ArmchairMayor

WHEN A LIBERAL MP appeared completely stark naked in a virtual parliament session last week, it was maybe the least embarrassing happening of the week for Canada’s governing party. In fact, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should probably be thanking Pontiac MP William Amos for nearly accidentally showing all his colleagues his honorable member. It has distracted everyone from what was a very bad week for the government.... http://armchairmayor.ca//peters-naked-mp-distracts-from-t/

Kamloops Fire Rescue is gaining a reputation for being the go-to team when canines are in trouble. The fire crew was called into action again to give a lift to Bruno, a 170-pound St. Bernard who broke his paw. Bruno's owner was unable to lift the over-sized pooch into a vehicle for a trip to the vet, so KFR came to the rescue.... http://armchairmayor.ca//pets-kamloops-fire-rescue-goes-t/

BALDERDASH (senseless talk or writing; nonsense) ... bafflegab (pretentious language, especially bureaucratic jargon) ... claptrap (absurd or nonsensical talk or ideas) ... drivel (nonsense). These and similar words can often be used to describe the propaganda that issues forth multiple times a day from the media department of the BC government. Want an example? ... http://armchairmayor.ca//forseth-government-bafflegab-shi/

DRESSED IN THEIR ORANGE and fluorescent vests, they came first with their surveying equipment, distance measuring wheels and magnetic pipeline locators. Then they brought their flags and their yellow, orange and pink painted stakes, pounding them into the ground above the existing pipeline and along the edges of their new right of way. When the cows and horses knocked them over, they came back and put them in again, thousands of them.... http://armchairmayor.ca//rothenburger-living-in-the-path-/

An infant is receiving medical attention after a partnership between police, health, and family services led to the newborn’s safe return to the hospital. On April 14, 2021, just before 2 a.m., Kamloops RCMP received information regarding an infant who had been taken from the hospital against medical advice related to the baby’s survival. Due to concerns for the infant’s life, Kamloops RCMP officers located and stopped the vehicle, then provided medical assistance to the newborn until BC Emergency Health Services paramedics arrived.... http://armchairmayor.ca//police-infant-taken-from-hospita/

WE’RE FINALLY MOVING INTO SPRING. It’s been a tug-of-war as of late, with snowy mornings and frosty windshields yet again some strong and cold winds, too but the days are getting brilliantly sunny and long enough to be able to fit enough in one with time to spare. The sun is coaxing out more people, and there seem to be many more cars on the road because there’s much to do around here.... http://armchairmayor.ca//ginta-spring-is-here-lets-make-i/

THERE THEY ARE, a young couple beaming at the camera, with a somewhat more serious toddler sitting between them. Even after 85 years since the photograph was taken, the joy of this young family radiates through. The young couple are my grandparents, and between them, my then toddler mother. But that is only half the story.

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger. WHEN IT COMES to real estate and public washrooms, it’s all about location. Kamloops City council spent an hour on Tuesday talking about an application for a $2.5 million grant from the Province, and most of it was centered around the public washroom mess. There’s a pressing need for public washrooms in the City’s main shopping areas due to the increasing presence of street people, some of whom exhibit less-than-impeccable bathroom manners, especially when there’s no toilet handy.... http://armchairmayor.ca//editorial-new-public-loos-will-b/

By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE April 12, 2021 Weeks of questions, blood clot concerns and changing guidance over who should receive the AstraZeneca vaccine has had a devastating impact on Canadian confidence in it. New public opinion data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds just 41 per cent of Canadians who are yet unvaccinated but intend to be are comfortable with receiving an AZ vaccine, currently comprising about... http://armchairmayor.ca//national-pulse-most-canadians-do/

By SEAN LANG Anglia Ruskin University THE DEATH OF PRINCE PHILIP, the Duke of Edinburgh marks the end of a chapter not just for the British royal family but for European monarchy itself. Philip belonged to that cosmopolitan world of interrelated royals that had ruled Europe before the first world war that has been largely swept away by time, war or revolution.... http://armchairmayor.ca//prince-philip-old-school-europea/

PRINCE PHILIP, who died Friday, had several links to Vancouver Island.

Premier John Horgan issued the following statement Friday, April 9, 2021 on the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh:

WHILE RAVI KAHLON, Minister of Jobs, Economy Recovery and Innovation, was quick to issue a statement Friday morning (April 9, 2021) on the latest Stats-Can employment figures for March, his focus was very carefully scripted to skirt several undeniable facts.

