ELECTRIC GRAPEVINE: Movies to remember and some to forget
Having had three weeks to digest what was 2011 I can begin my annual look at the best and worst films by examining the bookends which are Drive and The Tree Of Life.In the awful words of The Rock in Fast Five, "You know I like my dessert first," so I'll start with Drive. Drive is perhaps one of the best films I have seen...
OUT OF LEFT FIELD: Do you have a right to know if your elected official has a criminal record?
I absolutely applaud a resolution Mayor Lawrence Chernoff announced Monday that he’d be bringing forward to council next meeting to consider bringing to the Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments and from there, if it passes, to the Union of BC Municipalities and then to the provincial government. In effect, the resolution will ask that […]
Clark breaks faith with Facebook users
Premier Christy Clark's Facebook page didn't come anywhere close in December to meeting the high expectations that the premier's office set out for the page itself, according to IntegrityBC. Premier Clark's page is being promoted with Facebook ads that promise: “I want to hear from you on how we can keep British Columbia...
OP/ED: Carbon tax should be killed, not used for transit
By: Jordan Bateman, Canadian Taxpayers Federation Whenever a transit authority cries poor in British Columbia, the NDP inevitably rush in with a claim that the carbon tax is the perfect way to pay for it. In reality, the vast majority of British Columbians would be better off if the carbon tax was killed, not repurposed. […]
OP/ED: Former paramedic decries BC Ambulance Services' position
A former BC Ambulance Services (BCAS) paramedic says he thinks the situation that saw Castlegar without ambulance coverage over the holidays (see http://castlegarsource.com/news/bc-ambulance-services-speak-lack-castlegar-coverage-over-holidays-16050) is symptomatic of a much larger problem. Jason Angulo was with BCAS for just under four years, serving in Prince Rupert and Vernon, then resigning in May 2010. Angulo said paramedics […]
OP/ED: Teachers' Union urges parents not to let kids take FSAs
This week, teachers of Grade 4 and 7 students in School District #20 will be sending letters home with students asking parents to withdraw their children from writing the FSAs (Foundation Skill Assessment) exams. Why? The FSAs do not count toward student’s marks nor do the results actively support learning. They are expensive...
COMMENT: Federal Government comments damaging to the Impartiality of the joint review process
The First Nations Leadership Council is greatly troubled by recent comments by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver advocating for the proposed Enbridge Gateway pipeline to proceed even before the Joint Review Panel’s environmental review has begun. Grand Chief Edward John states,...
Analyst says it: HST has hurt retailing
It didn’t get much attention when it was said just after Christmas: partially because many of us were still busy with the holiday season; but I noticed it. And also because it’s not something the pro-HST media pundits and propagandists would want to tell you about: so I will. In an article in The Vancouver Province about weak...
This year, put the country ahead of party affiliations
As we enter the new year, the prospects for defeating the Harper government in 2015 seem uncertain at best. And yet if those who care about the country were musing over a new year’s resolution, that would be it, a dedication to this single overarching purpose. Even if Harper is soundly defeated in the next election, it will...
Because they can: Federal government rushed legislation
Good or bad? Does it really matter anymore? This is a question that weighs on the minds of many Canadians. Government legislation (bills) which would normally be put through the proper course of debate in the House of Commons has been miraculously deemed “what all Canadians want” and pushed through the system by using Time ...
