COMMENT: Separating political myth from reality In B.C.
Myths are powerful things, especially when they feature forces of good (“free enterprise”) and evil (“socialists”), and evoke heroes (BC Liberals), villains (BC Conservatives) and monsters (NDP) to spin a good yarn that is rooted in fear and in distortions of blindly accepted “facts.” Great myths derive their greatest power...
MP pans pre-Christmas cuts to rural postal service
Ed Note: The following is a letter hand-delivered to Hon. Denis Lebel, P.C. MP today by BC Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko: Dear Minister Lebel, I am writing to express my deep concern about upcoming reductions in service to rural postal outlets in western Canada that will soon be rolling out across my riding of […]
'Pro-Democracy' Groups Behind Myanmar Refugee Attacks
AltThaiNews October 29, 2012: People don't just come out into the streets and begin murdering each other. There are always instigators on one side, perhaps both, leading the anger and violence. In the case of targeted Muslim Rohingya refugees in Myanmar's Rakhine state, those leading the the violence against them, which most recently involved 26 […]
CBT Youth Advisory Committee welcomes new members
The Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) is a group of involved youth from around the Columbia Basin who provide advice to Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) and a youth perspective on a variety of issues facing today’s youth. Members—called YACers—commit to a one-year term and have an opportunity to meet, work and travel with a group of […]
COMMENT: The Endbridge corporate character
A corporation is not a person. Words, of course, convey the impression that it is because language uses the same terms to refer to a corporation as an individual. “John” can be transposed to “Enbridge” without a change in sentence structure. Even though a corporation is neutered by the pronoun “it”, this substitute for a noun...
Rossland council wants public input on leash laws and smoking bans
Following council's request in September for a "smoking dogs" bylaw, city staff returned to council on Monday with a report on bylaws used by other communities to control dogs and restrict smoking in public areas. Council voted to provide several opportunities for public input before contemplating any change to either the ban...
Kootenay Columbia Trail Society plans a major expansion to attract new riders
Stewart Spooner of the Kootenay Columbia Trails Society (KCTS) has spearheaded an effort to build a new 17 kilometre bike and hike trail from Red Mountain Resort to Nancy Greene Pass. The intermediate level trail will be less technically demanding than other trails in the existing network. "The motivation behind this big...
COMMENT: The great Canadian sell-out
It couldn’t have been clearer in a recent interview for Maclean’s magazine, that International Trade Minister Ed Fast viewed maintaining sovereign control over our public services, investments, intellectual property, environmental protection, government procurement and labour mobility as completely irrelevant in sweeping...
"Rossland Gateway" property applies for commercial zoning to build a metal shop
Council has advanced Curtis Nichols' application to rezone his property at 926 Black Bear Drive—opposite the junction of Highway 22 and the Cascade Highway—from R1 Residential to C2 Commercial Service, and a public hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 12. Nichols plans to subdivide his lot, keeping the southern portion...
Hospital facilities review meets with mixed reaction
It looks like the Kootenays are finally getting the hospital review that’s been discussed for months here in the tri-city region, and it may completed as soon as Nov. 30 of this year … what remains unclear is whether the scope of the study will take an adequate snapshot of the area’s capacity and needs. […]