Columnists

B.C. Finance Minister Carole James and B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver announce rate reduction for Canadian citizens paying new property tax on homes empty six months of the year or more. (Black Press files)

B.C. VIEWS: Fact-checking the NDP’s speculation tax on empty homes

Negative-option billing is still legal for governments

B.C. Finance Minister Carole James and B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver announce rate reduction for Canadian citizens paying new property tax on homes empty six months of the year or more. (Black Press files)
Alexander Joseph (second from left) travelled from Lake Babine Nation, one of 20 communities supporting the Coastal GasLink pipeline, to join the blockade near Morice River bridge. He told a Canadian Press reporter he was protesting because of residential schools. (Lorinda Campbell/Facebook)

B.C. VIEWS: Tracking propaganda around B.C.’s latest pipeline protest

‘Military invasion’ claims fly around the world in seconds

Alexander Joseph (second from left) travelled from Lake Babine Nation, one of 20 communities supporting the Coastal GasLink pipeline, to join the blockade near Morice River bridge. He told a Canadian Press reporter he was protesting because of residential schools. (Lorinda Campbell/Facebook)
COLUMN: Why must people talk on the phone while on the toilet?

COLUMN: Why must people talk on the phone while on the toilet?

Taking care of business is no one’s business but your own

COLUMN: Why must people talk on the phone while on the toilet?
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Outside activists bring in supplies for salmon farm protesters occupying federally licensed aquaculture operation at Midsummer Island, fall 2017. A B.C. Supreme Court judge issued an injunction in December 2017, citing interference with operations and refusal to meet with operators. (Marine Harvest photo)

B.C. VIEWS: If this isn’t an Indigenous veto over development, what is?

Province surrenders salmon farms without scientific basis

Outside activists bring in supplies for salmon farm protesters occupying federally licensed aquaculture operation at Midsummer Island, fall 2017. A B.C. Supreme Court judge issued an injunction in December 2017, citing interference with operations and refusal to meet with operators. (Marine Harvest photo)
B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver and Premier John Horgan autograph a copy of the ‘CleanBC’ plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next two decades, Vancouver cabinet office, Dec. 5, 2018. (B.C. government)

B.C. VIEWS: For 2019, wishful thinking replaces evidence

‘CleanBC’ recycled strategies and gestures don’t help environment

B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver and Premier John Horgan autograph a copy of the ‘CleanBC’ plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next two decades, Vancouver cabinet office, Dec. 5, 2018. (B.C. government)

Column: Don’t be a grinch this Christmas

Reporter Kate Saylors reflects on the recent announcement of a warming centre for Grand Forks.

COLUMN: Dickens, Scrooge and the message of A Christmas Carol

COLUMN: Dickens, Scrooge and the message of A Christmas Carol

Imagining a meeting between the author and the main character of a well-loved story, 175 years later

COLUMN: Dickens, Scrooge and the message of A Christmas Carol
B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson takes questions from Tom Fletcher in a year-end interview at his B.C. legislature office, Dec. 11, 2018. (Arnold Lim/Black Press)

B.C. VIEWS: Andrew Wilkinson on taxes, ICBC and union changes

Opposition leader sees unpredictable year ahead in 2019

B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson takes questions from Tom Fletcher in a year-end interview at his B.C. legislature office, Dec. 11, 2018. (Arnold Lim/Black Press)
From the Hill: The millstone of a cannabis conviction

From the Hill: The millstone of a cannabis conviction

Richard Cannings writes about records expungement for cannabis convictions

  • Dec 14, 2018
From the Hill: The millstone of a cannabis conviction
Donate to the Grand Forks and District Public Library

Donate to the Grand Forks and District Public Library

The library is undertaking significant washroom renovations.

  • Dec 6, 2018
Donate to the Grand Forks and District Public Library
Column: The photos are never as bad as you think

Column: The photos are never as bad as you think

Reporter Kate Saylors writes about what you learn, taking people’s pictures day in and out.

