If I choose to smoke with my children in my car, I can be fined, just as I could be fined for talking on my cell phone while driving, and now the BC government has announced tough drinking and driving laws that will allow police to immediately fine and suspend drivers caught with a blood alcohol level as low as 0.05. And it’s...

When I saw B.C. was taking a hard-line stance against impaired driving, I wanted to cheer …I was delighted. Turns out, I should’ve reserved judgment until I had more of the facts. I’m all for throwing the book at recidivistic drunk drivers – in fact, I think it should’ve been done years ago. Why wait […]

How many times have you sent email and never heard a reply? If the person at the other end is ducking you, there’s nothing I can do. Sometimes, though, it’s just a case of too many emails and yours getting deleted. There are a few things you can do to reduce the chances of your […]

Another Monday, and more than a million British Columbians head off to work: to earn a living,  pursue careers, provide services for clients, satisfy their own desire to contribute to society and share the stories and challenges of their lives with their closest co-workers. Lisa Reimer, however, is forced to stay home. From everything I can see, […]

Iggy…Iggy…Iggy… What are you thinking? Hurt by condemnation that his party had deserted the gun control measures it initially put in place, and still stinging from an abortion gaffe that saw Liberal MPs break ranks and divulge that his party is less pro-choice than it acts, Michael Ignatieff has decided he won’t make the same […]

On March 17, a milestone was reached in Parliament which puts power back in the hands of our elected officials, and by extension, back in the hands of the Canadians who elect them. An opposition motion, tabled by NDP leader Jack Layton, and supported by all opposition parties, limits the Prime Minister’s ability to prorogue...

The first annual Castlegar Garden and Nature Fest is growing! Planning and organization has been progressing, vendors and local non-profit groups are signing up, and the speaker topics are confirmed. The Castlegar Garden Club and Castlegar Communities in Bloom are jointly sponsoring this event. It will all be happening on...

In the last column, we talked about what constitutes a good back-up system. It has to be automatic, secure, off-site, tested and it has to support versioning (multiple versions of files). Now that you know what needs to be done, let's look at some ways to do it. The ideal solution for small amounts of data is online back-up....

I will sign the anti-HST referendum petition. That doesn’t mean I think the HST is a bad way of regulating our tax structure or bettering our economy: it does mean I see protection and preservation of the integrity of our democratic system as a much higher priority. Right from the start, I have always said I was willing to […]

I cannot believe that the Conservative government is refusing to include access to contraceptives and safe abortions as part of their pledge of working towards improving maternal health worldwide at this year’s G8 summit in June. It’s beyond my comprehension how it is possible to improve maternal health unless you are willing to include the […]