Citizens for a Livable Cranbrook Society provides grassroots leadership and an inclusive process, with a voice for all community members, to ensure that our community grows and develops in a way that incorporates an environmental ethic, offers a range of housing and transportation choices, encourages a vibrant and cultural life and supports sustainable, meaningful employment and business opportunities.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Calling all men to Walk a Mile in Her Shoes


Break out the blister cream: High-heeled walk-a-thon comes to Cranbrook

May 17, 2012
Cranbrook, B.C.: You’re going to see something new during this year’s Sam Steele Days Parade: A group of men wearing bright red, high-heeled shoes walking to raise money for the Cranbrook Women’s Resource Centre.
The men will be taking part in Cranbrook’s first-ever Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault and Gender Violence.
“We sometimes forget the valuable contributions men are making to stop violence against women,” said Roberta Rodgers, with the Friends of the Cranbrook Women’s Resource Centre. “This gives them the opportunity to declare where they stand about gender violence.”
And stand they will—and hobble, strut and walk—in men’s-sized shoes provided especially for the occasion, down the 1.2-mile Sam Steele Days parade route on June 16.
“We special-order the shoes before the walk,” Rodgers said. “The heels aren’t ridiculously high, but they’re high enough to challenge most people, men or women.”
Walk a Mile In Her Shoes started in 2001 in California, and has spread to many communities across North America. Proceeds from every walk must go to a community organization that works to reduce violence against women. The Cranbrook Women’s Resource Centre, under the auspices of Community Connections of Southeast BC, is just such an organization.
“This is a fundraiser for the centre,” Rodgers said. “Our goal is to sign up as many men to walk the mile, and to inspire those men to form teams, collect pledges and enjoy themselves on parade day.
“After they complete the parade, they’ll receive a card acknowledging that they did, indeed, walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.”
The Friends are now approaching businesses and organizations to sign up walkers.
Walkers can also register online at www.FriendsoftheWomensCentre.com.
“We’re also looking for some sort of parade vehicle so the men can take a few breaks if their blisters get too big,” Rodgers said.
Keeping in the spirit of Sam Steele Days, the group is seeking horse-drawn conveyance first. “It doesn’t have to be a big carriage,” Rodgers said.
“If anyone has a carriage and horses—or even a bicycle rickshaw—and would like to get involved, we urge them to contact us as soon as possible,” Rodgers said. “We are putting the event together right now so there is still time for us to make our part of the parade fun, evocative and low-impact.”
To request a pledge package, visit www.FriendsoftheWomensCentre.com or call 250-489-0174.
To volunteer, to offer your low-impact transport, or to find out more, call 250-426-8588.
As for men who might be shy about walking in heels or collecting pledges, Rodgers had a word of advice: “Ask your friends how much they would pay to see you walk in heels,” she said. “How can they resist pledging when you put it like that?”

About • www.FriendsoftheWomensCentre.com
The Friends of the Cranbrook Women’s Resource Centre is a standing committee of the Community Connections Society of Southeast BC. The Friends work year-round to raise funds to keep the doors of the Cranbrook Women’s Resource Centre open.



Meeting of the Mayors


Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Meeting of BC Mayors Calls for Realignment of Resources
By BC Mayor's Caucus
PENTICTON - At the close of the inaugural meeting, 86 mayors from across BC are calling for an immediate discussion, beginning with the Premier and Cabinet, to examine the state of BC communities, and specifically, for a more efficient use of existing resources to better address the challenges facing residents.
The BC Mayors' Caucus endorsed the following statement: "BC communities are frontline service providers for our citizens and we are seeking a new partnership with the provincial and federal governments in the best interests of all of our communities. The BC Mayors' Caucus requests an immediate discussion on the efficient use of existing resources to better address the challenges our residents face."
The mayors outlined a number of specific areas that need to be addressed including:
  • Create a Premier's Round Table with the BC Mayors' Caucus to discuss public policy changes that affect local government budgets and delivery of services;
  • Eliminate the ad hoc granting process in favour of one that is sustainable, accountable, quantifiable and allows for long term planning by local governments;
  • Expand the mandate of the Municipal Auditor General to include an examination of the financial impacts of downloading on local governments;
  • Develop a round table on aging infrastructure that includes federal, provincial and local government participation;
  • Affirm the core service delivery of each order of government;
  • Redesign the cost sharing formula for significant infrastructure projects to reflect the tax revenue distribution;
  • If services are devolved to local governments, a sustainable revenue source for those services must be identified;
  • Develop a coordinated approach to how social services are delivered into a community;
  • Call for a full review of ambulance service delivery;
  • Establish flexibility around the federal gas tax to be goal oriented to the priorities of the specific communities;
  • Expand the application of the fair share principles province-wide and to include other industry sectors.
Steering Committee member Mayor Shari Green of Prince George said the feeling in the room was clear. "This was an incredibly beneficial meeting where it became evident that BC mayors have, for the first time, come together as peers with a single voice. This is a new day in the way we as mayors will move forward for the benefit of all of our residents."

