Residents asked to weigh in on local economic development
A new economic development initiative has Castlegar and area residents completing an online survey outlining their priorities and needs in terms of retail and service businesses in our area. Mark Laver was hired on as Economic Development Manager two months ago in a joint venture between the City of Castlegar, CBT and RDCK ...
Op/Ed: It’s time for forestry to benefit British Columbians not multinational companies
By Bob Williams There was a time when securing a good-paying forestry job in British Columbia was not just an option but an expectation for many. This was a time when the provincial government took an active role in managing our public forests and overseeing the activities of private companies whose workers cut trees, milled...
Dramatic change to regional-based forestry needed to best serve British Columbians and forest-dependent communities, says new report
BC must dramatically change how forestry is managed and governed if it hopes to reverse today’s troubling trends, says Bob Williams, who served as the province’s forest minister in the early 1970s, in a new report for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Williams says it is essential to shift decision-making away from...
Local investment: putting our money where we live
In today’s interconnected world, it is easy to see how your hard-earned money can end up going towards projects and businesses all around the world. In 2013, British Columbians contributed $4.5 Billion of new monies into their RRSPs, much of that money disbursed outside the Province and Canada. Imagine what an impact ...
Canadians should get ready to dig a little deeper
More than 90 per cent of Canadian families with children will pay higher taxes once the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) tax increases are fully implemented, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. The first of seven increases to the CPP tax, which all...
Opinion: BC Hydro asking for a loan? Overheard by a fly on the wall
Loans Officer (LO): So you'd like to borrow $10.7 billion? BC Hydro (BCH): Yes sir. It's for a hydro-electric dam. LO: Well that's a lot of green for green energy. How exactly did you arrive at that cost? BCH: Happy to report we went to the same team that came up with the $1.5 billion estimate for the Port Mann bridge....
Win cash for tuition — Junior Dragons Den seeks student entrepreneurs
Want to win cash for post secondary tuition? Community Future’s Junior Dragons Den is inviting submissions for its fourth annual business pitch competition. Modelled after CBC’s “The Dragons’ Den,” students in Grades 7 to University will pitch their business idea to a panel of local judges, in front of a live theatre audience,...
Canada’s biggest cities much less dense than other major U.S., international urban centres
Canadian cities — including Toronto and Vancouver, which are experiencing an affordability crunch—can accommodate much more housing supply as they have much lower population densities than other major urban centres around the world, finds a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy...
Record-breaking CEO pay now 209 times more than average worker
For the first time, Canada’s 100 highest paid CEOs netted 209 times more than the average worker made in 2016, according to a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The report shows the country’s highest 100 paid CEOs on the S&P/TSX Composite index now make, on average, $10.4 million — 209 times...
10 Questions with BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver
By Carol Linnet of DeSmog Canada B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver went from being B.C.’s solitary Green MLA in 2013 to holding the balance of power in the province’s current minority government. While the transition has had its ups and downs for the climate scientist, public scrutiny of Weaver’s position and what he ought...
