As I mark my first anniversary as Board Chair of Interior Health, I’m looking back on the highlights and challenges of 2015. From wildfires that blazed through much of our region, to major investments in surgical care, and a change in leadership within our organization, it has been quite a year. We saw the departure of Dr. ...

I have, in my political writing in Castlegar, only ever publicly called out one person. One. He reciprocated at length (and good on him, fair is fair). I say what I like in my personal dealings, but I often silence myself and rarely speak to any one candidate in any election or any individual in any issue when speaking as The...

As a teen the fantastical technology of Star Trek riveted me. The phaser weapon, universal translator, hand held computer and medical tricorder all found an ‘if only’ niche in my imagination.  A half century later my ‘if only’ has come closer to reality than I could ever have imagined.  Laser pointers and battleship mounted laser […]

Dear Editor, In response to Deb McIntosh’s recent letter re: the Community Harvest Food  Bank’s struggles to assist families and individuals living in poverty, we suggest it is high time that our wealthy province makes  some meaningful policy changes so that the families of one in five children in BC don’t have to be dependent...

There’s an insidious either/or mentality invading our political lexicon that I think is actually becoming an outstandingly effective camouflage for genuine evil, and it’s making me crazy to see how few people seem to realize how totally they are being manipulated by it. It starts off benign enough – in fact, in such a stupid...

A flurry of letters and Facebook posts demanding we stop the Syrian refugee immigration and take care of our homeless and vets before refugees got us thinking. We have made donations to two school Christmas funds, the Nelson Food Cupboard, the Calgary Food Bank, the Calgary Mustard Seed, the Poppy Fund, the Canadian Red Cross,...

Dear Premier Clarke, Katrine Conroy MLA, Richard Cannings MP, Prime Minister Trudeau, Castlegar Community Harvest Food Bank can no longer meet the needs of the working poor. We can not continue to rob Peter to pay Paul. We do not have the capacity to raise any more funds than we already do. We operate 100-per-cent on volunteers...

“Most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetimes, sometimes with devastating consequences.” This statement is from a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The article addresses a common problem in North American medical practice:  wrong diagnoses, and inappropriate treatments based on wrong diagnoses. The article is by Dr. […]

Why a retrospective? Believing as I do that history is of profound importance, I seek to discern the purposes and themes I have explored with constancy over the years of publishing this column. I hope by doing this to present a coherent statement of the issues and interests that have stirred current events in culture, […]

To The Editor: I am writing to alert dog loving Nelsonites that the off leash dog park by the lake is no longer safe to visit. A few months ago my friends dog Scout was attacked by a vicious off lead dog and was severely injured. After surgery, thankfully, Scout survived but he and his owner will no longer go to the beach...