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Post Notes for the Council Meeting of May 28, 2012


Wayne Staudt took the oath of office as the Interim Chief Administration Officer while the process of appointing a new CAO takes place.  Previous CAO Pearce has left to take a position in Vernon.  It is expected Mr. Staudt will fill this position for a period of approximately three months.

Delegations


5.1 RCMP Delegation; Crime Statistics for the last quarter.
These statistics can be read at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2293
Sgt. Laurie Jalbert highlighted the fact that the offender caught for the recent high number of break-ins plead guilty and was sentenced to five years.
51 drivers were removed from the road. 109 for the year to date.
9 distracted driving offences.  Distracted driving will become a focus for a designated period in the future.
The watch on prolific offenders is working well to reduce crime.  Bar Watch is successful.
The school programs D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education and) as well cyberbullying are up and running.
The force is down nine members at present due to transfers in having difficulty selling their properties in other locations.

There were several comments and questions to Sg. Jalbert concerning cycling.  In the discussion that followed Councillor Whetham requested some sort of awareness for cyclists around their responsibility to follow the 'rules of the road' within traffic.  With cycling becoming a much more popular method of transportation the importance of bike training, rodeos, safety and mutual respect were stressed for both cyclists and drivers.  All agreed on these issues.

5.2 Mount Baker Interact - Proposition regarding a Community Youth Action Plan
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2294
Thea Rodgers and Paniz Khosroshahy presented their ideas for art bike racks. Partly as an outcome of the recent youth Columbia Basin Trust Youth Conference in Kimberley, these students would like to enhance Cranbrook's bike culture.  Through a PowerPoint presentation they presented their ideas with some intitial draft form designs for Council's input.  This presentaion was very well received, encouragement given and some members of the gallery followed up with resource information after the presentation.

Council Enquiries
Councillor Pallesen had received a concern through Gary Lancaster regarding seniors concerns with Smart Meters.  Discussion indicated persons have the right to refuse the meter by placing a sign on their property and following up with a phone call.
Councillor Cross asked that there be a focus on outdoor watering practises in the city's advertising.  Councillor Cross also reported confusion over the proposal to rehabilitate parts of Joseph Creek.  A motion had previously passed that this proposal from community groups would go ahead.  However a series of emails received by some members of council and those volunteers involved, indicated a reluctance from some members of council  to accept  international professional expertise on the protection of  such waterways, a preference being shown for more access to water's edge for children to splash and more access for dogs being recommended.  Councillor Pallesen stated this is an 'urban stream' and should be accepted as such.

Comment
It is heartening to know the plan will go ahead.  Joseph Creek is not a manufactured piece of urban landscaping but originates naturally in the mountains, supplies our water and goes on to flow into the St Mary's River and subsequently becomes part of the Columbia River network.  As a fish-bearing stream it deserves the very best in environmental practice.


Councillor Warner had received an enquiry regarding speed limit time zone differences between playgrounds and school zones - one being dusk and one being 5:00pm.  Sgt Jalbert had left by this time but it was noted that times are usually posted.


There are still two places on the Community Builder Committee.  Mayor Stetski encouraged people to apply.  Details available on the City website.

Administration Updates
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2295


- Slaterville Implementation Update,
- Bus Idling Policy
John Darula has formulated a new idling policy.

