Newsletter from MLA Morissette
The Legislative Assembly’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services wants to hear from British Columbians during its upcoming consultation on Budget 2027.The Committee is accepting registration for public hearings until April 10 at 2 p.m. (Pacific). To participate and for details on the consultation, visit la-bc.ca/consultations or contact the Parliamentary Committees Office by email at FinanceCommittee@leg.bc.ca or […]
B.C. convenes task force on impacts of Iran war
A cross-government task force will monitor the impacts of the Iran war and help prepare British Columbia for these potential global impacts. As the war in Iran continues, British Columbia is bracing for medium- and long-term impacts to supply chains in industries, such as health care, agriculture, energy and transportation. “While the war in Iran […]
Column: Wars and Humankind, Living and Dying
“We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of daycare. You can’t do it… We have to take care of one thing: military protection.” — President D. J. Trump, USA “It takes money to kill bad guys.” — Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of War “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back […]
Castlegar City Council Highlights March 23
DISCUSSION & DECISIONS Request for Proposal 2026-03 Command Unit/Emergency Response Unit – Recommendation for Award (Report No. 26-29) Council approved a report to award Request for Proposal 2026-03 to AM Ford in the amount of $60,358 plus applicable taxes for a new Command Unit/Emergency Response Unit. Council also approved borrowing up to $110,000 through the […]
New health regulation puts patients’ safety first
Beginning Wednesday, April 1, 2026, the health professions and occupations act comes into effect, which will improve patient safety by increasing transparency and ensuring good and consistent governance for regulators. For health-care professionals, it means more support and structure from regulators, so they can focus on patient care. This regulation will not cause any disruption […]
Column: Progress, pushback and Indigenous rights
In Canada, progress on social and ecological justice often faces roadblocks. When women got the right to vote here in 1918, organizations sprang up to argue voting was incompatible with women’s “traditional roles.” When universal health care was introduced in the 1960s, doctors in Saskatchewan went on strike, accusing the government of exercising too much […]
Why Doctors are “Prescribing” Food, Exercise, and the Outdoors
What if a healthcare provider could prescribe more than medicine? Across British Columbia, they can, and they do. Today, social prescriptions are helping people access things like food security programs, exercise classes, housing support, and even time in nature. These “non‐medical prescriptions” are improving health in ways a pill never could. It’s called social prescribing, […]
Column: Simultaneously Socialist and Canadian? It seemed possible then.
“Our movement began as an alliance of socialist farmers and workers. It’s a part of our DNA as the NDP and we are reconnecting with those roots. That’s why I’m so honoured to have the support of these remarkable agriculture leaders against corporate control of our food system. This campaign is about rebuilding our party […]
Analysis: The war on DEI reflects the quiet normalization of white nationalism, and not only in the U.S.
By Henry Giroux Political theorist Hannah Arendt warned that authoritarian politics rarely begin with spectacles of repression. More often, authoritarianism advances through routine administrative decisions that appear technical or neutral but gradually reshape public life — a kind of bureaucratic normalization of injustice she later described as the banality of evil. Over time, these measures […]
Castlegar City Council Highlights - March 2, 2026
DELEGATIONS Doctors & Nurses for Planetary Health – Kootenay Boundary and West Kootenay Climate Hub – Accelerating Zero Carbon Step Code Council received a presentation from Laura Sacks and Dr. Amy Rudkoski regarding accelerating the Zero Carbon Step Code (ZCSC) in Castlegar to support electrified new homes and buildings. The presentation highlighted the benefits of […]