Opinion

The Victoria Youth Custody Centre ran 70 per cent of the time through September and October with zero clients, but still has 10 staff on hand. It’s a measure of how difficult it is to execute the bad idea of shutting it down.

On Saturday, British Columbians will head to the polls to choose more than 2,000 local officials for councils, school boards, regional districts, parks boards and the Islands Trust. Considering that local councils in B.C.

For people elsewhere in this nation of ice and snow (minus-20 in Calgary this week), a few degrees below zero is still shirtsleeves weather.

My arrival in New York to run my first marathon was like a fairy tale. But this was no ride in a pumpkin carriage, being more akin to Jack facing the giant at the end of the bean stalk.

The laws of a progressive, democratic country like Canada ought to be based on evidence, research and balanced consideration of the parties affected, not personal morality and ideology.

The same technologies that help us keep tabs on pets, aging parents, boyfriends or strangers who knock at our front doors are also used to reveal the secret lives of wilderness animals.

On Saturday, some important decisions about B.C.’s public education system will be determined by voter preference. That’s the day for regional, municipal and school board elections.

In light of the tragic events in Ottawa and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the Harper government is looking to increase the powers of our national security agencies to combat terrorism.

History, as we studied it in high school, was a dreary, dusty topic, not much more than a list of old dates, distant places and long-dead leaders.

Walking on Menzies Street the other day, I glanced sideways down a driveway just as an older man with a walker keeled over and hit the pavement. I checked him out and he seemed OK, but better to call 911.