Dear Editor, As I write this, patients are travelling long distances for consultations with specialists. Many of these journeys, for simple face to face meetings are made even though the required workup has been completed and the results forwarded. BUT - What if you could visit a GP, have the referral and information forwarded...

The  BC Government has announced changes in the works for  ICBC, claiming these will remove lawyers and legal costs from the system “to reduce rates and substantially increase care benefits, making public auto insurance work for British Columbians again.” The new system is referred to as a “care-based” system.  Here’s what ...

Re-zoning for the Mid-town Transition Project (and a few others); Graffiti wall; the high cost of fire services – still rising; fall clean-up; and more Council members present:  Mayor Kathy Moore, and Councillors Dirk Lewis, Chris Bowman, Stewart Spooner, Andy  Morel, and Janice Nightingale.     Public Hearing– Re-zoning 1920...

This week in the House of Commons we are debating the new NAFTA agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico, known by the acronym CUSMA. The original NAFTA was negotiated by Conservatives and signed by Liberals in 1994 with promises of more jobs and secure access to the largest market in the world. Supporters of ...

This week’s Op/Ed piece by Professor Henry Giroux asks us to “stand up for democracy.”   Sounds like a good idea – but how can we best do that?     Being well-informed One of the things Giroux emphasizes is information – a healthy democracy depends on well-informed citizens. Today, information can fly around the planet in...

Editor’s Note:  This still-very-timely article is from 2017, adapted by the author from a commencement address he delivered that year in Glasgow, Scotland. The emphasis on what youth must do is appropriate to a commencement address – and as everyone not living under a rock already knows, the world’s...

In support of the January 25th Global Day of Action calling for No War on Iran, approximately 80 people who gathered at Castlegar United Church urged all Federal party leaders to work to avoid a catastrophic war.  They wrote: Whereas the USA may launch a war on Iran; Whereas such a war will involve Canada; Whereas such a war...

Canada has major income tax loopholes that favour the wealthy, arguably cost the country (ergo all of us taxpayers who aren’t rich enough to qualify for them) billions of dollars overall, and make lesser-income people pay more than their fair share, while further enriching the already-rich.  Now, the already-rich are pretty...

Date set for upcoming by-election; Community Fruit Press; Plastics Recycling Project; shelter for Garry Camozzi; short-term rental situation unfair?   Councillors Present: Mayor Kathy Moore, and Councillors Dirk Lewis, Chris Bowman, Stewart Spooner, Andy  Morel, and Janice Nightingale. Adoption of Minutes – including adoption...

UPDATED:  Rossland City Council officially announced Scott Forsyth’s resignation from Council in its January 8 “Council Connects” newsletter. There will be a by-election, and the date has been tentatively set for April 4. For more details, be sure to read the "Council Matters" report on the January 20 Council meeting, coming...