Editor, The Nelson Daily A letter to Honourable Christy Clark, MLA, Premier of British Columbia by Regional District of Central Kootenay chairperson, John Kettle. Dear Premier Clark: On behalf of the Regional District of Central Kootenay I want to sincerely thank you and your government for the immediate and effective response...

Open Letter to West Kootenay Residents: It seems like the people who make decisions far away in Ottawa don’t quite understand BC nor do they understand the importance of physical geography in such a mountainous place. They look at maps with demographics and populations and what they have is an impression of where we live, […]

Do you care what sort of health care we will have in Canada starting in 2014? Do you want cheaper drug prices? How about health care programs and policies co-ordinated and monitored at a national level? Or having a national strategy to reduce wait times? Or including national standards for home and residential care? All these...

Editor, The Nelson Daily On May 7, a debate in the chambers of Nelson City Council on a motion about legalizing cannabis was profoundly similar to others currently taking place across Canada and the world (Council Debates Legalization of Pot, June 12, 2012). As an active participant in this debate, I have some suggestions which […]

Ed Note: See bottom of letter for information about Facebook group supporting urban chickens in Castlegar. I'm baffled by the arguments Castlegar City Council is using to prohibit backyard chickens in small numbers. If the concerns really relate to noise, excrement, and attraction of pests - then why do we allow citizens to...

What has 34 legs, speaks Russian but has no teacher?  The soon-to-be Grade 3 Russian Bilingual (RB) class.   Unfortunately, it is the intention of school administration to split this class between two schools: 13 children will remain at Castlegar Primary in a split Grade 2-3 RB class, while four children will be sent to a...

Greetings to you, my friends in the Rest of Canada (ROC)   I am writing you because i am really concerned that English Canada is not getting good information on what is happening right now in Québec.  Particularly lamentable is the CBC and the Globe and Mail.  And, apparently, Maclean’s.   You...

Dear Editor, In reading the May 23 OPED “Pushing the West OUT of Canada” I was shocked at the hateful level of vitriol and misrepresentation being expressed by the author.  To suggest that NDP leader Tom Mulcair, or any other New Democrat MP would consider “screwing the West” to win seats in Eastern Canada is a slanderous...

Do you have an idea or program that addresses the health, social or environmental challenges facing BC communities? Do you know someone who does? BC Ideas is an online competition that asks British Columbians to submit innovative ideas that address our province’s toughest social challenges. This collaborative competition is...

Well, quite the day was Tuesday. While my wife Carolyn was in Kentucky for the famous Derby, my daughter Casey and I were in a bit of a track meet ourselves. As everyone knows by now, one of our llamas got out of her enclosure and went for a sight seeing tour of Ootischenia and Castlegar. While it has been written that Cocoa...