Columnists

A motorhome sits amid the burnt debris in the Village of Lytton, B.C. on Friday, July 9, 2021 following a massive wildfire that tore through the town destroying 90 per cent of it. (Jenna Hauck/ Black Press Media)

OPINION: The Village of Lytton turned to ashes in moments

‘We drive by piles of ash and crumbled brick. What used to be there?’ writes Jenna Hauck

A map created by the Ministry of Forests shows the activity of the Bea Fire in Beaverdell, B.C. in 1989, including one house in particular (at bottom right) that was nearly completely surrounded by flames. (Ministry of Forests)

COLUMN: Looking back on historic fire that nearly destroyed a B.C. town

Enormous firefighting effort saved Beaverdell from destruction in 1989

opinion teaser

Guest Column: Stay crazy

The question of peace in a world with rising tensions

  • Jun 18, 2021
Tim Schewe

Drivesmart column: Traffic cop humour

He demands to know what sort of device had been used to measure his speed

  • Jun 16, 2021
Tim Schewe
Smoke from wildfires burning in the U.S. fills the air as the Grouse Mountain tram transports people down the mountain, in North Vancouver, B.C,, on Saturday, September 12, 2020. The World Air Quality Index, a non-profit that tracks air quality from monitoring stations around the world, rated Vancouver’s air quality as the second worst in the world Saturday. Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Metro Vancouver, showing a very high risk to health due to wildfire smoke from Washington and Oregon. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Prepare for the worst: 10 steps to get ready for wildfire smoke

The summer of 2021 has the potential to be worse than any wildfire season before it

Smoke from wildfires burning in the U.S. fills the air as the Grouse Mountain tram transports people down the mountain, in North Vancouver, B.C,, on Saturday, September 12, 2020. The World Air Quality Index, a non-profit that tracks air quality from monitoring stations around the world, rated Vancouver’s air quality as the second worst in the world Saturday. Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Metro Vancouver, showing a very high risk to health due to wildfire smoke from Washington and Oregon. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
British Columbia Premier John Horgan highlights a paragraph as Finance Minister Selina Robinson tables the budget in a speech in the legislative assembly at the provincial legislature in Victoria, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

FINLAYSON: 3 takeaways from the new B.C. budget

‘Perhaps most notable is what’s happened in the labour market since last spring’

  • May 10, 2021
British Columbia Premier John Horgan highlights a paragraph as Finance Minister Selina Robinson tables the budget in a speech in the legislative assembly at the provincial legislature in Victoria, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Medical staff is shown preparing a patient outside a hospital in New Delhi. From the start of the pandemic, there have been 19.9 million cases of COVID-19 reported in India until May 3, 2021. 16.3 million have recovered, and there have been 219,000 deaths. (Photo submitted by Vivek)

Column: Let’s uplift the heroes in India’s battle against COVID-19

India reported over 360,000 infections on Monday, May 3

Medical staff is shown preparing a patient outside a hospital in New Delhi. From the start of the pandemic, there have been 19.9 million cases of COVID-19 reported in India until May 3, 2021. 16.3 million have recovered, and there have been 219,000 deaths. (Photo submitted by Vivek)
Chronicle Editor, Cole Schisler taking part in the ageing senses challenge. (Kara Olson photo)

Schisler: Try actually walking a mile in an elder’s shoes

Workday spent with artificially aged senses a real eye-opener

Chronicle Editor, Cole Schisler taking part in the ageing senses challenge. (Kara Olson photo)
(Opinion Teaser)

The Editor’s Desk: Big Brother is watching

Worried that the COVID vaccine is a covert tracking device? Don’t be; that ship has already sailed

(Opinion Teaser)
Interlacing threads or straw on a loom or on one’s lap are not the only ways to create a weaving. (Metro Creative Photo)

WORD WEAVING: By Rita Joan Dozlaw

By Rita Joan Dozlaw Interlacing threads or straw on a loom or…

  • Apr 2, 2021
Interlacing threads or straw on a loom or on one’s lap are not the only ways to create a weaving. (Metro Creative Photo)
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. (Photo courtesy of David Suzuki Foundation)

