August 20, 2011 Toronto, Ontario  Dear Friends,   Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank eachand every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.Unfortunately...

After six months of struggle, the Libyan revolution has arrived (again) in Tripoli. There may still be a trick or two up the megalomaniac’s sleeve, but the news coming in at the moment suggests a precipitous collapse. Saif-ul-Islam al-Qaddafi has been arrested. The tyrant’s daughter Aisha’s house is under the revolutionaries’ control, as is the […]

People in the West Kootenay have one more kick at the Gaming review can, courtesy of the East Kootenay. BC’s Community Gaming Grant Review will visit Cranbrook for a community forum on Thursday, Aug. 25 at the Prestige Rocky Mountain Resort. Skip Triplett, appointed last month by Premier Christy Clark to lead the independent review, […]

 City contractors trying to install water meters are meeting some resistance from residents – and city officials are warning people that’s a decision they may later regret. Castlegar Mayor Lawrence Chernoff said several people have now turned the contractors away, and he’s not sure they understand the financial consequences of so doing.  “If you get […]

It’s impossible to divine anything concrete from the flurry of interesting chatter surrounding Enbridge’s embattled 1,100 km Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal. Alternate routes, Asian energy experts laughing at our stupidity, Enbridge as a straw man to help push through another pipeline to the US…Much of it coming via rumours, hypotheses, and veiled political innuendo. But […]

It’s the easiest way to dismiss what we see going on: a mindless group of hooligans, drunks and thieves wreaking havoc for havoc’s sake — and for profit.And that’s what the “official”  investigations always conclude afterwards. But they’re wrong. There are several common threads that link the disturbances throughout the UK right now, France last year, […]

The decision to keep or nix B.C.’s controversial harmonized sales tax leaves the public’s hands after 4:30 p.m. PT Friday afternoon. That’s when Elections BC starts carefully verifying ballots are from registered voters and tallying up the results. Ballots can be dropped off at any of Elections BC’s five collection centres in the Lower Mainland, […]

The Cascade Power Project at Christina Lake could still be built by 2016 after the Ministry of Environment extended their environmental assessment permit despite opposition from the Regional District of the Kootenay Boundary (RDKB).    “The extension was because we have been unable to get an electricity purchase agreement with B.C. Hydro in their last […]

To the editor:  Let me begin by saying this letter is addressing the enablers… the ones who turn a blind eye to something theyd rather not be aware of. When a situation is worthy of being top national news, it should be just that … not what has happened in our town regarding the abuse […]

The luck of the Irish had nothing to do with this. During the June annual meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities held in Halifax, Nelson Mayor John Dooley was re-elected to his fourth term on the organization’s board of directors. The FCM represents the interests of its 2,000 member municipalities — including Canada’s major […]