Re: Feedback on release of UNDA Action Plan Dear Minister Lame: On the eve of National Indigenous Peoples Day, you tabled the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA) Action Plan in Parliament. Despite numerous requests for details of the release, and an express interest to be involved, the ...

To the Editor: Interior Health’s job is to provide lifesaving services for everyone in our communities. Health and wellbeing for all means everyone: people injured in car crashes; people who have heart attacks; people with mental health challenges; and people who are living with addiction. We know that shame and fear can drive...

To The Editor: On Saturday, May 27th , renal patients will permanently lose the transport services provided by the Nelson Cares bus to travel to the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital for kidney dialysis treatments. I was informed in the middle of April that the funding for the service was due to run out, so we, who need...

Last August, a dozen teenagers with shovels and pickaxes dug a meter wide “non-combustible” layer around Kaslo City Hall. It was difficult, dusty physical labour in the August heat, but they were passionate about protecting such a gorgeous building from wildfires. Kaslo City Hall is an historic Kootenay gem with a stone...

West High Yield (WHY) continues its efforts to further its application for a permit to go ahead with the next phase of its proposed magnesium mine on Record Ridge.  The Ministry has accepted the WHY application for a permit, but has not approved it.  The review process has just begun. Local residents should be aware that...

Decriminalizing hard drugs is not a solution. On May 30th last year, the federal government announced it would grant the BC government’s request for an exemption from the Controlled Drug and Substances Act. What followed was less enforcement, more opioids (heroin, morphine, and fentanyl), crack, meth and cocaine on our streets...

To The Editor: I am writing to express my total opposition to fracking in BC and anywhere in the world. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves drilling deep into the earth and directing a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals at a rock layer, to release the gas inside. Fracking for gas in northeast BC produces...

To The Editor: An Open Letter to the RDCK Directors and fellow citizens: Dear Directors: I am writing to express my full support for the immediate implementation of the Climate Action Plan you have drafted.  I applaud the decision to take the plan to open houses around the district: that is crucial for public understanding ...

To The Editor: A small group of people seem bent on hijacking the RDCK climate plan. It is unclear why -- the plan is clearly designed to make life easier for rural residents facing the uncertainties of our changing climate. The plan includes no new bylaws or taxation, and it builds on existing programs that are already in ...

Support for oil and gas projects is often justified on economic grounds: they fuel the economy and create jobs. But do those arguments hold up? Even leaving aside the enormous costs of climate-related disasters such as flooding, drought and increasing water scarcity, and pollution-related health impacts and premature deaths,...