City of Castlegar to Offer Mail Ballot Voting for 2021 By-election
The City of Castlegar has received a Ministerial Order that allows mail ballot voting for the 2021 By-election. Qualified electors wanting to vote by mail need to complete an application to vote by mail by 4 p.m. March 26. “Offering mail ballots is a priority for the City so we can ensure our community has voting options that...
MP Cannings: Important to thank people to help those with addictions
Last year, Gord Portman saved two people in a house fire in Penticton. When he saw his picture in the local newspaper, he said to himself ‘Oh boy I need help.” Gord was addicted to drugs. So he turned to Discovery House, a local organization that helps men battle their addictions, and he now thanks Discovery House for saving...
Castlegar by-election slated for April 24
Today, Council appointed Nicole Brown as the Chief Election Officer and Tracey Butler and Michelle Anderson as the Deputy Chief Election Officers to lead the by-election resulting from the recent resignation of Mayor Bruno Tassone. The general voting day will be held on Saturday, April 24, 2021 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the ...
Letter: The promise parties keep making -- and breaking
Dear Editor: Monday, February 1 marked the four year anniversary of Trudeau's broken promise on electoral reform. “We are committed to ensuring that the 2015 election will be the last federal election using FPtP” It was a key campaign promise which Trudeau repeated over 1800 times. An all party parliamentary committee, ERRE,...
COLUMN: From the Hill -- BC apple farmers and food security
Many sectors have been hard hit by the pandemic, and agriculture is one of them. Despite concerns about food security and pleas to buy local, orchardists and farmers in the region have had a number of serious headwinds facing them over the past year. B.C. apple growers have had to deal with huge production from just across...
What to expect as Castlegar gears up for by-election during pandemic
With the resignation of Castlegar Mayor Bruno Tassone, the city is undertaking the challenging task of a by-election during a pandemic. Luckily, according to city communications manager Bree Seabrook, there have been enough elections since the appearance of Covid-19 to provide staff with direction on how to approach the issue...
Column: U.S. crisis shows need to speak truth to power
As was demonstrated in the U.S. last week, many who are motivated by fear and ignorance are feeling emboldened — and desperate. It’s not just in the United States. Irrational, authoritarian, anti-science rhetoric and action has been heating up from Brazil to India to Hungary, and is fully entrenched in places like Russia and China. […]
City councillor speaks to mayor's resignation letter
Ed. Note: the following is a statement Castlegar Councillor Florio Vassilakakis posted on his Facebook page, re=published with his permission: I have taken a few days to think about the surprising events that have transpired during the last week in Castlegar. Mayor Tassone appears to have been under extraordinary personal...
Letter: We must be vigilant
Dear Editor. We fought global wars, and millions of people died to defend and protect our human rights, including our right to have democratic governments. Last week’s invasion of the Capital Hill in DC was nothing but a stunning attack on democracy, perpetrated by none other than the President of the United States. It was ...
Castlegar mayor resigns, city clarifies what's next
Earlier today Bruno Tassone tendered his resignation from his role as Mayor of the City of Castlegar. Council and staff are processing this news and are committed to ensuring the services residents expect from the City are not disrupted and restoring the City’s full Council complement. With the Mayor’s resignation, Council ...
