TUESDAY MAY 13, 2014
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Vol. 63, Issue 91
Proudly serving Cranbrook and area since 1951
www.dailytownsman.com
Unemployment rate on the rise Kootenays has among the most job-hunters in B.C.
SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
Unemployment in the Kootenays has risen to 7.9 per cent, just six months after it dipped to a B.C. low of 3 per cent. According to the BC Stats Labour Force Statistics report for the month of April, released
on May 9, the Kootenay region has unemployment significantly higher than the provincial average of 5.8 per cent. The Kootenays are among the regions with the highest unemployment rate. The rate is highest in the Northeast region (8.6 per cent), fol-
lowed by Abbotsford-Mission metropolitan area (8.1 per cent). Job hunting is easiest in Victoria, where the unemployment rate is 4.9 per cent, and in Kelowna, where it is 5.1 per cent.
See JOB RATE, Page 3
Cranbrook council takes Canada Post to task Resolution calls on Minister of Transport to order public consultation into home delivery ARNE PETRYSHEN Townsman Staff
Canada Post’s plan to discontinue home delivery in communities is being met with disapproval from many of those communities, as well as Canada Post’s letter carriers. At Monday’s council meeting, Coun. Gerry Warner put forward a resolution to send a letter to the Honourable Lisa Raitt, federal Minister of Transport, expressing the city’s objection to Canada Post cancelling doorto-door mail delivery.
Warner’s resolution also recommends that Raitt order Canada Post to conduct public consultation hearings to consider other options before doorto-door delivery is abolished. Warner argued that door-to-door delivery still takes place six days a week in countries similar to Canada, like Britain and the U.S., and the delivery method has been a traditional feature of Canadian life and culture for almost 150 years.
See POSTAL, Page 3
Minister eyes fee break for small-scale miners TOM FLE TCHER Black Press
GERRY FREDERICK PHOTO
Here comes Gerry Frederick’s friend the bee — and indeed the friend of us all. As we get set to plant our gardens and our crops, have care and concern for these six-footed creatures so essential to our agriculture. And happy planting everybody.
VICTORIA – The B.C. government has heard the protests and is re-thinking its plan to impose new fees on placer mining operations, Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett says. In an interview to mark Mining Week in B.C., Bennett said he has heard the criticism
from the mining industry about introducing permit fees under the Mines Act that could apply to all mining activities, including placer mines that search for gold and metal ores in the loose rock around rivers. “I’m determined to make sure that we’re not discouraging the junior level exploration with fees,” Bennett said.
“That’s certainly my goal, that they wouldn’t be charged any fees, but we’re going to have to see where this settles out.” Placer mining has come a long way from its roots in the waves of gold fever that swept over the Fraser Canyon, the Cariboo and the Klondike in Yukon.
See B.C., Page 4