...
