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Thursday , April 10, 2014 Thursday, April 10, 2014
VolVol. . 9 • 9Issue 15 15 • Issue
Lorne Elliott brings show to Rossland
See Page 2
This week’s feature:
2014 Chev
Impala
DrivewayCanada.ca
CBT unveils new environmental plan See Page 6
Kootenay farmland affected in ALR review and changes
BRINGING HOME THE BRONZE
STAFF Black Press
Breakfast & Lunch
Clansey’s
FISH TACO
FRIDAY’s Proudly Serving Certified Organic CHERRY HILL Coffee
Submitted photo
E RIC 00
P ,9 W NE259 $
Sochi Paralympian and bronze medal winner (alpine sit skiing) Kimberly Joines was finally back at home (for a whole month) and was skiing at Red Mountain on Sally’s Alley—as Rossland greens up in the background.
$2 million added to Kootenay hospital reserve STAFF
3 bed 2 ½ bath duplex beautifully renovated !
Rossland News
Another $2 million will be added to a capital reserve this year for major health care MARIE- upgrades in the West Kootenay CLAUDE Boundary, even as hospital taxes 250-512-1153 drop. The regional hospital district board, which pays 40 per cent of 1st Trail Real Estate capital improvements, chose 1993 Columbia Ave. Rossland that amount last week over three other options presented by treasurer Stuart Horn: zero, $500,000, Your Horoscope For the Week $1 O’Connor million, withor Michael insideeach of which result in a tax decrease Horoscope the would West Kootenay Advertiser For the Week because Interior Health is askwith Michael O’Connor ing for about $900,000 less this
Your
inside the West Kootenay Advertiser
year. The option endorsed by the board will mean a 16.4 per cent tax break. The reserve is revisited annually. The board also set aside $2 million last year, bringing the total to $5.7 million. East Shore director Garry Jackman, who made both the original motion to create the reserve three years ago and the motion last week to maintain the same contribution, said it’s intended to “respond to any unexpected requests to partner in a major planning process for the future of acute care in this hospital district. It’s a message to the province: if they want to
put up money and do something for us in the long term, we’re ready.” Interior Health says such a planning process is at least two to three years away. But Jackman said he also wants to look at paying down debt, as the East Kootenay hospital district has done. Its tax base is now able to support major renovations and expansions without needing to borrow, he said. He added that while they could reduce taxes even more by placing less in reserves, the hospital district has a responsibility to consider long-term needs.
• See HOSPITAL, Page 6
The Agricultural Land Reserve is being divided into two zones, with regulations to come to allow non-farm home-based businesses outside the southwest regions of high productivity. The changes affect three of the six regional panels of the Agricultural Land Commission, for the Interior, Kootenay and North regions. Details will be worked out in consultation with industry and placed in regulations, said Bill Bennett, the cabinet minister in charge of the government’s core review of programs. Non-farm uses will not be considered in the Island, South Coast and Okanagan regions, but “value added” activities such as food processing on farmland are being considered across the province, Bennett said. Bennett and Steve Thomson, acting agriculture minister, reiterated their assurances that the ALC will continue to operate independently. Commissioners are appointed by cabinet, two or three per region, and decisions can be appealed to the regional chairs who act as an executive. Delta South independent MLA Vicki Huntington called the Interior zone change “deceitful and a betrayal of the public trust,” and accused the government of removing its obligation to consult with the ALC chair on new panel appointments. NDP agriculture critic Nicolas Simons was forced by the speaker to withdraw the term “deceitful” from his remarks in the legislature, as he accused Bennett of keeping the changes secret until after last year’s election. “The fundamental principle is that the reserve was set up for the entire province, not for zones here and zones there,” Simons said.
• See FARMLAND, Page 6