Last night’s public meeting in Castlegar discussing options for School District 20 (SD 20) as it tries to cope with declining enrollment and funding cuts was, for me, an education. First, I was both surprised and pleased to see such a huge turn out – more than 300 people attended, despite the Canada/USA hockey game […]

It’s that time of year again, when people contemplate the previous year, and here at The Source, we’re doing the same. When I reflect on the past year, the first thing that enters my mind is how lucky I am to have my beautiful wife Nichole and the seven years we have shared together; and my […]

As you prepare to open presents or old family grievances, ski deep powder or skate on thin ice, visit or avoid family, schlep the local trails on skis or snowshoes or sled them, offer praise or gift giving advice, hoist a tankard of ale or down some eggnog (alarmingly, ‘chicken milk’ in French), sink into […]

The Olympic Games are always a favourite venue for disgruntled demonstrators, and 2010 promises to be a pivotal time for activists in B.C. We have a loose coalition of anti-Olympic, anti-global, anti-poverty and anti-capitalist advocates who have been organizing protests to take place during the Games but, mixed in with the activists who may have […]

The following is a press release issued by NDP MLA Katrine Conroy: Over a thousand signatures from people in the West Kootenays opposing the B.C. Liberals’ HST were introduced in the legislature by Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy. “The people of the Kootenays were lied to by the B.C. Liberals about the HST, and if […]

Over the past years life has become more difficult for our post-secondary students. This past summer saw the second highest level of student unemployment since 1977. Those that found jobs faced lower wages and fewer hours. Most students need a part-time job while studying and often work long hours resulting in lower marks. Students are […]

To immunize or not to immunize? That seems to be the question that keeps cropping up into every conversation that I have lately, and it’s all thanks to the H1N1 scare. As the wave of the H1N1 pandemic roots itself in Canada and vaccination clinics open their doors, the conspiracy theories around the vaccine vary […]

I’m sure to receive at least a couple of accusations of being racist after writing this column, to which I would respond that I am not; However I am frustrated by what I believe are undeserved special rights the government is willing to grant Canadian native groups. What brought me to pen this was an […]

The first half of this he-said/she-said debate can be found in Rob Leggett’s Right to the Point column, in the Op/Ed page of the Castlegar Source. Rob and I have had some difficulty, lately, in finding an issue on which we passionately disagree. He solved that problem, however, with his most recent column on Winston […]

There has been a lot said about the polygamist Winston Blackmore and his little community of Bountiful, and I found myself questioning why Wally Oppal tried to prosecute him so vehemently. I often wonder if he acted with such passion because of his love for our laws and the justice system or because it contradicted […]