- Dam Safety Review (Idlewild and Phillips)- will go ahead at a lesser cost than expected

- 2012 Annual Capital Roads Program is running into some difficulty in that infrastructure issues with sewer and water mains are much greater than anticipated and will be considerable more expensive than the budget allows.

- Wastewater Treatment and Disposal Program Status - Phase 2
A ribbon cutting ceremony was requested by the Province to ackowledge the 'almost' completion of this vast work.  It will be held at the Pump House on the Spray Irrigation Fields between 3:00- 4:00pm on June 8th with MLA, MP and Mayor present.

- Electronic Tender Bidding Initiative  Mayor Stetski asked for an in-house workshop for local contractors to address concerns with this new program.

- Engineering Services Acquisition Policy
-Flight Information Display Screens
- Northstar Rails to Trails Update.  The allocated budget will take care of repairs need.  A Trans Canada Trail Dedication Ceremony will be held at the bridge on June 2nd 2:00pm.  All trail lovers invited.


- New Horizons for Seniors Grant - Yet another garden for Cranbrook.
- Canada Day - Sunrise Rotary are working with the City to organise celebrations, hopefully for Moir Park contingent on grant approval.

- Handicap Parking Rec Plex - more than most recreational complexes
- Summer Reading Club
- Zero Emission Electric Vehicle.  Considerable research has gone into this with pros and cons being taken into consideration but a decision has yet to be made.  Councillor Pallesen would rather wait until technology has advanced more.  Councillor Pallesen wondered where such a vehicle could be recharged about town.  More information on this can be read within the administration report.

Comment
There might be a minimal cost to setting an example but without forward thinking and leaders to demonstrate, a culture change in care for the environment will not happen.



Correspondence
All correspondence can be read beginning:
 https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2296


9.1 RDEK Highlights
9.2 RCMP Press Release
9.3 Round the Mountain Festival
9.4 UCBM Correspondence
9.5 Correspondence RCMP
9.6 Cranbrook Society for Community Living
9.7 Letter from JJ's Custom Cakery - Charity Fundraiser for the Girl's and Boys Club
9.8 Rails to Trails special event on June 2
9.9 Request for sponsorship for the Ktunaxa Charity Golf Tournament
9.10 Ministry of Justice re: Recycling
9.11 Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medals Nominations
9.12 Letter re: breastfeeding support
9.13 Kootenay Ice Golf Tournament
9.14 SPARC BC - Access Awareness Day
9.15 Letter from the Mayor of Vernon to BC Hydro supporting their citizens ability to refuse smart meters
9.16 Letter from Associates Medical Clinic regarding pot holes in the back alley
9.17 CAP Youth Initiative Program
9.18 Sunrise Rotary Club - Canada Day 2012
9.19 Invitation to Small Business Roundtable
9.20 ICBC Cost Sharing Opportunities - Road Improvement Program
9.21 BC Transit - door accessibility for people with disabilities

9.22 IPAD app especially designed for Mayor's and Elected Officials
Councillors Warner and Davis opposed the the recommendation that an assessment report on this new technology be brought back to council in September.  The recommendation carried.  Councillor Scott absent.

9.23 Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library

9.24 Letter from Stu Deeks re: Composting Household Waste
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2321
This topic which has arisen before will be put into the workplan for 2013-2014.

9.25 Letter from the United Way re: United Way Financial Centre
9.26 East Kootenay Brain Injury Association

Committee Recommendations

11.1 Cranbrook in Motion Committee Recommendations
- that speed bumps NOT be installed along 14th Avenue, 200 block north
- that the City in collaboration with the College of the Rockies install a bus shelter
Carried.

- that Council approve the use of free transit during the Cranbrook Farmers Market for those riders carrying reusable, recyclable bags.  It was explained this idea will be used as a promotion (in conjunction with transit who will promote the idea) for the Public Transportation System. Carried, with Councillor Davis opposed.  Councillor Scott absent.

New Business


12.1 To consider the draft policy for Electronic Changeable Copy Signs
to view the proposed policy: https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2325
Carried. Councillor Warner opposed.  Councillor Warner appeared to find the policy too restrictive.

12.2 To seek a resolution of Council authorizing application for funding in the amount of $95,000 under the Gas Tax Agreement's Innovation Fund in support of the project entitled "Development of a Bioenergy
Sector Economic Economic Assessment Tool"
Carried.

