FELICELLA: Fewer overdose deaths doesn't mean harm reduction failed — it shows why it matters
Using a decline in deaths to argue that harm reduction isn't working is like using a decline in traffic fatalities to argue against seatbelts.
Podcasts
BC stories,
told out loud.
Sitka Media podcasts bring in-depth BC journalism straight to your ears.
About Sitka
Independent journalism
for British Columbia.
Sitka Media is a reader-supported publication covering BC news, politics, and culture with depth and integrity.
Become an Insider
Using a decline in deaths to argue that harm reduction isn't working is like using a decline in traffic fatalities to argue against seatbelts.
British Columbia deserves a reconciliation framework measured not by the sophistication of its legal architecture, but by whether Indigenous communities are demonstrably better off.
The band attempted to claim it was a private contractual party when accountability was at stake, but also a public authority when powers of governance were at stake.
Those of us who have found comfort in the warm embrace of this great nation ought to cheer when our men in red take to the pitch — but that needn't come at the expense of supporting the others that have special places in our hearts.
A mayoral or council candidate does not have to promise the moon, or even modest reform. They can still pledge to make noise and badger the higher levels of government to take action.
But even if a BC Liberal identity existed, there is no credible person to carry it.
If our leaders were really interested in fostering a country and province that upholds its civic duty and "fighting" antisemitism they would be focusing their efforts on how the problem is being perpetuated.
End wasteful spending, cancel the tax hikes, and stop the debt avalanche.
Elected representatives in our legislature hold the exclusive responsibility to write laws, collect and allocate revenues, and scrutinize the legislative work of their colleagues before it becomes provincial law.
Dismissing these forces as fringe or unserious (or ‘MAGA’) does not make them disappear.
Should West supplant Eby, then Findlay may be in trouble. It’s not unimaginable that many centrists would prefer a reformed, West-led NDP over a “true blue” BC Conservative party.
On the Boultbee to Brodie spectrum, Findlay is idelogically closer to the leader of OneBC.
Until governments establish clear, lawful, and transparent frameworks, they are not advancing reconciliation or stewardship. They are creating confusion, conflict, and risk on the water.
The Conservative Party of BC is choosing its next leader at a moment when the province is in the middle of something larger than any single party’s internal drama.
Kits Pool — one of the most iconic public amenities in all of Canada — is still being run like it's March 2020.
Eby is trying to rerun expired political battles with an audience that is opposed to his intransigence and exhausted by his leadership.
"Armstrong uttered the words 'blood and soil' in the process of condemning blood and soil ideology."
The benefit of spending time in opposition before getting to be on the government side of the House is the development of empathy for those whose job it is to continually challenge and oppose.
The good news is that it is easier to fix incompetence than it is to create the world's best conditions for timber production.
Criticism aimed at improving policing is one thing. Attacks designed to demoralize police, delegitimize law enforcement, and excuse criminal behaviour are something else entirely.
By the standard Findlay invented Saturday, the leader of this party cannot be married to a sitting member of its caucus.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in the treatment of mining.
A brewery is a social institution, while a vape shop is an addiction kiosk with LED lights.
The people of Vancouver deserve the Whitecaps. Unfortunately, political leadership across multiple levels of government failed, over many years, to position Vancouver to seriously compete in the modern business of professional soccer.
BC used to have a sterling reputation when it came to managing taxpayer money. Now credit rating agency S&P Global has downgraded BC five times in five years, from AAA to A.
Get the latest insights delivered to your inbox.