Located in the heart of wine country, Naramata is prime territory for bears to roam. Naramata has been honoured for their exceptional collaborative approach to reducing human-bear conflicts as the sixth community in the province to achieve Bear Smart status. The Bear Smart Community program encourages local governments,...

I have been following hounds the last five weeks and in the process have walked a significant distance in the deer winter range and only on one occasion did I find the bones of a deer. Bones and dropped antlers for centuries have been a strong indicator of a healthy deer herd. Remember for decades the Boundary had the largest...

Effective at noon PDT on July 2, 2014, open fires will be prohibited within the Southeast Fire Centre’s jurisdiction to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety. This prohibition will remain in place until the public is otherwise notified. Specifically, prohibited activities include: the burning of any ...

In part one I wrote about the unjust decision to increase the eligibility age for Old Age Security (OAS) to 67 and a variety of options to save for retirement. There are also all sorts of self-help manuals and financial advisors who can give you a good advice on how to plan for your financial needs when you retire. (So far ...

In our discussions about affordability, the topic of pensions is immediately brought forward. My office receives letters, emails and phone calls every day from people worried about their retirement security and about their children’s retirement future. They are not alone. Despite the fact that Canada is one of the richest...

Adapted from a presentation to classes at West Boundary Elementary, May 2014. Today I want to tell you the story of Maddy the trout. This is a true story, kind of. One that requires a bit of imagination, and no fear of statistics of a very basic kind. Maddy is a rainbow trout (formally Oncorhynchus mykiss for those who like...

The battle between the government and BC teachers moved from the bargaining table to the Labour Relations Board room as both sides argued about the 10 per cent pay cut. The BC Teacher’s Federation told the LRB the government does not have the right to deduct salaries by 10 percent for teachers staging a partial […]

Tap tap tappity tap tap. One of the strongest memories I have from my childhood is my dad tapping away at the computer. It’s not my earliest memory, but it happened nightly, so it was burned into my head. It was a comforting sound. My room was across the hall from his office and he would be working steadily into the night, ...

Dear fellow New Democrat, I am pleased to announce my official status as a nominee in the bid to become your New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate in the next federal election. I am very excited about this opportunity and I thank the NDP and the riding association for the prospect to seek the nomination to […]

I am very dismayed that my Bill C-571 did not get quite enough support in Parliament to pass on to Committee stage where it would have received thorough scrutiny and proper debate. I had hoped to follow an example set by the EU to have the same food safety standards, transparency and accountability applied to the horsemeat ...