A reader recently commented privately about the recent "Rape and Consequences" article, and expressed dismay that Canada's "rape shield" legislation is not  more effective at curbing  defence attorneys' strategy of "whacking the victim" in court.  Her comment made me think:  our society's acceptance of "rape culture" is...

Dear Editor On behalf of the women and men who process and deliver your mail and serve you at the Castlegar Post Office, I want to thank the public for your participation in the postal review and especially for your ongoing support during our difficult negotiations with Canada Post. You may remember that on July 2nd, Canada...

(Editor's Note:  Southern BC is also home to most of the world's at-risk population of Mountain Caribou, and the comments in the column below about the need for undisturbed habitat apply equally.  For a BC government document on the Mountain Caribou's need for "large tracts of old-growth forest in the Interior Wet Belt," ...

The Rossland Telegraph   Things are beginning to look up for rape victims.  Recently, a judgment by Alberta Court of Queen's Bench Justice Juliana Topolniski reversed an acquittal of a teen charged with sexual assault.  The language in her ruling made it very clear that she was disappointed, to say the least, with the lower...

The following article was originally posted on the Worldwatch Institute blog. Worldwatch is an independent research organization based in Washington, D.C. that works on energy, resource, and environmental issues. Ask environmental leaders where voluntary family planning fits into their organizations’ missions and goals,...

The Trudeau government is hell-bent on ratifying two massive investment agreements -- the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- that will radically undermine Canadian democracy. Yet very few Canadians are informed about these deals because our mainstream media has been so...

People have harnessed energy from moving water for thousands of years. Greeks used various types of water wheels to grind grain in mills more than 2,000 years ago. In the late 1800s, people figured out how to harness the power to produce electricity. Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, hydropower has expanded,...

Dear Readers: True story:  Recently, a fairly oft-published climate change denier objected to a David Suzuki column I had published.  The editor of a neighbouring publication, whom I like and respect,  suggested that I should publish the denier's message as a "Letter to the Editor" in order to achieve journalistic "balance."...

Rossland's "Climate Action Town Hall" meeting on July 4 saw a room full of concerned people at the Prestige  Mountain Resort posing suggestions on how Canada should address climate change. Richard Cannings, Member of Parliament for South Okanagan-West Kootenay,  noted, "We are not here to debate climate change.  That debate...

Broken records define the climate crisis We’re living in a time of records. More renewable energy came on stream in 2015 than ever — 147 gigawatts, equal to Africa’s entire generating capacity — and investment in the sector broke records worldwide. Costs for producing solar and wind power have hit record lows. Portugal obtained...