One of the great things about not knowing exactly what it is you're looking for is the shock that can come when you do find something. It started with some sponsored advertising content for Mother's Day by the now defunct West Coast Tap House in a May 2012 issue of the Goldstream Gazette. The surprise, however, came in a Times...

In my travels throughout the province, I get to meet people who have different ideas about what makes B.C. a good place to live. Something that stands out to me is that most people agree on the power of education to change lives. When I met a young woman named Makayla, the life-changing effects of higher education really hit...

To The Editor: When I arrived in Nelson 49 years ago, I was deeply saddened by how the local environment was being treated. The City of Nelson was burying garbage on its Kootenay River waterfront and occasionally burning cardboard and wood waste there. The Kootenay Forest Products mill pumped smoke into the air and spewed fly...

This study analyzes the first budget of the new Progressive Conservative government in Ontario, tabled in early April 2019, to assess the extent to which it reflects either a fundamental shift in fiscal policy from the policies of the Ford government’s predecessors, or continuity with the fiscal policies of the McGuinty and...

To The Editor: There will be a Federal election this October and I’m wondering what the various parties will tell us what should be of concern: SNC Lavalin, taxing sugary drinks, immigration or a price on carbon?  When I consider that everything we do happens within “the environment”, locally and globally and that environment...

A recent survey by Insights West, a Western-based, full-service marketing research company, reveals most of BC does not support government funding for private schools in the province. In a media release, the new poll said that four-in-five British Columbians (78%) oppose providing taxpayer funds for elite or preparatory private...

To The Editor: On June 6, 1944, I arrived by boat on Juno Beach in Normandy, France, with the Canadian Scottish Regiment. My role was in the mortar platoon. On June 17, I was based in a barn, anticipating an attack that never came. I went into a nearby shed to disarm the grenades when one exploded, resulting in the loss of ...

You can virtually take it to the bank. Getting elected to public office often comes with a whole new set of friends and not always pals that have your best interests at heart. A few of them could be classified as “the undesirables.” It's those few that likely played a role in the United Nations Convention against Corruption...

Many British Columbians were shocked when they heard the findings of the Expert Panel on Money Laundering in Real Estate. More than $7 billion in dirty money was laundered in B.C. last year alone. About $5 billion of that went through B.C.’s real estate market, driving housing prices up and hurting families, seniors and...

Pity assignment editors in newsrooms across B.C. this month. No shortage of material. Monty’s Showroom – now ashes, after the Plaza Hotel in Victoria burned to the ground – found itself back in the news, gang activity on the West Shore on Vancouver Island regrettably contributed to news cycles, the scandal at the B.C. legislature...