Opinion

Mike Barnes of Hayward smokes while dressed in a marijuana leaf suit during the 420 event at Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park on Friday, April 20, 2018. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)

Are 4/20 events in B.C. influencing youth marijuana use?

Community outreach coordinator speaks on the dangers of teen drug use

Mike Barnes of Hayward smokes while dressed in a marijuana leaf suit during the 420 event at Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park on Friday, April 20, 2018. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)
Log yard at Canfor’s Houston sawmill which is closing in April 2023, idling more than 300 employees and many more in the trucking and logging sectors. (Angelique Houlihan photo/Houston Today)

Houston’s mayor makes pitch for economic assistance

The forestry-dependent community in northwestern B.C. is about to lose its major employer

Log yard at Canfor’s Houston sawmill which is closing in April 2023, idling more than 300 employees and many more in the trucking and logging sectors. (Angelique Houlihan photo/Houston Today)
FILE – The Ocean Cleanup project’s latest iteration of plastic-collecting technology, the System 002, will leave Victoria and heads to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. (Photo courtesy of the Ocean Cleanup/ Twitter)

OPINION: Court case could kill progress on plastic pollution in Canada

‘The world is beginning to act to reduce the plastic crisis’

  • Mar 6, 2023
FILE – The Ocean Cleanup project’s latest iteration of plastic-collecting technology, the System 002, will leave Victoria and heads to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. (Photo courtesy of the Ocean Cleanup/ Twitter)
FILE – Gisele Pageal (left), Human Rights Director of Communications Energy Paperworkers Union of Canada, and Barbara Byers, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress, announce their chocalate lip campaign at a news conference in Ottawa Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 to Members of Parliament regarding pay equity for women. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tom Hanson

LETTER: Coalition of 125+ B.C. groups call for pay equity legislation

‘We have paid a staggering price for government inaction,’ open letter says

  • Mar 2, 2023
FILE – Gisele Pageal (left), Human Rights Director of Communications Energy Paperworkers Union of Canada, and Barbara Byers, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress, announce their chocalate lip campaign at a news conference in Ottawa Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 to Members of Parliament regarding pay equity for women. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tom Hanson
As the cost of food continues to rise, grocery chains in Canada are reportedly making record profits. It’s time for the CEOs of these companies to explain themselves, says the federal New Democratic Party. (Unsplash photo)

OFF TOPIC: Bread or cake, the rising cost of food is giving me indigestion

How do grocery chain CEOs square skyrocketing prices with massive profits?

As the cost of food continues to rise, grocery chains in Canada are reportedly making record profits. It’s time for the CEOs of these companies to explain themselves, says the federal New Democratic Party. (Unsplash photo)
B.C. Premier David Eby speaks in Vancouver, on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. A B.C. First Nation and the provincial government have signed what’s being called a historic agreement towards jointly managing land, water and resource development. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

OPINION: Eby government faces clear choice in first budget

From 1999 to 2016, British Columbia was one of the most fiscally responsible provinces in Canada

  • Feb 24, 2023
B.C. Premier David Eby speaks in Vancouver, on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. A B.C. First Nation and the provincial government have signed what’s being called a historic agreement towards jointly managing land, water and resource development. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Hundreds of people march along Yale Road near Hodgins Avenue during a so-called Fraser Valley Freedom Rally on Saturday, April 3, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

OPINION: The staggering socioeconomic costs of COVID anti-vaxxer behaviour

COVID-is-a-hoax crowd caused thousands more deaths, hundreds of millions in hospital costs: report

Hundreds of people march along Yale Road near Hodgins Avenue during a so-called Fraser Valley Freedom Rally on Saturday, April 3, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)
A COVID-19 test. Island Health workers are being urged to not get tested. (Black Press Media file photo)

CAMPBELL: Some sick B.C. health workers urged by bosses to not test for COVID-19

New Vancouver Island memo seems to run counter to provincial policy on isolation

A COVID-19 test. Island Health workers are being urged to not get tested. (Black Press Media file photo)
File - In 2023, are celebrations such as Black History Month still needed? This writer weighs in. Picture shown is an event promoting Black history month at the The Nanaimo African Heritage Society in lieu of their second annual online gala. (News Bulletin file photo)

HITCHINS: In 2023, yes, Black History Month is still important

Recognizing accomplishments by those of African origin vital to identity

File - In 2023, are celebrations such as Black History Month still needed? This writer weighs in. Picture shown is an event promoting Black history month at the The Nanaimo African Heritage Society in lieu of their second annual online gala. (News Bulletin file photo)
Advocates for decriminalization and safe supply of drugs stood outside Nelson’s city hall on April 14th. Photo: Bill Metcalfe

