Columnists

Doctors Derek Poteryko and Marcia Fukunaga demonstrate the recommended social distancing of two metres in a news release issued by the Nanaimo Division of Family Practice about the importance of combating coronavirus spread and how to do it. (Photo submitted)

Rickter Scale: Keep safe, keep calm, keep your distance

The Rickter Scale is a regular column

  • Apr 1, 2020
Doctors Derek Poteryko and Marcia Fukunaga demonstrate the recommended social distancing of two metres in a news release issued by the Nanaimo Division of Family Practice about the importance of combating coronavirus spread and how to do it. (Photo submitted)
MP Randall Garrison predicts New Democrats won’t suffer fate of other social democrats (Black Press File).

COLUMN: Work continues for MPs practising physical distancing

Randall Garrison, is member of parliament for Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke

  • Apr 1, 2020
MP Randall Garrison predicts New Democrats won’t suffer fate of other social democrats (Black Press File).
Image West Gallery co-owner Courtney Johnson lends a smile beside her melodious door collage of hearts. As of March 20, the Ucluelet gift shop that has been in business for 30 years closed indefinitely. (Nora O’Malley photo)

B.C. VIEWS: Small businesses need our help

Just as integral in neighbourhoods in Vancouver and Surrey as they are in Prince George or Kelowna

Image West Gallery co-owner Courtney Johnson lends a smile beside her melodious door collage of hearts. As of March 20, the Ucluelet gift shop that has been in business for 30 years closed indefinitely. (Nora O’Malley photo)
MLA Adam Olsen. (BC Green Party)

MLA REPORT: Olsen continues work but offices close amid coronavirus concerns

Adam Olsen is MLA for Saanich North and the Islands

  • Mar 24, 2020
MLA Adam Olsen. (BC Green Party)
Some of the hundreds of people queued in multiple lines wait to pay for their purchases at a Costco store, amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, in Burnaby, B.C., on Monday, March 16, 2020. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced the closure of Canada’s border to those who aren’t Canadian citizens or permanent residents to slow the spread of COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. VIEWS: The good, bad and the ugly of COVID-19

Hoarding doesn’t help anyone – it is unnecessary, selfish, and promotes fear

Some of the hundreds of people queued in multiple lines wait to pay for their purchases at a Costco store, amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, in Burnaby, B.C., on Monday, March 16, 2020. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced the closure of Canada’s border to those who aren’t Canadian citizens or permanent residents to slow the spread of COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Emilie de Rosenroll, CEO of South Island Prosperity Project. (Photo contributed)

COLUMN: The economic road to recovery from COVID-19

Emilie de Rosenroll is CEO for the South Island Prosperity Partnership

  • Mar 20, 2020
Emilie de Rosenroll, CEO of South Island Prosperity Project. (Photo contributed)
Jessica Peters is a reporter at the Chilliwack Progress.

COLUMN: Navigating working from home during these pandemic times

This is a chance to work in the best conditions possible. In your sweat pants, on your couch.

Jessica Peters is a reporter at the Chilliwack Progress.
Rickter Scale: The stuff of legends

Rickter Scale: The stuff of legends

The Rickter Scale is a regular column

Rickter Scale: The stuff of legends
A hand sanitizer dispenser and a sign indicating steps to be taken to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 is seen at an entrance to the Vancouver Convention Centre, in Vancouver, on Saturday, March 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. VIEWS: Effects of COVID-19 pandemic will be long-lasting

A steep drop in tourist visits will hit hard, in particular, Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan hard

A hand sanitizer dispenser and a sign indicating steps to be taken to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 is seen at an entrance to the Vancouver Convention Centre, in Vancouver, on Saturday, March 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Jeff Bray is the executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. (rickcollinsphotography.com) Jeff Bray is the executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. (rickcollinsphotography.com)

COLUMN: Taking needed steps to ensure downtown Victoria is safe

Jeff Bray Downtown Victoria Business Association Is downtown Victoria safe? In a…

  • Mar 13, 2020
Jeff Bray is the executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. (rickcollinsphotography.com) Jeff Bray is the executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. (rickcollinsphotography.com)
In this file photo, soft drink and soda bottles are displayed in a refrigerator at El Ahorro market in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Rickter Scale: Pour some sugar tax on me

The Rickter Scale is a regular column

  • Mar 11, 2020
In this file photo, soft drink and soda bottles are displayed in a refrigerator at El Ahorro market in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
SUZUKI: Pipeline actions signal need for true reconciliation

SUZUKI: Pipeline actions signal need for true reconciliation

Actions by and in support of the Wet’suwet’en land defenders are as…

  • Mar 8, 2020
SUZUKI: Pipeline actions signal need for true reconciliation
This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-NIAID-RML via AP

B.C. VIEWS: We can’t ignore the little things, lest they grow into a pandemic

COVID-19 can help us prepare for the major pandemic experts say is still to come

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-NIAID-RML via AP
Members of the Gitxsan Nation resurrect their blockade of the main CN rail line in New Hazelton Feb. 24. The supporters of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing the Coastal GasLink pipeline through their territory dismantled a previous blockade Feb. 13. (Randall Shoop photo)

RICKTER: We thinks thou protest too much

Once upon a time there was an idyllic little town that lived…

  • Mar 4, 2020
Members of the Gitxsan Nation resurrect their blockade of the main CN rail line in New Hazelton Feb. 24. The supporters of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing the Coastal GasLink pipeline through their territory dismantled a previous blockade Feb. 13. (Randall Shoop photo)
Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC. (Submitted)

COLUMN: Higher tax bracket ‘a risky game’ in the 2020 B.C. budget

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

  • Mar 1, 2020
Jock Finlayson is executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Business Council of BC. (Submitted)
Family Day activities in Esquimalt included a free skate and swim. (Photo courtesy of Esquimalt Park and Recreation)

Column: Celebrating family in Esquimalt

A column brought to you by Esquimalt Parks and Recreation

  • Feb 29, 2020
Family Day activities in Esquimalt included a free skate and swim. (Photo courtesy of Esquimalt Park and Recreation)
Car accidents are nothing new, but it seems drivers are getting worse. (Black Press Media)

COLUMN: Drivers are just getting worse

The advent of self driving cars can’t come fast enough

Car accidents are nothing new, but it seems drivers are getting worse. (Black Press Media)
Protesters stand at a rail blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, near Belleville, Ont., on Monday Feb. 24, 2020, during a protest in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary chiefs attempting to halt construction of a natural gas pipeline on their traditional territories. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

B.C. VIEWS: Pipeline dispute highlights need for clarity

As the B.C. treaty process grinds on, uncertainty remains

Protesters stand at a rail blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, near Belleville, Ont., on Monday Feb. 24, 2020, during a protest in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary chiefs attempting to halt construction of a natural gas pipeline on their traditional territories. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
MLA Adam Olsen. (BC Green Party)

MLA REPORT: Peninsula businesses power the local economy

Adam Olsen is MLA for Saanich North and the Islands

  • Feb 22, 2020
MLA Adam Olsen. (BC Green Party)
COLUMN: March is a great time to be on the slopes, but it’s also the deadliest

COLUMN: March is a great time to be on the slopes, but it’s also the deadliest

Longer, sunnier days are one of the reasons why March has the most avalanche fatalities

  • Feb 21, 2020
COLUMN: March is a great time to be on the slopes, but it’s also the deadliest