Four Federal Candidates Ready to Debate
By way of a press release, Conservative Party candidate Helena Konanz issued a challenge to all the other candidates in our riding to participate in a comprehensive set of debates that span the entire riding in the lead up to the election this fall. Green Party candidate Tara Howse was quick to accept the challenge, as were ...
Column: 'We no longer have time to piss around.'
No amount of evidence is ever enough to convince climate science deniers — including the politicians among them. But new studies and observations should at least persuade those who profess to understand global heating but appear not to grasp its severity that it’s time to start deploying the many available solutions. We’ve ...
Editorial: Democracy 101 -- What can we expect from a Member of Parliament?
The federal election will be here before we know it. One of our riding’s candidates in the upcoming federal election is finding that quite a few people don’t have even a rudimentary understanding of the fact that our different levels of government are responsible for different things, or what those things are. “Someone asked...
Letter: UBCIC Calls on the Government of BC to uphold Tsilhqot’in Rights and protect Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny
Dated: July 29, 2019: For over two decades the Tsilhqot’in have battled to keep Taseko Mines Ltd. (TML) from destroying Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny with TML’s plan to create an open pit mine on a place of profound cultural and spiritual significance. Both TML and TNG have filed injunctions in B.C. Supreme Court and are in...
Column: From the Hill -- Oil, Pipelines, Jobs and the Climate Crisis
The conversation around pipelines and oil sands in Canada has been so heated and polarized it’s difficult to sort hype from fact. It’s often hard to have an informed conversation about the issue, let alone an informed debate. On the one side we have people who are deeply concerned about the climate emergency facing us. It...
Opinion: Death by Plastic
Canadians care about the environment. We recycle, compost, take pride in our spectacular natural areas and understand the threat of climate disruption. But we also use more energy and water and produce more garbage per capita than any other nation. In 2017, Canadians produced 1.33 billion tonnes of waste — 36.1 tonnes per...
Column: Time to dream big
Climate protection is not a partisan issue Media and politicians often regard environmentalists as a special interest group with political priorities served by “green” parties. If a Green politician isn’t present or allowed to participate in a public debate, journalists tend to eschew environmental questions, considering them...
Our plastic bag bylaw, and Mayor Moore writes to the Minister of Environment
Rossland City Council Meeting, July 15, 2019 Present: Mayor Kathy Moore, and Councillors Scott Forsyth, Janice Nightingale, Chris Bowman, Stewart Spooner, and Dirk Lewis. Absent: Andy Morel. Staff: Chief Administrative Officer Bryan Teasdale, Chief Financial Officer Elma Hamming, Manager of Operations Darrin Albo, Deputy...
Column: Fracking is neither climate solution nor economic blessing
The rush to exploit and sell fossil fuels as quickly as possible before the reality of climate disruption becomes too great to deny or ignore has generated some Orwellian rationalizations. Somehow a bitumen pipeline has become part of Canada’s plan to tackle the climate crisis. Another fossil fuel, fracked gas, is being touted...
Editorial: What CSIS ought to investigate instead
Our federal government, and CSIS, are focusing on the wrong threats Recently, there has been publicity about a perception that Canada’s Intelligence Service – CSIS – has dedicated resources to investigating law-abiding, peaceful advocacy groups – and their members -- working to preserve Canada’s natural environment and its ...
