The City of Castlegar has hit the ground running as it embraces social media – tweeting and posting like mad as the first Kootenay community to utilize Facebook and Twitter as a vehicle for public dialogue.  City council green-lighted the new communications approach at its regular meeting Monday night – and within hours, the...

Motions to the establishment of a federal Department of Peace as well as developing a concept of a Civilian Peace Service in Canada will be introduced in the House of Commons by the region’s MP. BC Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko is planning on re-introducing a private member’s bill, first introduced by former MP Bill […]

Beginning of the Great Revival, the epic cinematic tribute to the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was released in mainland China cinema on June 15, 2011. However, the suspended release of Hollywood movies in June as a result, has enraged many people.   Angry netizens have trashed the movie through online rating platforms such […]

By: Don McRae, Minister of Agriculture, B.C. The places we live and work are important to all of us, but possibly none more so than communities with a rich agricultural tradition.  These communities produce the food British Columbian families rely on, contribute to jobs we depend on, and are home to countless families, friends and […]

I see the Israeli media is crowing about their victories against the “mighty” Freedom Flotilla II. Due to Israel’s world-wide assault on the flotilla, various countries have buckled under the pressure. The governments of France and Cyprus have barred Freedom Flotilla II ships from their waters. Greece may attempt to prevent ships from leaving her […]

By Suzanne Goldenberg, guardian.co.uk It looks like Barack Obama may be reneging on his promise to put solar panels on the roof of the White House by the end of this spring. On the other hand, the administration is pushing ahead with its plan to expand the deployment of large-scale solar power plants. The interior […]

An open letter to British Columbians from Premier Clark British Columbians are understandably embarrassed and disappointed by Wednesday night’s activities. It should have been a celebration of the tremendous effort by the Canucks in their playoff run. It turned into a shameful display of behaviour by people bent on violence. The vast majority of citizens […]

Based on our crime stats, Rossland wouldn’t appear to be a prime location for an episode of the television show Cops. This week’s City Council meeting, however, would have made for a good first episode of such a series. Simmering tensions came to a head and ended with Charlton being removed from council chambers by […]

Anyone who truly believes in democratic principles should be outraged the federal government’s response to Air Canada’s employee strike action is to threaten back to work legislation, said the West Kootenay’s MP. BC Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko said the government’s action will criminalize the employee’s job action. “This is an unprecedented assault on labour […]

Now that the election frenzy has died down, life is getting back to normal. I would like to congratulate all MPs who were re-elected and also to welcome our new MPs. In particular, I would like to congratulate the two new MPs in neighbouring ridings: David Wilks in Kootenay-Columbia and Dan Albas in Okanagan-Coquihalla.   The...