Current and anticipatory grief The reality of the continuing extinction of many so species is profoundly upsetting.  Readers may wonder why old people should care.  For example, I’ll be dead in a few years myself;  it will be up to others to live their lives diminished by the loss of caribou and many other creatures, many...

By John Rapley, for Aeon Two questions: is it good or bad that professional athletes earn 400 times what nurses do, and is string theory a dead end? Each question goes to the heart of its discipline. Yet while you probably answered the first, you’d hold an opinion on the prospects of string theory only if you’ve studied...

Some Elections matter more: this should be one Canadians are about to choose a national, federal government on October 21. It is a more significant choice for our nation than we have faced in many elections, and not because Canada alone is facing some unusual circumstances: the entire human world and the non-human species...

Last week I cycled around the beautiful riding of South Okanagan-West Kootenay—436 km of rail trail and highway, 18 cafes and restaurants and lots of good conversations!  While the talk over coffee and food was wide-ranging—from caribou to craft distilleries, health care to infrastructure, agriculture to electoral reform—the...

British Columbia’s annual allowable rent increase for 2020 has been set at 2.6%, the province’s annual rate of inflation — 2% lower than it would have been prior to the reduction government made in 2019. “Renters need secure housing they can afford,” said Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “That’s why...

Hundreds of Canadian scientists sent a letter this morning (August 22, 2019) to Stéphane Perrault, the Chief Electoral Officer, urging Elections Canada to clarify how the science on climate change can be communicated during the election period.  The 352 Canadian scientists who signed the letter take issue with Elections...

"Focus on the systems!" The Ethics Commissioner has released findings from the investigation into the SNC-Lavalin affair, and has found the conduct of the Prime Minister to be in violation of the Conflict of Interest Act. Green Party Candidate Tara Howse acknowledges that the SNC-Lavalin affair was a catalyst for her entering...

As I knock on doors across the south Okanagan and West Kootenay, one issue is a common topic of conversation—health care.  Canadians are rightfully proud of our public health care system, and the NDP is proud that it was Tommy Douglas who fought for the free, universal program that we enjoy. It is not perfect, but...

UPDATE:  Canada's Chief Electoral Officer, Stephane Perrault, issued a public statement today, clarifying that environmental groups can say "whatever they want" during the election period, subject to the usual rules. There had been a rash of reports and opinion pieces, including this one, and a fine piece in The Beaverton, ...

By way of a press release, Conservative Party candidate Helena Konanz issued a challenge to all the other candidates in our riding to participate in a comprehensive set of debates that span the entire riding in the lead up to the election this fall. Green Party candidate Tara Howse was quick to accept the challenge, as were ...