WE ALL KNOW by now that COVID-19 is a bummer. It stresses out even the best of us but if you’re a business owner, teacher, healthcare provider or senior, it’s even tougher. Nothing like losing your livelihood, spending all day in a crowded classroom, working directly with COVID-infected patients or not seeing loved ones for months on end to give you a case of the blues.... http://armchairmayor.ca//rothenburger-whos-most-bummed-by/

By GREG KYLLO MLA, Shuswap THIS PAST FALL, British Columbians from all corners of our province myself included headed to the polls to cast our votes in the provincial election. Anyone who checked a ballot knows that, regardless of how we choose to vote, it is our business and ours alone. Our ability to cast our ballots anonymously has been one of the most fundamental tenets of our democracy.... http://armchairmayor.ca//politics-secret-ballot-on-union-/

CHRISTMAS IS A TIME OF WONDER; a time for festivity and lights; a time for gathering together with friends and family in celebration. In the shelter of our warm houses, the dwindling days of winter are a curiosity if noticed at all. But for many ancient cultures, the death and rebirth of the sun was not cause for celebration. The sun represented life itself.... http://armchairmayor.ca//charbonneau-the-death-and-rebirt/

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger. WHEN I SUGGESTED recently it might be time for Dr. Bonnie Henry to take a break from being the voice and face of B.C.’s COVID-19 response, it wasn’t exactly greeted with agreement. Dr. Henry is still regarded by many as being above criticism. Well, I’m going to risk being critical again. It’s about her inconsistency and lack of clarity.... http://armchairmayor.ca//editorial-dr-bonnie-henry-seriou/

THE GOOD NEWS: it’s easier to fight off Victoria’s grey, damp winter chill when your blood is boiling. For those keeping score at home (and really, it’s hard to keep up) the latest revelations about people in leadership positions travelling abroad include A) a Globe and Mail story about Canada’s top bureaucrat in charge of border and travel health taking a free holiday to Jamaica, and B) Global News’ discovery that the head of UBC’s school of public health spent the holidays in Hawaii.... http://armchairmayor.ca//knox-while-raging-against-globe-/

If we're feeling sorry for ourselves this Christmas, let's be thankful for all those who keep us safe on that day.

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger. IF THERE WAS A PLAN to screw up the B.C. Recovery Benefit, it’s working wonderfully well.

THERE WAS A CERTAIN IRONY in finding a copy of The Epoch Times in my mailbox this week on the anniversary of the closing of The Kamloops Daily News. The Epoch Times is a reminder that things aren’t like they used to be in the media world. This publication calls itself objective and unbiased but that’s like Fox News insisting it’s Fair and Balanced. (Fox quietly dropped that slogan a few years ago in favour of Most Watched, Most Trusted.)... http://armchairmayor.ca//rothenburger-heres-to-journalist/

Sir Wilfred Laurier, Canada’s 7th Prime Minister, has graced the nation’s sky blue five-dollar bank note for almost 50 years. A national survey shows Terry Fox is a heavy favourite for the next edition of the bill.

By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE December 22, 2020 For many Canadians, the answer to a common question in December carries an unusual answer. What are you doing New Years Eve? Waiting for next year. For many, this holiday season with parties cancelled and traditions put off is an obstacle to overcome. Now, new data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds people from coast-to-coast hoping fervently for a new era when neighbours and communities are safely vaccinated, and (almost) everyone regains a life that looks more like it used to.... http://armchairmayor.ca//national-pulse-what-to-do-when-t/

WHILE AN OUT-AND-PROUD WHITE NATIONALIST was putting his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk this week, many Canadians of ostensibly better character were putting their feet up as well. Except instead of participating in a ham-fisted insurrection facilitated by law enforcement, they were putting their feet up on tropical beaches around the world. Almost uniformly across North America, public health officials and governments have been pleading with their constituents to avoid discretionary travel.... http://armchairmayor.ca//peters-despite-dr-henrys-words-w/

By JACK L. ROZDILSKY York University, Canada IN A DARK AND SURREAL MOMENT in American history, on the afternoon of Jan. 6, a group of Americans staged a violent protest by assaulting their own capitol building.

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger. DARE I SAY IT? Dare I utter the words? Is it time for Dr. Bonnie Henry to turn over the reins of B.C.’s pandemic response to someone else?

CHRISTMAS IS JUST a couple of days away, but in some ways, it has already arrived here in Kamloops. Yesterday (Dec. 22), the first person in Kamloops received a COVID-19 vaccine. Kelsey Medhurst, a healthcare worker at a long term care facility, was first in line for the vaccine here in Kamloops. Across B.C., the first 4,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are going to workers like Medhurst in long-term care homes and other frontline workers treating COVID-19 patients.... http://armchairmayor.ca//bepple-vaccine-brings-light-at-t/

A READER E-MAILED ME the other day questioning why a local mall has decided to extend store hours during the Christmas shopping season. Her concern is that longer store hours will encourage more shopping, more crowding, and more spreading of COVID-19.

LAST WEEKEND my eldest announced that someone at NorKam had covid-19. That was according to social media, which of course, I said then, has a 50 percent chance of being accurate.

By LEE HARDING Frontier Centre for Public Policy 'I CANNOT BUT WONDER why are people pushing for socialism and communism? an elderly friend wrote on Facebook. Are they that misinformed and believing it? If we concede the answer is Yes, the next question is Why?

Today I pulled up to work and saw the big thank you health care heros sign on the front lawn of RIH. Today I was running behind schedule and it was snowing so I parked in the public parkade.