People and property paramount in mayor’s annual address to community
It is the people that make a city a great place to live. And on Monday night in the annual city reception — municipal government’s year-end nod to the year that was — it was the people of city administration and the community that made up the heart of the mayor’s annual address. Delivered at the Prestige Lakeside Resort, Mayor...
Editorial: An object lesson from Uzbekistan
A Kootenay man, environmental consultant Michael Keefer who lives in Rossland and Cranbrook, was invited to go to Uzbekistan for a conference on solutions to the Aralkum Desert problem. While there, he toured the area and took many hundreds of pictures. When I sat down with Keefer, who told me fascinating tales ...
Last bills mark end of MSP premiums in BC
The BC Government recently announced that people in B.C. will receive their last bill for Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums in December 2019, putting more money back into the pockets of British Columbians, as the B.C. government works to make life more affordable for all. “The cost of health care should not be a burden on...
Water, sewer and garbage collection rates set to rise in 2020
Several utility rates are expected to increase with inflation next year as the city continues to rebuild and reinforce its infrastructure. The city is proposing atwo per cent increase in water rates and a 1.5 per cent increase in sewer rates for the coming year — subject to final approval — and an increase of $5 to the flat...
Location committee struck as regional district office space becomes endangered species
It’s a tale of two solitudes. Or a tale of too little space. With the Regional District of Central Kootenay building on Lakeside Drive no longer able to contain enough office space for its departments, staff have been divided up between two locations. Parks and Recreation and Fire and Emergency Services have taken up residence...
Op/Ed: When it comes to climate change, action, accountability go hand in hand
I will never forget the moment a six-foot tall teenager told me he felt small. He was one of ten youth climate activists I met with at the height of the September climate strikes. At that meeting, this young man told me the global scale of the climate crisis makes him feel like the impact he can have is miniscule. I told him...
Bill 41 passes unanimously in BC Legislature
Scott Fraser, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation; Regional Chief Terry Teegee, BC Assembly of First Nations; Cheryl Casimer, First Nations Summit; Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Union of BC Indian Chiefs; and Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and member of Tsartlip First Nation, have issued the...
Regional district considers evacuation plan requirement for special event permit
The wildfire season in the summer of 2017 that threatened the region and the biggest event in the West Kootenay has prompted the regional district to consider protective and proactive legislation. The Regional District of Central Kootenay has developed a service case analysis for establishment of a special event permit service...
Province will act to discourage vaping
The Province will restrict vapour product access, flavours, nicotine content, packaging and advertising, and intends to increase taxes on vapour products, to protect youth from risks associated with vaping. “Some vaping manufacturers are using flavours and advertising to entice and normalize vaping for youth – introducing a...
Making history at the beginning of reconciliation
As I sit down to write this column, Canadians have woken up to a new Liberal minority government, the leaves are falling in the Kootenays and many people here at the BC Legislature are planning for a historic day Thursday, October 24. This is the day when our government introduces a bill that implements the United Declaration...
