Opinion

The Canadian dollar is sinking. Gas prices have been going up for the past month. Banks are making noise about raising mortgage rates. The housing market is cooling. The weather seems changeable on the hour. It must be summer.

The Editor, The Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce deserves kudos for their Invest Local campaign. If they can convince our provincial government to follow this mantra by having ferries and seabus' built here in B.C.

I t's time politicians' expense accounts were day-lighted for all to see. That doesn't mean we think taxpayers' money isn't well spent on necessary travel and conferences, it's just one more form of accounting that is long overdue.

T his Canada Day weekend, Canadians will enjoy that which binds us together. We'll listen to First Nations drummers, French Canadian singers and down east squid jigger ditties and we'll end up washed with the subtle warmth of re-assuring Canadianism.

The Editor, Re. "Shared policing is a must" (The Tri-City News, June 19). It doesn't go far enough.

The Editor, Trust TransLink to throw the proverbial cart under the horses with its planned pricing system. Peak and off-peak pricing is not a bad idea at all, as long as car drivers and transit users have alternatives.

C oming out of high school, I didn't know too much about Canadian history. I remember in Grade 12, my brother asked me when the War of 1812 was and I thought it was a trick question. I know that probably says more about me than it does about the B.C.

T hink of it as an electoral echo. While many British Columbians are just getting over the election hangover from May's blockbuster BC Liberal comeback win, 13 municipalities are about to head into byelection mode.

T o start, I want to be clear and say that I do not condone the use of manure or fertilizer to drive homeless people from public property. Last week, Port Coquitlam became the third community outed for using such a tactic.

It's officially summer and if you think it's time to take a break from politics, public meetings and the like, think again. The fun has just begun.