12.3 2012 Capital Roads Program - Water Mains
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2327
There was considerable discrepancy between original estimates and current predicted costs.  This transfer will reduce the shortfall.
Carried.


Bylaws


13.1 Development Cost Charge Bylaw 3740,2012
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2328
Some discussion ensued about an amendment which might reduce the assist factor for storm drainage.  It was partly agreed to this being this forward at a later reading and after public input. First Reading - carried with Councillors Cross and Whetham opposed.   This draft will now be made available for public input.

13.2 Cemetery Amendment Bylaw 3748,2012
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2329
Adopted.

13.3 Leisure Services Fees and Charges Amendment Bylaw 3749,2012 - to freeze rental fees
Adopted.




Monday, May 28, 2012

Advance Council Notes, May 28

Delegations


5.1 RCMP Delegation; Crime Statistics
These statistics can be read at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2293


5.2 Mount Baker Interact - Proposition regarding a Community Youth Action Plan
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2294

Administration Updates
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2295


- Slaterville Implementation Update
- Bus Idling Policy
- Dam Safety Review
- 2012 Annual Capital Roads Program
- Wastewater Treatment & Disposal Program Status - Phase 2
- Electronic Tender Bidding Initiative
- Engineering Services Acquisition Policy
-Flight Information Display Screens
- Northstar Rails to Trails Update
- New Horizons for Seniors Grant
- Canada Day
- Handicap Parking Rec - Plex
- Summer Reading Club
- Zero Emission Electric Vehicle



Correspondence
All correspondence can be read beginning:
 https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2296


9.1 RDEK Highlights
9.2 RCMP Press Release
9.3 Round the Mountain Festival
9.4 UCBM Correspondence
9.5 Correspondence RCMP
9.6 Cranbrook Society for Community Living
9.7 Letter from JJ's Custom Cakery - Charity Fundraiser for the Girl's and Boys Club
9.8 Rails to Trails special event on June 2
9.9 Request for sponsorship for the Ktunaxa Charity Golf Tournament
9.10 Ministry of Justice re: Recycling
9.11 Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medals Nominations
9.12 Letter re: breastfeeding support
9.13 Kootenay Ice Golf Tournament
9.14 SPARC BC - Access Awareness Day
9.15 Letter from the Mayor of Vernon to BC Hydro supporting their citizens ability to refuse smart meters
9.16 Letter from Associates Medical Clinic regarding pot holes in the back alley
9.17 CAP Youth Initiative Program
9.18 Sunrise Rotary Club - Canada Day 2012
9.19 Invitation to Small Business Roundtable
9.20 ICBC Cost Sharing Opportunities - Road Improvement Program
9.21 BC Transit - door accessibility for people with disabilities
9.22 IPAD app especially designed for Mayor's and Elected Officials
9.23 Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library
9.24 Letter from Stu Deeks re: Composting Household Waste
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2321
9.25 Letter from the United Way re: United Way Financial Centre
9.26 East Kootenay Brain Injury Association

Committee Recommendations

11.1 Cranbrook in Motion Committee Recommendations
- that speed bumps NOT be installed along 14th Avenue, 200 block north
- that the City in collaboration with the College of the Rockies install a bus shelter
- that Council approve the use of free transit during the Cranbrook Farmers Market for those riders carrying reusable, recyclable bags

New Business


12.1 To consider the draft policy for Electronic Changeable Copy Signs
to view the proposed policy: https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2325
12.2 To seek a resolution of Council authorizing application for funding in the amount of $95,000 under the Gas Tax Agreement's Innovation Fund in support of the project entitled "Development of a Bioenergy
Sector Economic Economic Assessment Tool"
12.3 2012 Capital Roads Program - Water Mains

Bylaws


13.1 Development Cost Charge Bylaw 3740,2012
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=2328
13.2 Cemetery Amendment Bylaw 3748,2012
13.3 Leisure Services Fees and Charges Amendment Bylaw 3749,2012




Sunday, May 27, 2012

Around Town and Looking Good, Spring Market

Residents and visitors flocked to the Spring Market yesterday.  It was great to see the vendors and familiar friends.

