COLUMN: On Inequality and Hierarchy
We deserve equal rights, though we are not equally-talented beings “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” I think very few readers cannot identify this ringing phrase from the American Declaration of Independence,...
COLUMN: From the Hill -- Site C and Treaty 8
On February 18th of this year a group of First Nations activists came to Ottawa to speak to the government about the Site C dam project on the Peace River. They met with myself and other MPs in the BC NDP caucus to discuss their attempts to delay construction of the dam until the concerns of their people were heard in federal...
EDITORIAL RANT: Rape Culture Sums Up Human Society, So Far
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...
LETTER: Local postal workers union frustrated over flawed negotiations
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...
COLUMN: What Caribou Need to Survive
(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," ...
OPINION: Rape and Consequences
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...
OPINION: Does Family Planning Have Environmental Effects?
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,...
OPINION: Media Failing Citizens on Corporate Rights Deals
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...
COLUMN: Pros and Cons of Hydro Power in a Warming World
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,...
Editorial Rant: Why I Refuse to Publish Arguments of Climate Change Deniers
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."...
