EVERY DAY, BRITISH COLUMBIANS need to renew or replace their photo ID, including driver's licenses, BC Services Card, and BC ID, which involves making trips to their local ICBC office and at times, waiting in long lines. Last week, we introduced legislation that would allow people to renew their simple license and ID r...

IT WASN'T THAT MANY YEARS AGO that we went through what I call the period of "death music." So many hit songs contained reference to murder, suicide the kind of depressing songs that made you wonder why you even existed. I had some of those feelings Tuesday as I listened to the B.C. budget. I thought that per...

OVER THE PAST YEAR, we've seen how strongly Canadians have stood together in the face of challenges, like global inflation and threats from Trump, and our patriotism is stronger than ever. We're making progress and creating more opportunities for people across B.C. and Canada. And right now, we have something we can al...

BRITISH COLUMBIA is defined by its land and water. Forests, rivers, alpine meadows and rugged coastlines aren't just scenery. They're the backbone of our economy, our culture and our shared identity. And unlike many places in Canada, these landscapes are overwhelmingly public, with nearly 94 per cent of B.C. made up of...

COMMUNITIES ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA are growing rapidly. And with that growth comes a clear need: more skilled tradespeople to help build and maintain the places we all rely on, like our homes, schools, hospitals and community infrastructure. As an MLA, I hear every day how important it is that we prepare people for th...

THE TOXIC DRUG CRISIS is taking lives, and harming families and individuals in communities across the province. Confronting the stigma of mental health and addictions is essential to get more people the help they need. In 2023, our government tested a decriminalization pilot with broad support from advocates, service p...

IN THE FACE of economic uncertainty and threats to our sovereignty, Canadians and British Columbians have stepped up all year to tirelessly support local farmers, retailers, restaurants and businesses across B.C., and have carefully chosen Canadian-made groceries and products in their day-to-day lives. Just last week, ...

IN FACT, I WOULD STAND in front of you all and suggest it gives you perspective. Today, it is my pleasure to offer some thanks to all of our health workers, no matter what their level.I have been in Royal Inland Hospital for the past two years. It's been a tough time. I know this isn't everyone's story, but from every ...

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? That's the question facing taxpayers regarding the new performing arts centre as we enter the final month of the year. Concerns are being raised about the new costs linked to the downtown location. When this project was proposed, it was seen as a diamond in the middle of a cluster of restaurants t...

THIS WAS AN INTERESTING WEEK for a ground-breaking at the site of the future Kamloops Centre for the Arts on Fourth Avenue. It's a project that could cost as much as $200 million but one that will, along with the Kelson Group's City Gardens, transform the character of the Kamloops downtown.It was almost exactly 10 year...

DEAR MR. PETERS:It has taken me a couple of weeks to write to you regarding your segment on November 14th, 2025. Although I haven't agreed with all your comments over the years, I believe your objective has been to get people to talk or at least discuss or debate the subject. That in itself should have value in our cur...

BRITISH COLUMBIA is one of the most beautiful places to live in the world and we want people to have good, long lives here. Around the world, people are feeling the effects of global economic instability, and in addition, Donald Trump's unjustified tariffs have been an attack on our sovereignty and our economy. That's ...

THE NEWS THAT THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE (PAC) cost has climbed to $211 million shouldn't surprise anyone - least of all city hall.The AAP capped borrowing at $140 million, but the project cost can rise far above this as long as the city finds the extra money through reserves, grants, land sales or current and future t...

FOR MANY YEARS, Kamloops council would try to keep its annual property tax increases right around the rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).In layperson's terms, CPI measures the prices of everything households spend money on.If it's not reasonable to think our taxes will be flat year after year, it is rea...

CHANGES TO THE EMPLOYMENT STANDARS ACT have come into effect on November 12th that limits when employers can ask for sick notes due to short-term illness. This will help ease the administrative burden on healthcare professionals while also making sure that people aren't spreading illness or experiencing long wait times...

TEN YEARS DOWN THE ROAD, I wonder what a picture of me will look like. It might be an exact image of how I look at the time. Or, it may not be a realistic image, because it may not actually be me at all. It may be something that bears a slight resemblance to the original subject, but it may have been completely distort...

SITTING UNDER A MARKET TENT in June with Naya Macaulay, my friend and fellow team member at the Kamloops Food Policy Council, a woman strolling up to our booth at the Yew Street Block Party told us, "If you live in Kamloops and have to buy apricots, then you clearly don't have enough good friends." We laughed...

A NEST OF RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL DENIALISTS was treated to a true Kamloops welcome this week.Some of the leading figures pushing to whitewash the horrors of Canada's residential school system slithered into the city for public talks.They were joined by the two OneBC MLAs, people who were elected as BC Conservatives but lef...

PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY has clearly decided which basket to put his eggs in. He hasn't put them all in the same basket, so he has not totally abandoned the old cliche, but his announcements today are clearly designed to load up the energy basket and lighten the environmental one. The huge bulk of his plan is concern...

EACH YEAR ON NOVEMBER 11, British Columbians come together to honour those who served and sacrificed their lives for our country.Everyone has their own connection to Remembrance Day. In my family, I think of my grandfather, who despite not knowing how to swim, served in the Navy during the Second World War. That kind o...

THOSE DESIGNING SOCIAL MEDIA become more and more a source of our daily information - often very sketchy, often an outright lie - but the general public seems to pay less attention to the truth in the writing than the glaring headlines, which are only intended to grab enough interest hopefully to read the entire story....

THERE WILL NEVER BE A WAY to prove what really happened in the cab of Colval Abbinett's pickup truck seconds before it slammed into a small car on McGill Road two years ago.That collision killed Owyn McInnis and forever changed the lives of Riley Brinnen and Owen Waterhouse.Those young men and their families will never...

COLLINS: New budget: Can it pull us through the turmoil? WHEN YOU'RE PRESENTED with a massive document like the federal budget, you are drawn to the big-ticket items. For example, in Mark Carney's budget this week, you probably saw items that would have made your jaw drop. You might have noticed that the government is ...

LAST WEEK, we announced that we will be keeping ICBC basic auto-insurance rates low through 2027. British Columbians are facing pressures with rising costs due to global inflation and Donald Trump's tariffs, and they don't need to worry about their insurance costs rising, too. Up until at least 2027, basic auto insuran...

I'LL ADMIT I FELT A LITTLE SYMPATHETIC toward Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson this week as he outlined the thousands of dollars of damage done to his property since being elected. The mayor had made a point of campaigning in favor of a tougher stance against the homeless, the drug addicts and the vandals who break into homes ...

A FEW YEARS AGO, Donald Trump wrote a book. It was called, "The Art of the Deal." It was his best-selling book. It also was a farce. His co-writer, at one point, suggested he wished he hadn't been involved and both he and the publisher said Trump didn't write a word of the book. The co-writer said it was the ...

BRITISH COLUMBIANS ARE WORRIED about energy use. Across the globe, energy demand is increasing due to artificial intelligence, industrial development and data centres, and everyday people are weary of feeling it in their pockets with rising energy costs. In B.C., we're taking charge of our energy use now to protect our...

MAJOR STAFFING DECISIONS are forthcoming for the City of Kamloops. These decisions are critical to the success of two major projects - the new Performing Arts Centre and the new multiplex for ice skating. If the City screws it up, it will leave us with two large white elephants which will drain us dry. There are severa...