I’m writing this in response to a widely-publicized column by MP Richard Cannings earlier this week about issues in his riding. He says, “This week one issue dominated the conversation—housing, housing, housing.” But there’s no mention of it in reference to Castlegar. “I met with the new mayor of Castlegar as well, and his ...

OPEN LETTER: The discriminatory, sexist comments about Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould being spread by government officials and staff are appalling and condemnable   Dear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, We demand that you immediately and categorically publicly condemn the racist and sexist innuendo about Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould...

On February 5, a longer version of the following letter went to Castlegar Council, signed by 15 area residents. We are hoping that Council will deliberate on this before finalizing the budget in April. Please redouble efforts to make Castlegar’s public spaces cosmetic-pesticide free, by increasing the maintenance of our lawns...

To The Editor: In light of the Greyhound bus lines reducing service in British Columbia, the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) wanted to take the opportunity to reach out to any people living with cancer who may be impacted by this withdrawal of service. No matter where you live, CCS is here to ensure that no Canadian has to face...

Dear Editor, BC taxpayers miss out on almost a billion dollars every year due to our government's dangerous and misguided fossil fuels subsidies; dangerous because fossil fuel expansion threatens to further degrade the health of BC's citizens and environment, misguided as it unfairly skews the market away from the clean energy...

So far, most of the discussion about Proportional Representation (PR) has focused on fairness. Without a proportional voting system, there’s no way to make every vote count equally. But there are other reasons to adopt it, arguably as valid: it would bring social and financial stability and cut waste. In elections using...

Several times in our province we have had election results distorted by our current voting system (first past the post). As a result the political landscape has been plagued by polarized politics for as long as anyone can remember and many voters find themselves voting to block something they despise and/or not having their...

To The Editor:   Would you vote for a party list without candidates? Of course, you wouldn't, and neither would anybody else. Of course, we will keep local representation under pro rep, and of course nobody will be 'appointed' an MLA unless we vote for them. How dumb do Liberal Party bosses think BC voters are that we would...

To The Editor: One of the things that first attracted me to proportional representation, PR, apart from the fact that it just made sense, is that it is supported by people across the political spectrum. At my first PR meeting in 2004, I sat next to someone from the Canadian Rate Payer's Federation and Andrew Coyne was the...

Canadian democracy is not a matter of fairness. Since European invasion, Canada has had 200 years of colonial autocracy, then 50 years of elections without votes for women, and an additional 50 years without votes for Indigenous people. In every form democracy has taken since Confederation, it has been used to defend the...