OP/ED: Leggett pens open letter to premier re: health cuts
Shame on you Mr. Gordon Campbell! Our children and those who are sick are being pushed to the side because you are unable to see anything outside of your Olympic blinders. You have failed the people of the province whom you are supposed to be serving, and for that you should be ashamed.My hospital is struggling and people are […]
ATAMANENKO: Home Renovation Tax Credit is worth repeating
The Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC) program recently came to an end. By all accounts it was such a success that people are clamouring for the government to continue the credit for another year. New Democrats agree, and are calling for the credit to be maintained and enhanced to promote energy-efficient, green technology for […]
OP/ED: Is SD 20 forgetting to whom it's accountable?
It seems that, on Feb. 8, School District 20 (SD20) has opted to remove the controversial Planning for the Future Part 2, much to the relief of the parents who were concerned of the school closures. What truly amazes me is the fact that the board narrowly voted to remove Part 2 by a 5-4 […]
ATAMANENKO: Afghanistan
It is hard to imagine that before the 1979 Soviet invasion, Afghanistan was a country where many ethnic groups and tribes lived in harmony with their neighbours. They had a subsistence economy and a central government. Unlike today there was no sign of extremist inspired suicide bombings or a heroin based economy. It took thirty […]
HE SAID: Haiti needs hand up, not hand out
If Haiti wasn’t an unsuccessful nation before the earthquake, it most certainly is one now, prior to the terrible event of Jan. 12 that left Haiti in a pile of rubble, the tiny country was not much better off. Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, boasts of only having 52 per cent of its […]
SHE SAID: Let's ALL prorogue!
I bet the School District 20 board of education is, right now, wishing it had Stephen Harper’s discretionary power and could just prorogue the whole district until this budgetary mess goes away …or at least until the public forgets about it. Of course, they can’t … no more than I can “prorogue” this issue of […]
OP/ED: MP speaks to proroguing and nation-building
When the government has completed the legislative agenda they have put forward in the session following a Budget speech it is usual and perfectly fine to prorogue the House. In fact Parliament can be prorogued on one day and a new budget speech introduced the following day if the government chooses. It is not okay, […]
OP/ED: MP opposes proroguing Parliament
Alex Atamanenko, MP, B.C. Southern Interior, is accusing the Harper government of misusing his privilege to prorogue Parliament in order to suit its own political agenda. Parliament, which was scheduled to resume on Jan. 25, has now (had its leave) extended to March 3, a date which appears to have been contrived to coincide with […]
SHE SAID: Complaining to SD 20 is just preaching to the choir
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 […]
OP/ED: Our own Leggett looks back on '09
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 […]