BCTF President calls upon Premier to meet and resolve dispute
BCTF President Jim Iker is calling upon Premier Christy Clark to meet with him to help reach a fair settlement to the current strike/lockout before September 2. Over the weekend in talks with Vince Ready, the BCTF trimmed its package by $125 million. By contrast the BC Public School Employers’ Association did not bring one ...
BCTF too far from affordability zone for mediation
Minister of Education Peter Fassbender issued the following statement Saturday following the decision by mediator Vince Ready to leave talks: "Today veteran labour mediator Vince Ready determined that the parties are too far apart for mediation at this time. "I'm very disappointed for students, parents and teachers. What...
Kootenay Entrepreneurs get a Podcast and Radio Show all their own!
Imagine the opportunity to sit down for a candid, in-depth conversation with the CEO founder of one of Canada’s top three employers (Globe and Mail 2014), or with the co-founder of the third-largest events website in the world. Or the chance to pick the brain of a nurse-turned-designer who has transformed multiple ideas into...
Canada's labour laws restrict business growth
The Fraser Institute As Labour Day approaches, Canada and biased labour relations laws are failing workers, restricting their choices, and potentially stunting job growth and investment, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. The study, Labour...
Nelson Fire crews respond call at Leafs Recycling Depot
The Nelson Leafs Recycling Depot was the scene of a vehicle fire caused by exploding batteries Wednesday morning. Nelson Fire Chief Simon Grypma and two menbers of the on-duty staff responded to the call at 10:46 a.m. near the local recycling facility at 120 Silica Street. "The fire appears to have originated in a bag of...
New metric shows Lower Columbia to be thriving
The Lower Columbia Region is thriving! The most recent economic statistic in a series of published metrics highlighting our thriving economy is the number of non Canadian visitors entering the Lower Columbia region via our local, Paterson and Waneta, borders. From January through May 2014, a whopping 11,800 non Canadian...
CBT hire a student program continues in fall
Businesses and organizations around the Basin can once again get support to hire students through Columbia Basin Trust’s School Works program. Applications are available at and are assessed on a first-come, first-served basis. The program provides a wage subsidy of up to $8/hour to encourage employers to provide part-time...
No movement in impasse between city and union workers
The impasse between the City of Castlegar and its union workers seems as relentless as ever today, after the second day of labour action. While not fully on strike per se, CUPE 2262 has issued a ban on overtime work as a first step after issuing 72-hour strike action notice on Friday, Aug. 15. Chris Barlow, city director of...
BC Government announces Independent inquiry into the Mount Polley tailings pond breach
The Government of British Columbia, with the support of the Soda Creek Indian Band (Xats’ull First Nation) and Williams Lake Indian Band, has ordered an independent engineering investigation and inquiry into the Mount Polley tailings pond breach, and independent third-party reviews of all 2014 Dam Safety Inspections for every...
RDCK works to make HB Mine’s tailings pond safe
It is hoped that constant monitoring of the tailings pond at the HB mine site near Salmo, along with a lawsuit designed to bring Teck Mining to the table, will prevent a disaster on the Salmo River similar to the Mount Polley tailings pond collapse earlier this month in the BC Interior. Mount Polley Mine’s earth dam collapsed...
