Our report last week on “Li’l Cinnamon”—the black bear runt who’d learned to forage in human property and so was caught and killed by conservation officers—generated a lot of interesting discussion. Les Anderson’s comments struck a particularly harmonious chord for me: “Humans have no understanding of wild animals whatsoever,” he wrote, “so they turn to […]

It's time to give B.C.'s Auditor General the necessary financial resources and tools to do the job, according to figures released by IntegrityBC today which compared the budget of B.C.'s Auditor General with that of his counterpart in Alberta For the fiscal year 2012-13, B.C.'s Auditor General has an annual budget of $15.75...

Prologue: This column is loaded with sexual stereotypes and may offend some readers, which bothered me a bit while I was writing it. I realized, however, that there also seems to be a small bit of truth to most stereotypes (that’s what made them stereotypes in the first place). And that is, in my opinion, […]

pos·er noun/ˈpōzər/posers, plural A person who acts in an affected manner in order to impress others  a person who habitually pretends to be something he is not (Posers) People that try to pretend to be someone or part of some media ideal in order to fit in is “someone who tries to fit into a profile they […]

One of my infantile leftist ex-friends recently referred to the Free Syrian Army as a ‘sectarian gang’. The phrase may well come from Asa’ad Abu Khalil, who seems to have a depressingly large audience, but it could come from any of a large number of blanket thinkers in the ranks of the Western left. I admit that I sometimes...

The budget implementation act (Bill C-38), all 400 pages of it, was the latest in a long string of legislative initiatives to have debate limited by time allocation.  Like too many other bills that parliament has been forced to fast-track, C-38 was bloated, omnibus and strayed in too many directions.  New Democrats demanded...

Dear Editor: I am writing about hearings that are to be held in our area with respect to the way the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission has decided to divide up the province between Members of Parliament. Hearings in our area are scheduled for Nelson on October 2, 2012 and Castlegar on October 3, 2012. None […]

As Canada prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014, it is time to reflect on the future role of our military in the world. Our active involvement in Afghanistan transformed Canada into a “nation at war”. The tragic loss of 158 Canadian men and women to this war along with the enormous price tag of […]

It was exactly a year ago that I embarked on my quest for fitness. My goal: to be in the best shape that I had ever been in for my 30th year. I wanted to have endurance, I wanted to have strength, and most of all I wanted to feel good about my body. Before […]

I am currently facing a challenge in my own mind, as I confront a question with my granddaughter. Why does it seem important to teach children about the reality or falsity of elves, fairies, nature elementals , and other spirit beings? What should I say when she says “Are they real?” She also tells me […]