Column: The photos are never as bad as you think
Former B.C. Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas is escorted from the legislative chamber by Clerk of the House Craig James (left) after his surprise election as speaker, Sept. 8, 2017. James and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz were suddenly suspended from their duties last week. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press/Pool)

B.C. VIEWS: Speaker Darryl Plecas demonstrates his character again

B.C. legislature speaker’s latest self-serving move is incredible

Former B.C. Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas is escorted from the legislative chamber by Clerk of the House Craig James (left) after his surprise election as speaker, Sept. 8, 2017. James and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz were suddenly suspended from their duties last week. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press/Pool)
Photo by Peter Marbach Ktunaxa elder Alfred Joseph serves as Chief of the Akisqnuk First Nation, which is located near the headwaters of the Columbia River where salmon used to migrate to before Grand Coulee Dam. The Ktunaxa Nation has been shut out of the CRT negotiation along with the Okanagan Nation Alliance, the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council, and 15 Tribes in the U.S.

OPINION: Exclusion of Indigenous voices in U.S.-Canada water agreement puts salmon restoration in Columbia River at risk

Graeme Lee Rowlands is a researcher at Quest University

  • Nov 21, 2018
Photo by Peter Marbach Ktunaxa elder Alfred Joseph serves as Chief of the Akisqnuk First Nation, which is located near the headwaters of the Columbia River where salmon used to migrate to before Grand Coulee Dam. The Ktunaxa Nation has been shut out of the CRT negotiation along with the Okanagan Nation Alliance, the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council, and 15 Tribes in the U.S.
COLUMN: Higher interest rates will slow B.C. economy after ‘unusually robust’ show

COLUMN: Higher interest rates will slow B.C. economy after ‘unusually robust’ show

Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC

  • Nov 20, 2018
COLUMN: Higher interest rates will slow B.C. economy after ‘unusually robust’ show
Sign crew installs new speed limit markers on Highway 97C in 2014. Limit for that highway has been returned to 110 km/h, but the main Coquihalla Highway limit remains at 120. (B.C. government)

B.C. VIEWS: Setting speed limits in a post-fact political environment

Media prefer ‘speed kills’ narrative, even when it fails to appear

Sign crew installs new speed limit markers on Highway 97C in 2014. Limit for that highway has been returned to 110 km/h, but the main Coquihalla Highway limit remains at 120. (B.C. government)
Pixabay image

Social media leaves anyone with an opinion vulnerable to scorched-earth attacks

Demonize and dog-pile. If you disagree with me, you are not only wrong, you are evil. The enemy…

  • Nov 15, 2018
Pixabay image
Health Minister Adrian Dix and Mental Health Minister Judy Darcy wait to introduce bill repealing measures that allow seniors care home operators to get out of union contracts, Nov. 8, 2018. Darcy headed the Hospital Employees’ Union during a long court battle with the B.C. government. (Twitter)

B.C. VIEWS: Seniors home worker discrimination finally ending

Health Minister Adrian Dix righting a serious wrong

Health Minister Adrian Dix and Mental Health Minister Judy Darcy wait to introduce bill repealing measures that allow seniors care home operators to get out of union contracts, Nov. 8, 2018. Darcy headed the Hospital Employees’ Union during a long court battle with the B.C. government. (Twitter)
From the Hill: The successes and failures of the Elections Modernization Act

From the Hill: The successes and failures of the Elections Modernization Act

Richard Cannings writes about Bill C-76 in From the Hill.

  • Nov 10, 2018
From the Hill: The successes and failures of the Elections Modernization Act
Wolf: Keeping score is part of life

Wolf: Keeping score is part of life

Fun is always paramount in youth sports - but winning and losing provide valuable lessons

Wolf: Keeping score is part of life
Proposed law could treat serious offenders lightly

Proposed law could treat serious offenders lightly

If Bill C-75 passes in its present form, criminals of various kinds will almost certainly be heartened and emboldened by the prospect of lighter penalties.

Proposed law could treat serious offenders lightly