The wood-fired oven from Invermere was a popular stop for bread

Geri Binder  with his pottery

Richard Hessler and his artwork

Wayne Durning home for a short while from Nova Scotia used his talents to the add to this market
Judy's raku and her great flower arrangements were back


and everyone's favourite bears had gained some new friends over the winter.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

On Pesticides

Jenny Humphrey
Being a gardener, I have followed with interest the debate about pesticides, herbicides and fungicides for many years.  Although all these chemicals are now lumped together under the heading of pesticides, to me they are still all very different substances used for different purposes.

It seems most people have strong feelings one way or another about these medicines for plants and that is what they are in many ways.  Like antibiotics and human potions, there is no doubt in my mind that many have been way overused in a domestic setting for far too long and that we have no full understanding of the effects of long-term use. I personally choose to avoid their use because I simply do not trust that they are completely safe.  I expect a doctor to prescribe serious medications.  I would prefer to have any serious pesticides only prescribed by someone who is equally qualified.  The fact that our life-sustaining bee populations are in trouble is proof enough for me that pesticides should not be used to the extent they are. The depletion of our bee populations is very disturbing and is very noticeable to any gardener.  Although the cause for the die-out is still under investigation, there are many linkages to the overuse of pesticides.

The agricultural practise of monoculture has unfortunately enabled many pests and weeds to proliferate, leading to the mass use of these chemicals in an agricultural setting.  Our gardens however are not monocultures (a mass of the same plants) and by their very nature, contain many natural controls and balances.   The use of strong chemicals on a few greenfly serves only to upset the balance by destroying the good with the bad. 

Surely, in our own back yards we can learn to love a few dandelions, tolerate a few unsightly pests and educate ourselves about more natural and less toxic ways of doing things. 

from the Tyee:

Legislative committee's language treats science-based critics like children.
By R. Warren Bell, Yesterday, TheTyee.ca

I'm 66 years old. I've been a family physician, working in hospitals, clinics, emergency rooms and offices for 36 years. I've headed and actually founded health and environmental organizations. I've presided over the medical staff at my hospital, and in clinical work, I've guided my actions with hard, unemotional data.
It's not often that I get treated like an argumentative, hyperanxious, irrational adolescent, so when I do, it certainly gets my attention.
And that's exactly what's happened to me -- and to most British Columbians -- at the hands of Bill Bennett and his Liberal Party colleagues on the Special Committee on Pesticides.............
And whose "scientific evidence" did Bill Bennett rely on?
Here's the government's advisory group: "the Committee heard another perspective on the environmental impacts of pesticides. Submissions from pesticide manufacturers and industrial users stressed the important environmental benefits that result from maintaining healthy lawns and gardens." And the same group reassured them on the safety side too.
Yes folks, when it comes to science, the corporations that make billions from selling pesticides, and the companies that apply them, have it in the bag. Ordinary mortals, like biologists, ecologists, nurses, doctors, environmental lawyers, and citizens who all have absolutely no personal vested interest in pesticide production and sales -- we don't know nothin'. We're all heat, and no light.


Constituents Ask MP David Wilks to Support Democracy

A group of approximately 40 people including Teamsters Union CP employees, showed deep concern about the government's use of  the current, all encompassing omnibus Budget Bill outside MP David Wilks Constituency Office yesterday.  While MP Wilks was not present, his Constituency Assistant did very briefly listen to some CP employees.

Several CP employees read statements expressing their own particular issues including pensions.



Rhonda Barter from Lead BC told the press, "He should go with his heart as he originally stated even if he was the ONLY Conservative MP to vote against passing it" "There are close to 450 pages, and about 70 issues, more issues than there are weeks in the year. How can you possibly understand everything you are passing?"








Friday, May 25, 2012

Omnibus Bill and Cranbrook

For those wondering what the fuss is about it is easy to do a Google search and find out more about this bill which encompasses a lot more than budget.  At the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce weekly luncheon David Wilks was questioned about the new allowances for cross border shoppers and the potential effect on Cranbrook businesses for example.  Many are concerned about the changes to environmental assessment - but the list goes on and time is short to fully evaluate the ramifications of all that is contained within this bill.
For a brief look at what the Huffington Post considers to be 15 of the major topics contained within this bill;
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/23/canada-budget-2012-bill-c-38_n_1538525.html

For those who would like to encourage our MP David Wilks to do the right and democratic thing and vote for the concerns of his constituents, there will a show of support at noon today, Friday May 25th, outside his office.

