Nelson Councillors at National Municipality Conference: 'Small Town Voices Need to be Heard'
Two Nelson city councillors have just returned from the annual conference of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, held this year in Saskatoon. They experienced it from different perspectives because Paula Kiss is in her first term in office and Bob Adams is in his third and has been to the conference before. The following...
One More Step Toward Regional Transit Sanity
The road is now paved a little further toward a unified fare structure for public transit throughout the West Kootenay. In the near future, the newly formed West Kootenay Regional Transit Committee will present to Nelson City Council a plan for a structure that will have three fare zones rather than the current ten. B.C....
Mene. Mene. Tekel. Upharsin.
The words that title my piece are biblical and mean, roughly, “number, number, weight, division.” They are apt to this moment. I believe that numbers, judgment, and a state of feeling divided, are clues to our malaise as Canadians right now. To say that Stephen Harper divides Canadians like no other prime minister before him...
Taylor puts marijuana back on the table at city council
A challenge to step up leadership was given to Grand Forks city council when mayor Brian Taylor asked them to join the campaign to end the prohibition of marijuana in Canada. Taylor wants council to join in with the other B.C. municipalities, now over 13 of a possible 160 and growing, in the Stop the Violence campaign. The ...
Nelson Activist Weighs in on Province's Plan to Appoint Advocate for Seniors
A local seniors' activist cautionsly welcomes the B.C. government's announced this week that it will appoint an advocate for seniors. “The position will be as useful as the government allows it to be,” says Joan Reichardt of Nelson’s Seniors Coordinating Society. She is referring to the fact the government has so far defined...
SYRIA: Arm the rebels
This was published at Foreign Policy. There are some, perhaps many, Syrians who detest their government and are entirely aware of its treasonous nature — yet wish for the demonstrations and the guerrilla actions of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to stop and for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to regain control as soon as...
LESOTHO: Peaceful elections in an African nation you've probably never heard of
Lesotho held peaceful parliamentary elections on Sunday. The ruling Democratic Congress of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili won most votes but fell short of the required majority. Lesotho opposition parties have formed a coalition in order to form government. Why is Western mainstream media not telling you about Lesotho's ...
What is to be done when 'Harper is us'?
There is one basic, foundational ground on which all politics in Canada must find traction, or not have any effect. This is it. Less than 15% of the people are "political" as part of their daily thinking and activity. They are the few to whom the actions of politicians, and their words and opinions, matter. The rest are not...
Colours of Nelson: Completed and Getting Rave Reviews (VIDEO)
The Colours of Nelson mural is getting great reviews from passers-by. This video was shot on May 29 as the artists were taking down the scaffolding and adding some finishing touches. One of the artist mentors, Bryn Stevenson, had the task of integrating the ideas and talents of about a dozen other artists into a cohesive...
Injured but motivated Basso does marathon across the Boundary
After completing a four day cross constituency marathon New Democratic Party candidate Marji Basso stepped out at a fundraising reception in Grand Forks alongside party leader Adrian Dix. Plagued by a calf muscle injury, Basso completed the marathon-level tour in what Grand Forks mayor Brian Taylor called “good old fashioned...
