Local investment: putting our money where we live
In today’s interconnected world, it is easy to see how your hard-earned money can end up going towards projects and businesses all around the world. In 2013, British Columbians contributed $4.5 Billion of new monies into their RRSPs, much of that money disbursed outside the Province and Canada. Imagine what an impact ...
Opinion: BC Hydro asking for a loan? Overheard by a fly on the wall
Loans Officer (LO): So you'd like to borrow $10.7 billion? BC Hydro (BCH): Yes sir. It's for a hydro-electric dam. LO: Well that's a lot of green for green energy. How exactly did you arrive at that cost? BCH: Happy to report we went to the same team that came up with the $1.5 billion estimate for the Port Mann bridge....
10 Questions with BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver
By Carol Linnet of DeSmog Canada B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver went from being B.C.’s solitary Green MLA in 2013 to holding the balance of power in the province’s current minority government. While the transition has had its ups and downs for the climate scientist, public scrutiny of Weaver’s position and what he ought...
Assessed property values: a few dramatic changes
Assessed property value changes from 2017 to 2018 Revelstoke residents will see an average increase in property values of just over 21% -- the largest increase in the Kootenay-Columbia region. The next largest increase in average assessed values is 17.2%, in Fruitvale. Midway takes third place, with an average increase of...
A report on seniors, with notes on child poverty, housing, and finally, some music to contemplate it all by.
In the wake of news about an elderly New Brunswick couple in care, married for 69 years, who were separated just before Christmas this year to accommodate the husband in a facility about 45 minutes away from the wife’s facility because of his need for a higher level of care for dementia, our thoughts can turn to the increasing...
BC Supreme Court overturns decision of BC Oil and Gas Commission
The BC Supreme Court has ruled against the BC Oil and Gas Commission (OGC), and overturned the approval of a natural gas pipeline north of Fort Nelson. In an oral decision on December 15, 2017, Madam Justice Gerow found that the OGC’s conduct was “unreasonable” and described the Commission as being “intransigent” (or...
Column: From the Hill -- the wine case at the Supreme Court of Canada
One of the many happy tasks of a Member of Parliament is meeting up with constituents when they visit Ottawa. Last Thursday I had the pleasure of inviting representatives of the Okanagan wine industry to lunch. They and their legal team had just had a memorable morning intervening in an important Supreme Court action, known...
Celebrating the new Trail Airport terminal building
There were crowds of guests filling the new, 4200-square-foot terminal building on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 29, including a large selection of local dignitaries; people were eating cupcakes with sky-blue icing; there were several heart-felt speeches of thanks; people were encouraged to enter a draw for free flights;...
Water Management and Climate Change: Conference
Living Lakes Canada, Columbia Basin Trust, the Columbia Basin Watershed Network and Selkirk College are inviting everyone and anyone in the Columbia Basin with an interest in the region’s water resources to join a dialogue that has the potential to protect communities from water challenges in the face of climate change. The...
Op/Ed: Those Magnesium Claims Sold, or Maybe Not, Who Knows?
West High Yield Resources Ltd. and the Record Ridge claims: Rosslanders have been hearing from representatives of West High Yield ("WHY") about mineral claims on and around Record Ridge that could be developed into a magnesium mine for some years now. Some residents have been excited about the...
