One of the arguments I’m hearing most in opposition to the city’s proposed parcel tax is criticism over city council spending money on the Millennium Park Ponds – the argument being that council self-indulgently bought a shiny new toy we can’t afford and now residents are footing huge tax bills as a result. Regardless whether […]

A woman named Kay Carter arranged for her own death.  She was suffering constant pain and knew that it would never get any better -- her  neurodegenerative condition might eventually bring death, but not "foreseeably."   The pain it caused was unmanageable. Pain had rendered her life so unbearable that she just wanted it...

Not Learning from Empires: saying Yes to imperial temptation “Take up the White Man’s Burden…”                -- Rudyard Kipling “[G]overning India is the fulfillment of a mandate from God… the miracle of the world.”  – Lord Curzon, British Viceroy in India “Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.”    -- Percy B. Shelley,...

In a letter to a friend, written from her prison cell in Berlin in 1917, Rosa Luxemburg suggested that “[d]isappointment in the masses is always a compromising sign for political leaders.” The fate of Canada’s political leaders in the past decade validates Luxemburg’s proposition. Paul Martin, Stéphane Dion, Michael Ignatieff,...

So, what is everyone's honest opinion of Castlegar's new garbage bins and method of collection? I rent, so I don't even have my bin as of yet and garbage collection is this coming Wednesday. My landlords have requested one. I don't have anywhere to keep my garbage. If I put my old garbage can on the front patio, it is available...

(Author’s note: This column is an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Christy Clark and has been sent to them by snail mail.)  “A human being would certainly not grow to be seventy or eighty years old if this longevity had no meaning for the species to which he belongs.”         ...

By Richard Cannings, MP for South Okanagan -- West Kootenay Last week we saw the Liberal government bring forward their first budget, a document that was expected to deliver on the many promises they made just six short months ago during the campaign. Instead of fully delivering on those campaign commitments, they delivered...

Honourable Minister McCallum, The West Kootenay Friends of Refugees agreed to sponsor a Syrian family of four, through the BVOR program, on Jan.6/16.  As you are probably well aware, this is an exciting commitment for dozens of people in any sponsoring community.  We have spent countless hours fundraising and preparing the community of Rossland BC to welcome this […]

Discussions on electoral reform are as persistent in Canadian politics as is their failure to achieve results. Before any decisions are contemplated on what kind of electoral system would best serve Canadian democracy, we ought to reflect on which objectives elections are to advance in a democratic society. What is a democracy?...

Dear Editor, This week, all School District #20 employees received an email from our superintendent delineating another example of our government manipulating funding formulas to extract every possible penny from Boards of Education. Our School District's 2016/2017 projected budget deficit increased from $650,000 to $950,000...