Emergency Response Centre slows, recovery efforts full speed ahead
The Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) will lower its activation level from Level 2 to Level 1 as of this weekend and begin to focus on long-term recovery and assistance for Johnsons Landing residents and others affected by flooding, sloughs or landslides, the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) announced Thursday. While the RDCK will remain […]
UPDATE: July 17/18 floods have been included as qualifying events for flood relief funding
Finally, some good news for a region beseiged by calamitous weather events – the province’s Disaster Financial Assistance Program has designated overland flooding from June 3 to 12 and June 22 to July 2 as “qualifying events”, meaning home owners and small business owners may qualify for between $1,000 and $300,000 in relief funding to […]
MP Alex Atamanenko to attend a "potluck for democracy" in Rossland on Tuesday
Do you feel Canadians are being led down the proverbial garden path by our federal government? Do you wish there were some way you could have more influence on Ottawa's decisions? And what's all this about moving our riding boundaries? Rossland politicos, mark down July 31, 6 p.m., for a "food for thought" potluck with our ...
"Complacency is not an option"—Attainable Housing Committee presents findings that demand action
The times they are a-changing and housing in the Lower Columbia region needs to meet new demands on several levels, Attainable Housing Committee (AHC) chairperson Janet Morton told Rossland's council on July 16. Last year the AHC—a committee of the LCCDT (Lower Columbia Community Development Team)—hired consultant Matt Thomson...
OP/ED: Clark a poseur in a no-win situation
pos·er noun/ˈpōzər/posers, plural A person who acts in an affected manner in order to impress others a person who habitually pretends to be something he is not (Posers) People that try to pretend to be someone or part of some media ideal in order to fit in is “someone who tries to fit into a profile they […]
Provincial Government misses the mark: BC First Nations’ traditional territories and pristine environment not for sale
The leadership of the First Nations Summit is concerned with the approach laid out yesterday by BC on heavy oil pipelines in British Columbia. “Yesterday’s announcement clearly shows the Provincial Government is on the wrong track and does not fully understand the level of opposition or the reasons for opposition to both the...
OP/ED: "Blanket thinkers"
One of my infantile leftist ex-friends recently referred to the Free Syrian Army as a ‘sectarian gang’. The phrase may well come from Asa’ad Abu Khalil, who seems to have a depressingly large audience, but it could come from any of a large number of blanket thinkers in the ranks of the Western left. I admit that I sometimes...
GOING, GOING, GONE: Sold to the Conservatives
The budget implementation act (Bill C-38), all 400 pages of it, was the latest in a long string of legislative initiatives to have debate limited by time allocation. Like too many other bills that parliament has been forced to fast-track, C-38 was bloated, omnibus and strayed in too many directions. New Democrats demanded...
Kootenay Caravan gets surprise visit from high-powered pipeline opponents in Williams Lake
It was a big surprise for the Kootenay to Kitimat Caravan during one of its events on Day Four of the tour opposing the Enbridge pipeline. In Williams Lake, the Kootenay to Kitimat Caravan set up two mock pipelines in front of City Hall where a group of local activists were waiting. But out of […]
MP calls for change in Canadian international military involvement
As Canada prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014, it is time to reflect on the future role of our military in the world. Our active involvement in Afghanistan transformed Canada into a “nation at war”. The tragic loss of 158 Canadian men and women to this war along with the enormous price tag of […]