2016 census forms now in the mail to Canadians
Starting Monday, Statistics Canada began sending out census letters and packages to all Canadian households. Residents in cities like Nelson will receive a letter with a secure 16-digit access code to complete their form online or they can request a paper form. May 10 is Census Day, however, the government is urging Canadians...
Council to contemplate ban on smoking in city parks
A Castlegar city councillor is contending that changing social mores and attitudes around smoking are helping to pave the way for a potential new bylaw banning smoking in all city parks. Councillor Florio Vassilakakis said he thinks there is an appetite for this kind of bylaw. “If you had asked me 20 or 25 years ago, I would...
Council to hear plan to mitigate problems with proposed parcel tax
City council will be hearing about a Lot Line Consolidation Plan to address issues some residents are having with a controversial new 10-year parcel tax proposed in the city's 2016 budget. The concern stems from an area in the city in which parcels were designated according to subdivision plan 650, which was completed in 1897....
Millennium Park Ponds win award of excellence
The BC Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA) today presented its Facility Excellence Award for 2016 to the City of Castlegar for Millennium Natural Swimming Ponds. The award recognizes excellence in facility concept, design development, maintenance or operation in a facility that demonstrates outstanding innovation and...
OP/ED: On park ponds and parcel taxes
One of the arguments I’m hearing most in opposition to the city’s proposed parcel tax is criticism over city council spending money on the Millennium Park Ponds – the argument being that council self-indulgently bought a shiny new toy we can’t afford and now residents are footing huge tax bills as a result. Regardless whether […]
Trail buys property as part of Riverfront Centre development
The City of Trail has purchased the property at 1537 Bay Avenue, located on the lot adjacent to the future site of the proposed Trail Riverfront Centre (integrated library and museum) for $190,000. The City takes title of the property in early June, 2016 with plans of demolishing the existing structure in mid-July, 2016. The...
COLUMN: My Job as Your MLA
While travelling around my constituency of Kootenay West and the province I am often asked “what does a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) do?” I decided to share with constituents what my job has entailed since February and the start of the winter Legislative session. The days are long, sometimes difficult but it is ...
Parents create petition after SD 20 proposes $200/yr fee for school bussing
Parents of students in School District 20 (SD20) have reached such a level of frustration with ongoing and relentless cuts to education funding in the area that they've started a petition, according to Rebecca McDonnell, president of the District Parent Advisory Council. “This our sixth year of deficits approaching $1 million,...
Provincial health officer declares public health emergency due to rise in overdoses
A significant increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths has prompted provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall to declare a public health emergency. This is the first time the provincial health officer has served notice under the Public Health Act to exercise emergency powers. B.C. is the first province to take this...
Scholar to Discuss Violence and Islam at Selkirk College Mir Lecture Series Event
Beheadings, suicide bombings and civil war. Horrific attacks in Brussels and San Bernardino. There is no shortage of examples of the violence that rocks the Islamic world. Shocking pictures and gruesome acts done in the name of religion seem to appear daily on our news feeds. The media hammers the point home—that Muslim...
