Suppressing HST vote no way to regain trust of BC voters
by Dermod Travis BC premier Christy Clark once called the way Gordon Campbell imposed the HST as “sneaky.” Little did British Columbians know at the time, but they hadn’t even seen anything yet when it came to sneaky. With close to 3.5 million ballots being mailed to voters this week, strategists with the BC Liberal […]
Senate page disrupts Throne Speech
During the reading of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s throne speech last Friday , a young page was yanked from the Senate Chamber as she tried to hold up a stop sign placard reading “Stop Harper.” “Harper’s agenda is disastrous for this country and for my generation,” Brigette Marcelle says. “We have to stop him from wasting […]
In praise of massive cuts? The federal budget dissected
On the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Behind the Numbers, David Macdonald drew back the curtain on Federal Budget 2011, uncovering a plan to cut the deficit through an unprecedented cut to a third of public service sector jobs. Click here for more. CCPA Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan, meanwhile, appeared on the CBC’s Lang and […]
Local MP pans federal budget
The following is a press release issued by Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko: New Democrat MP Alex Atamanenko feels that the budget presented today falls short of meeting expectations of Canadian families. “As with all budgets, there are some positive aspects, such as providing permanent gas tax dollars for predictable long-term infrastructure funding for […]
Atamanenko to remain on agriculture committee
Alex Atamanenko, MP, (BC Southern Interior) says he’s pleased he will be continuing in his efforts as one of the four members of the official opposition who will sit on the Agriculture Committee. “I know that Malcolm Allen, our Party’s new Agriculture Critic will do an outstanding job representing Canadian farmers,” stated Atamanenko. “He is […]
NDP to introduce Poverty Reduction Bill
The New Democratic Party of BC has initiated the first step in the creation of a poverty reduction plan that will put children and families first. “Seven other provinces and territories have either committed to or have enacted a poverty reduction strategy, yet despite having the highest poverty rate in Canada, the B.C. Liberals […]
COMMENT: Reflections on the Israeli-Palestinian 'Peace Process'
First of all, the Israelis created Hamas. But before we explore that issue, let’s start with a more important one. Let’s be honest with ourselves. If we can look at the situation from beyond the confines of current political discourse, and look at the emperor without his “new” clothes, we all know that Israel does […]
Tales and Legends of the Mountain Kingdom: “Johnny-come-lately” Robert Scott defeats “Old Timer” to become Rossland’s first mayor
“There is a first time for everything”, as the saying goes, and with a rapidly growing mining camp quickly evolving into a thriving, self-sustaining community that started out from scratch, there were firsts aplenty back in the late 1890s. First mine, first building, first saloon, first lawman, first newspaper and, of course,...
Postal workers issue strike ultimatum
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) declared Monday that its nearly 50,000 Canada Post employees will go on strike if a deal with the crown corporation is not reached by Thursday, June 2, at 11:59 p.m. eastern time, or 8:59 local time. CUPW has presented to Canada Post what it has called its […]
Government proposes cutting HST to 10 per cent, with a condition
Talk about dangling the carrot. The Province is proposing to reduce the total HST rate to 10 per cent from 12 per cent in two stages, cutting the provincial portion by one percentage point to six per cent from seven per cent on July 1, 2012, and a further one percentage point reduction would take […]