Barcelona, Spain – what a remarkable city!

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

Ahh, Barcelona. If I’d heard about ye earlier, I would have visited you before. Much before! But thank God, I got to you when I did because at least I know I can always go back.
And when would I go back? The year 2026, of course, because that’s the centenary of architect Antonio Gaudi’s birth and the year when his apocalyptic vision will finally become a reality carved in stone.

I’m referring to the “Sagrada Familia,” the stupendous cathedral now nearing completion in the Eixample District, which it looms over like a stone colossus and has been variously described as divine, surrealistic, loopy and the first Gothic cathedral designed under LSD.

Trust me, you have to see it for yourself and you’ll come up with your own adjectives.

Sagrada Familia
In a city where architecture is king and Gaudi is often regarded as king of its many famous architects, the only people that could possibly not enjoy it would be the blind and what a tragedy that would be for them. It’s Barcelona where the ostentatiously, decorative baroque style reaches its epitome with its opulent ornamentation, soaring columns and gilded statues. In our part of the world, where everything is built as functional and cheap as possible, you just don’t see architecture that is beautiful for beauty’s sake.  And I tell you, it can reduce a sensitive soul to tears. But Barcelona is also filled with classic, neo-classic and mind-blowing examples of modern architecture that would look right at home in New York or Dubai.

And I haven’t even mentioned the “Modernisme  Movement” of the late 1890s and early 1900s that Gaudi and his fellow Catalan architects largely invented featuring buildings with sensuous curves, undulating facades and ventilation shafts disguised to look like flowers. All right, enough! You just have to go there and see for yourself.

While in the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, you also can’t avoid its historic legacy including the crumbling Roman walls left in the narrow streets of the Gothic or “Gotico” District, the soaring Mirador de Colon (Christopher Columbus column), the Picasso Museum and Catalunya Square at the head of “La Rambla,” Barcelona’s famous market and shopping street that has thrilled and entertained visitors from Medieval times
After many years ago, reading George Orwell’s “Homage to Catalonia,” a paean to the Spanish Civil War and the carnage it caused, I spent one of my most interesting days in Barcelona when I rented a three-speed bike for the day and spent eight hours exploring the city on my own. I slowly wended my way out of the winding Gotico, cruised by the spectacular and gritty waterfront district and finally found myself pedaling up leafy boulevards past Parc Guell, which is adorned by more of Gaudi’s ceramic sculptures, and to the top of a pine-covered promontory a thousand feet above the sprawling city. To my amazement, I found myself in a somewhat unkempt park crowned with some crumbling, concrete bunkers that were an artillery battery during the civil war and later a squatters’ settlement after the war until all the squatters were moved out in the late 1990s and the park created.

The Republican forces had dug themselves deep into the rock, carving out tunnels and underground dormitories where they lived while the war raged around them, including Mussolini’s aerial bombing which served as a “practice run” for the Second World War. It gave me a spooky feeling to be doing this and put me in a very reflective mood about war and its tragic vicissitudes.
And then I noticed the most amazing thing.
Some of the steps leading into the tunnels and the tunnel floors themselves were covered with a rainbow of decorative tiles of many colours. “Decorating a bunker while fighting a war,” I thought to myself. “What kind of people would do such a thing?”
In all honesty, I don’t know if it was the civil war fighters or the squatters that laid the tiles down. But all I can say is Barcelona, and the Catalan people that inhabit it, are remarkable examples of the human spirit.
I strongly recommend going there and seeing for yourself.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

MP David Wilks Focuses Spotlight on the East Kootenay

submitted
For your information:
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/05/24/dan-arnold-david-wilks-hung-himself-out-to-dry/


There will be a show of support for MP David Wilks in his opposition to the omnibus bill at his office at noon on Friday May 25th.  Those who wish to show their support of opposition to the omnibus bill are asked to be at David Wilks office at noon, Friday May 25th.



Constituency Office

100 Cranbrook Street North, Suite B (Main Office)
Cranbrook, British Columbia
V1C 3P9