Beyond Harper: Rebuilding community
Of all the appalling abuses of democracy and ruthless dismantling of the country represented by Bill C-38 one stands out of as representative of the right wing dystopia that Stephen Harper has in store for the 99 per cent. And that is the mentality and ideology behind the draconian changes to EI. This is particularly true of...
Marshall Lake dam faces 11th hour decisions
Local governments and the public have until the end of this month to come up with a plan to preserve Marshall Lake. That’s all the time the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO) will allow for a decision to be made on whether or not the city, regional district or the public are willing and able...
Is YOUR great idea worth $10,000?
Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) is partnering with BC Ideas to provide five $10,000 cash awards to reward innovative solutions addressing issues which will improve the lives of residents in the Columbia Basin region. BC Ideas: Solutions for Stronger Communities is an online competition seeking to identify solutions to deal with challenges facing BC communities now […]
Trail tally not yet taken in terms of WestJet
Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff said letters are coming in fast and furious from across the region in support of the West Kootenay Regional Airport’s bid to entice WestJet to Castlegar … with some glaring omissions. “We’ve received letters from most communities – not all, but most – and we’re getting them from residents, businesses, everyone. […]
Improvements coming to West Kootenay highways and roads
Ed Note: The following is a press release issued by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure: This summer, key sections of provincial highway and local side roads in the West Kootenay region will be resurfaced to improve safety and travel for local residents, tourists and commercial vehicles. A $1.7-million contract has been awarded to Interoute […]
OP/ED: Healthy forests for communities
By: Bill Bourgeois In the past two decades, British Columbians have witnessed two starkly different approaches to managing the province’s forest resources. Following the so-called “war in the woods” in the early 1990s, the Provincial Government responded with a series of initiatives emphasizing land-use planning, greater...
Rossland supports West Kootenay Regional Airport pitch for West Jet service
Rossland will send a letter to support the West Kootenay Regional Airport’s (WKRA) pitch to get West Jet service into Castlegar. Coun. Kathy Wallace raised the motion as a late addition to the agenda at last week’s regular council meeting on June 11. “Part of the time constraint is that this [issue] is coming to […]
Politicians are a shadow. What casts the shadow?
I have been writing about politics lately. Now I will turn my attentions to a wider subject, minds and consciousness. It is a great virtue of history that—through its study--people can be cured of thinking they are undergoing something unique, when in historical fact something very similar has happened before. Harper is in...
Councillor Batycki Questions WestJet Solution for Castlegar Airport
Candace Batycki doesn’t want more flights or more airlines at the Castlegar airport because the increase in traffic would lead to greater carbon emissions. At the June 11 Nelson City Council meeting, Councillor Batycki spoke against a motion that would support an effort by municipal leaders in the West Kootenay to lobby WestJet to […]
Conservative Government’s 2012 Budget Bill (C-38)
With no other explanation, other than to dismiss the legislation as “unnecessary red tape”, one deeply buried line of Bill C-38, the Conservative government’s 2012 Budget Bill states: “The Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act is repealed”. And with these 10 words the Conservatives ‘Trojan Horse’ bill, as it has come to be called, […]