SCIENCE MATTERS: Easy way out for wildlife conservation isn’t what it appears

By David Suzuki H.L. Mencken once wrote that “there is always a…

  • Mar 21, 2021
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. (Photo courtesy of David Suzuki Foundation)
Dan Kraus is senior conservation biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. (Photo courtesy of Nature Conservancy of Canada)

COLUMN: Pandemic helped Canadians rediscover nature

By Dan Kraus Nature Conservancy of Canada A year ago, there was…

  • Mar 20, 2021
Dan Kraus is senior conservation biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. (Photo courtesy of Nature Conservancy of Canada)
A nurse prepares to vaccinate healthcare workers at a COVID-19 drive-thru immunization site in Coquitlam in this image supplied to the media by Fraser Health on March 8, 2021. (Fraser Health)

OPINION: Helping a 97-year-old man get his COVID vaccination appointment

Call centre inundated with 1.7 million calls while there are just 50,000 folks over 90 in B.C.

A nurse prepares to vaccinate healthcare workers at a COVID-19 drive-thru immunization site in Coquitlam in this image supplied to the media by Fraser Health on March 8, 2021. (Fraser Health)
Walter Gretzky, waving to fans at a Toronto Maple Leafs game on Jan. 17, 2017. (Nathan Denette/CP photo)

There were two Walter Gretzkys – both great ones

Canada’s iconic hockey dad made our country a better place

Walter Gretzky, waving to fans at a Toronto Maple Leafs game on Jan. 17, 2017. (Nathan Denette/CP photo)
FILE - In this Friday, Jan 1, 2021 file photo, a lorry driver's documents are scanned on a phone as he passes a checkpoint for the train through the Eurotunnel link with Europe in Folkestone, England. One month after Britain made a New Year split from the European Union's economic embrace, businesses that once traded freely are getting used to frustrating checks, delays and red tape. Meat exporters say shipments have rotted in trucks awaiting European health checks. Scottish fishermen have protested at Parliament over the catch they can no longer sell to the continent because of byzantine new paperwork. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

FINLAYSON: Government should focus on strengthening B.C.’s leading export industries

To revive the economy, this piece in the strategy is integral, writes Jock Finlayson

  • Mar 1, 2021
FILE - In this Friday, Jan 1, 2021 file photo, a lorry driver's documents are scanned on a phone as he passes a checkpoint for the train through the Eurotunnel link with Europe in Folkestone, England. One month after Britain made a New Year split from the European Union's economic embrace, businesses that once traded freely are getting used to frustrating checks, delays and red tape. Meat exporters say shipments have rotted in trucks awaiting European health checks. Scottish fishermen have protested at Parliament over the catch they can no longer sell to the continent because of byzantine new paperwork. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
Sheila Malcolmson, minister of mental health and addictions in B.C. (B.C. Government photo)

MALCOLMSON: 2020 left us grappling with overdose tragedy and working for change

B.C.’s Addictions Minister reflects on visit to Overdose Prevention Society in Vancouver

  • Feb 12, 2021
Sheila Malcolmson, minister of mental health and addictions in B.C. (B.C. Government photo)
Marianne Van Osch (Patrick Davies, 100 Mile Free Press photo)

Watching the birds help us fight ‘Midwinter Jickers’

Guest column: Marianne Van Osch

Marianne Van Osch (Patrick Davies, 100 Mile Free Press photo)
(Metro Creative photo)

A banner year for the English lexicon

Thom hopes 2021 will not yield such a bevy of new terms and phrases

(Metro Creative photo)
The language of eyes — highly evolved mode of communication that will lift us as a society to a kinder, calmer, more empathetic level. (Photo courtesy Google)

The eyes have it: An evolving communication skill

Now that we are all masked, we will be communicating much more through the language of eyes

The language of eyes — highly evolved mode of communication that will lift us as a society to a kinder, calmer, more empathetic level. (Photo courtesy Google)
University Hospital of Northern B.C., in Prince George. (UBC photo)

‘I am tired, and my soul hurts’: B.C. nurse reflects on working in ICU unit during COVID

Renée Bush writes about what it is like on the front-line of the pandemic in the north

  • Dec 16, 2020
University Hospital of Northern B.C., in Prince George. (UBC photo)