A recent momentous court victory for Blueberry River First Nations could put Canada on track to realizing key Truth and Reconciliation Commission “calls to action.”   Two of those are for government to “fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation”...

Some job creation can be expected when BC moves to the next stage of reopening the economy in July, but labour market data show that in order to have an inclusive recovery significant inequities must be addressed, a new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, BC Office warns. In fact, the deeply...

On Saturday I took part in the send-off ceremonies in Penticton for the Syilx Caravan for the Children that went to Kamloops to grieve for the 215 children who were found in unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. A good crowd had gathered, ...

Deep in the heart of BC’s Inland Temperate Rainforest (ITR), chainsaws are cutting irreplaceable and globally unique stands of ancient cedar-hemlock forests. The trees, which are hundreds and hundreds of years old and many one to two metres in diameter, are being  auctioned off and logged by BC’s own provincial timber agency,...

Yesterday, the Liberal government voted against an NDP motion that would provide dental coverage to millions of Canadians who struggle with the cost of dental care. The NDP proposal would have allowed 6.7 million people in Canada whose household income is less than $90,000 a year to access the dental services they desperately...

The discovery of 215 unmarked and seemingly undocumented graves of children on the grounds of the former residential school in Kamloops has produced an outpouring of grief and anger across Canada.  While the discovery was not a surprise to many people, especially to residential school survivors, it served as a shocking reminder...

Canada is in the middle of a housing crisis, and the south Okanagan, Boundary and West Kootenay areas are very much in the middle of that crisis.  This is an urgent and rapidly growing problem that demands the cooperation and priority of all levels of government. The crisis has emerged out of a perfect storm of factors....

Unceded Skowkale, Ts’elxwéyeqw, Skwah territory (Chilliwack): Erica Thomson has been barricaded in the office of the Chilliwack Union of Drug Users (CUDU) for five days. She is the president of the BC Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors, which sponsors the year-old Chilliwack group and helps fund their office space. Erica...

COVID-19 has impacted each of us in many ways. One of the areas that we are monitoring closely is mental health. Mental health affects all of us. As we mark the 70th annual Mental Health Awareness Week I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize the toll that the ongoing pandemic is having on people’s feelings of stress,...

To the Citizens of Rossland From Rossland City Council: Rossland Mayor Kathy Moore is currently in the USA. While not breaking any laws, she travelled contrary to current Federal and Provincial Public Health recommendations against non-essential travel which has raised significant concerns in our community. While Mayor Moore...