OPINION: Why the drug poisoning crisis in B.C. won’t be addressed by decriminalization

On Jan. 31, B.C. began a three-year pilot project under which simple possession of some drugs

Advocates for decriminalization and safe supply of drugs stood outside Nelson’s city hall on April 14th. Photo: Bill Metcalfe
BC Ferries regularly cancels sailings between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen. (Black Press Media file photo)

CAMPBELL: ‘You owe us!’: passenger berates BC Ferries staff for chronic tardiness

Passengers fed up with delays when BC Ferries penalizes drivers when they are late

BC Ferries regularly cancels sailings between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen. (Black Press Media file photo)
Jessica Peters is a reporter at the Abbotsford News.
Jessica Peters is a reporter at the Abbotsford News.
Certain apps can make users more mindful of their social media use. Photo by Marc Kitteringham/Campbell River Mirror

KITTERINGHAM: Why I unfollowed 500 social media accounts this month

Social media was depressing me, so I did something about it

  • Feb 3, 2023
Certain apps can make users more mindful of their social media use. Photo by Marc Kitteringham/Campbell River Mirror
(Pixabay.com)

OPINION: High income taxes make B.C. less attractive and productive

Horgan government increased B.C.’s top personal income tax rate from 14.7 per cent to 20.5 per cent

  • Feb 1, 2023
(Pixabay.com)
David Lee Roth (left) and the Chilliwack man who for years has impersonated him, David Kuntz-Angel (right). Kuntz-Angel was convicted on Aug. 2, 2019 of various counts connected to sex with an underage girl. A mistrial was declared and now the trial continues Jan. 30, 2023. (Twitter/Brantford Expositor)

OPINION: Warrant issued for Chilliwack’s David Lee Roth wannabe who jumped bail

David Kuntz-Angel a no-show Monday for his B.C. Supreme Court underage sex trial’s closing arguments

David Lee Roth (left) and the Chilliwack man who for years has impersonated him, David Kuntz-Angel (right). Kuntz-Angel was convicted on Aug. 2, 2019 of various counts connected to sex with an underage girl. A mistrial was declared and now the trial continues Jan. 30, 2023. (Twitter/Brantford Expositor)
Jock Finlayson is a senior policy advisor with the Business Council of British Columbia.
Jock Finlayson

FINLAYSON: 2023 could be one of the weakest years for B.C. home sales in two decades

Despite market volatility, the long-term fundamentals for housing in B.C. remain attractive

  • Jan 27, 2023
Jock Finlayson is a senior policy advisor with the Business Council of British Columbia.
Jock Finlayson
A strata council enacted a bylaw to restrict out-of-wedlock relationships. (Pexels photo)

CAMPBELL: This ‘prudish’ B.C. strata sued to stop owner from living with her boyfriend

Case raises the question of whether strata bylaws should be able to restrict certain relationships

A strata council enacted a bylaw to restrict out-of-wedlock relationships. (Pexels photo)
Kathi Diewert of Chemainus captures many interesting nature shots around the Island. No matter what it looks like outside, there’s no sense in creating any false sadness on so-called Blue Monday and beyond. (Photo by Kathi Diewert)

BODGER: Blue Monday is bogus, stop looking for reasons to be sad

There’s no evidence one day should be the saddest compared to any other

Kathi Diewert of Chemainus captures many interesting nature shots around the Island. No matter what it looks like outside, there’s no sense in creating any false sadness on so-called Blue Monday and beyond. (Photo by Kathi Diewert)
Two children under 18 held in custody by the Iranian regime that have been sponsored by Federal Canadian MPs to try to help stop their execution. Ali Rakhshani, 17, is endorsed by Fleetwood-Port Kells MP Ken Hardie, and Mohammad Rakhshani, 16, is endorsed by North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson. (Twitter @balo0chgirl)

OPINION: Iranian woman living in Fraser Valley urging MPs to sponsor prisoners to avoid execution

Nine federal Liberal MPs ‘sponsor’ Iranian detainees by sharing their plights on social media

Two children under 18 held in custody by the Iranian regime that have been sponsored by Federal Canadian MPs to try to help stop their execution. Ali Rakhshani, 17, is endorsed by Fleetwood-Port Kells MP Ken Hardie, and Mohammad Rakhshani, 16, is endorsed by North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson. (Twitter @balo0chgirl)
Worker at Swartz Bay terminal. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)

CAMPBELL: Couple ‘evicted’ from B.C. ferry terminal gets zero sympathy here

Couple posts video of confrontation onto social media after being 4 minutes late

Worker at Swartz Bay terminal. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)