For those of you who follow the proceedings in the legislature you will very likely see the best and the worst of the process of government. It is a process steeped in tradition and is somewhat archaic and slow to respond to change. However, I believe that those who put their names on a ballot to represent the people in their...

Alex Atamanenko, MP (BC Southern Interior) couldn’t be more pleased that Humane Society International/Canada has launched a new campaign to support his private members bill C-571 that will severely restrict the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Parliament will be debating Bill C-571 at the end of this month. “There...

I was surprised at the reaction the public has had towards water metres. Not floored, change is uncomfortable and there is almost always a backlash. What surprised me is how vehement and ongoing the reaction has been. I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled quite a bit and lived in many parts of the world. In most places...

For years many people have wondered about the effects of electric and magnetic fields (EMF) on human health. More recently, these concerns have extended to radiofrequency (RF) exposure from wireless technologies like cordless phones, cell phones, cell phone towers, GPS devices, “smart” meters, and WiFi.  In 2011, the WHO...

The funny thing about provincial budgets is that sometimes they tell you a lot more about a government's attitude than what the politicians might have intended when they first wrote the document. Case in point: most governments like to pat themselves on the back at budget time by highlighting the impact of their fiscal ...

“...there’s no myth that holds our culture more firmly in its grip than that you are the result of your parent’s conditioning, just as you are the result of their bodies. That so permeates our thinking that we forget that our "calling" may have a completely different source. The soul may be responsible to a calling that is ...

Dear Editor, Water is of utmost significance to all of us.  We are vulnerable if we don't have access to clean affordable water.  So, water is worth thinking and talking about.  Following are some points I wish to share for consideration: Control the water, and you control the people.  Water is needed for survival.  And, water...

During the last federal election, Stephen Harper promised that the government would introduce an income-splitting proposal, after balancing the federal budget. Income splitting has the worthy objective of making it easier for two-parent families to choose to have one parent work, or work part time, in order to spend time...

Global News recently showcased a story of a bobcat treed by two coyotes. This certainly is not an unusual event to those who have hunted the bobcat with hounds but the story did capture the awe and respect that this elusive nocturnal predator demands. The bobcat is a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species...

Since 2005, Eileen Delehanty Pearkes has researched and explored the natural and human history of the rivers of the upper Columbia River Basin.  She speaks frequently at conferences and symposia throughout the Basin on the history of the Columbia River Treaty and its effects on Basin residents.  She has recently completed a...