Category: Opinion

It’s hard to believe we’re rapidly approaching the first anniversary of the Kamloops Chronicle. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve gotten older and time moves differently now, or if it’s because we’re only putting out one issue a month, but as of next month we will have been publishing this thing for a year.…

In April 2023, I found myself in a downtown Vancouver cafe with Mayor Reid Hamer Jackson. Relationships between the Mayor and Council were already pretty tense and, after a long day at a Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) housing summit, I asked him if he would like to go for a drink. He graciously accepted.…

Proportional ballot idea is naïve Dear Editor: I feel obliged to respond to the letter by Andrew Tomsen that appeared in the August issue of the Kamloops Chronicle.  He implies that democracy would be better if we used a proportional ballot for provincial and federal elections.  He suggests that this process would ensure that each…

I’m not a big fan of artificial intelligence. That might surprise some of you who know me as a tech-friendly nerd who bought my first PC in my early 20s, leapt onto the Internet as soon as it was remotely possible, and has owned a variety of different gadgets — things like Palm Pilots, Blackberries,…

I’m proud to be a Kamloopsian all year round. And, in the past month, Kamloops has really been shining. Today, I just want to tell the story of some of my personal experiences. With all the craziness and challenges in today’s world, my hope is that you will also reflect on the positivity that is…

You may have noticed that I don’t often appear on this page. It’s not because of an absence of opinions — oh, do believe me, I have many of those, and many of them are controversial enough. More than anything, it’s a result of running low on time. Putting together a column for this space…

I often chuckle to myself these days when I read, listen, or hear public comments by our MLA Peter Milobar. Peter and I worked together for almost a decade on Kamloops Council. One of his greatest attributes when he was Mayor was that, even when he didn’t agree with your position, he would always offer…

Carney promises inflation Dear Editor: Ian MacLean in Kelowna wrote “Ottawa spoke and said ‘NO’ to Poilievre. Does Ian not know the truth about how loved Pierre Poilievre is in Canadian Politics. I have great suspicion that Ian MacLean did not once listen to P. Poilievre’s Conservative Platform.  Nor follows Canadian Politics by reading the…

Sadly, when conspiracy theories, lies, and misinformation become part of any conversation it is up to the people to do their due diligence and track down the truth. To latch onto someone’s Facebook rant as the truth just because you agree with the rant, fails yourself, but more importantly it fails the system designed to…