In 1952, my Grade 10 civics teacher asked us what we hoped to become as adults. One of the most popular boys answered, “I hope to go into politics.” We were delighted because we knew he wanted to make the world and Canada better, and we admired him for it. Things have changed in half a century. In 1992, my daughter Severn, ...

The City of Rossland has substantially completed its most recent large-scaled infrastructure renewal project – the Spokane Street Infrastructure Project. Building on the successes of our past projects, the continued development and refinement of a new Asset Management Investment Plan and concentrated investments from Council...

“First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin. … I’m guided by a signal in the heavens, I’m guided by the beauty of our weapons.”                                   -- Leonard Cohen, First we take Manhattan Part Two In Part One, I outlined my views of Canadian history as it pertains to immigration and multiculturalism, and the...

Rossland City Council Meeting, Tuesday, November 14, 2017 Present:  Mayor Kathy Moore, and Councillors Marten Kruysse, John Greene, and Andy Morel.  Absent: Lloyd McLellan, Andrew Zwicker, and Aaron Cosbey. (Two out of town, one ill.) Mayor Moore welcomed and introduced Shirley Rhodes, who is filling in as Deputy Corporate ...

As many countries move away from big hydro projects, B.C.’s government must decide whether to continue work on the Site C dam. The controversial megaproject would flood a 100-kilometre stretch of the Peace River Valley and provide enough power for the equivalent of about 500,000 homes. The BC Utilities Commission, an independent...

It seems odd that a major U.S. government climate report released November 3rd didn’t receive more media attention. But then, the main thing newsworthy about the Climate Science Special Report is that it was released at all, apparently without political interference. Although the U.S. government is required by law (enacted ...

When it comes to measures seriously addressing climate change, Canadians have pretty low expectations. They know that oil companies have the ear of both Bay Street political parties. Just last week, for example, the auditor general went public, exposing the Trudeau government’s refusal to provide the information he needs to...

“The West is the best. /  Get here, and we’ll do the rest.”                                                 -- Jim Morrison, the Doors, Blue Bus In the beginning, two words I do not often fare into the waters of moral judgements, but in this column I do. My morals and ethics, or “values” as the modern vocabulary seems to...

The City of Castlegar is planning for the 2018 budget process and is encouraging residents to have their say by using a new, interactive online budgeting tool. “Each year, we encourage residents to provide feedback on how their tax dollars are spent,” said Mayor Lawrence Chernoff. ”As Council continues to focus on Community Engagement as […]

The ongoing conflict over open-net fin-fish aquaculture in our coastal waters has not received much local press. After all, it's a coastal issue; we no  longer have salmon runs in our neighbourhood, thanks to a series of dams on the  Columbia River.  But I notice that we eat  salmon from the coast anyway, brought to us by the...