Compliance and enforcement officers, conservation officers and recreation officers will be on patrol this Canada Day weekend in the West Kootenay-Boundary, ensuring people are following campfire safety regulations. The regulations, introduced last summer, state that campfires cannot be larger than 0.5 metres in height and 0.5 metres in diameter (approximately a foot-and-a-half by a foot-and-a-half) […]

No, it’s not a long weekend gouge, but expect to pay more at the pumps starting on Canada Day. Effective July 1 the carbon tax on gasoline rises by 1.11 cents per litre to 5.56 cents per litre. Other fuels see a similar increase. However, the Low Income Climate Action Tax Credit also increases by […]

Rural and remote areas of the West Kootenay-Boundary and across the province are expected to benefit from a $100-million, 10-year strategic telecommunications services contract the Province signed with TELUS Wednesday. Under the contract, high-speed Internet connections will be improved for families and businesses in rural and remote B.C., and cellular coverage along highways across the […]

Public debate about taxes may be focused on the HST, but a new report suggests that the HST is only one piece of an inequitable provincial tax system, a system in which the richest 20 per cent of British Columbians pay a lower tax rate than the rest of us. The report, by the Canadian […]

A new state-of-the-art Cross Laminated Timber plant in Okanagan Falls, which officially opened Friday, features innovative technology that will change the way wood is used in B.C., providing another boost to B.C.’s forest industry and regional economic growth. Structurlam’s new 1,400-square-metre plant expansion was supported by $5.7 million in provincial and federal funding. The plant […]

The BC Federation of Labour recently launched a multi-media campaign to give British Columbians another view on the choices they face in the referendum on the HST. “The Clark government’s so-called information campaign on the HST is poorly disguised advertising to persuade British Columbians to keep the HST,” said Jim Sinclair, president of the BC […]

Chilliwack RCMP have shut down a Compassion Club that advertised medical marijuana but was allegedly planning to peddle hash oil and drug-laced lollipops. The Be Kind Medical Clinic, complete with doctors and a pharmacist, had a business licence but was open only two days before RCMP obtained a warrant. Investigators located a marijuana hashish lab […]

A pilot project that will see the installation of up to 15 public charging stations at EasyPark lots throughout the city should help accelerate use of plug-in electric vehicles in the province’s largest city. EasyPark Easy Charge Pilot Project will assess the viability of commercially available EV charging solutions provided by several leading global providers. […]

By: Don McRae, Minister of Agriculture, B.C. The places we live and work are important to all of us, but possibly none more so than communities with a rich agricultural tradition.  These communities produce the food British Columbian families rely on, contribute to jobs we depend on, and are home to countless families, friends and […]

As summer officially begins Tuesday, backcountry enthusiasts can get into the wilderness faster with a new online system that lets them prepay for their backcountry permit in 26 provincial parks, including three West Kootenay parks. The Discover Camping Backcountry Registration System allows hikers, campers and trail riders to purchase their backcountry permit through the BC […]