City council’s approval of three cannabis retail stores raised some eyebrows because of the variance made on the brand new zoning bylaw to accommodate the first application. People were relieved that the address of another site was not the popular Ken’s Restaurant.
Question: Jobs in the forestry sector are disappearing for a number of reasons. Will the budding cannabis industry to fill the some of employment gaps?
Another question. The Mayor and the Rail Ties Be Wise folks agree it makes sense for Atlantic Power to burn forestry wood waste. For sure, isn’t it better to use the slash piles to produce jobs and taxes rather make bonfires in the bush?
Read More: COLUMNS: All for a good cause
On the provincial scene, the Legislature’s unanimous decision to put two highly placed Legislature staff on paid leave pending an RCMP investigation has astonished everyone including, it seems, some of the MLAs who voted for it. This is a situation where, in my opinion, the politicians should just shut up until the investigation is completed. If they didn’t know what they were voting on, why didn’t they postpone vote until they did?
On the federal scene, the House of Commons passed legislation ordering the postal workers back to work, but as I write this (Monday) the Senate hasn’t yet agreed. The House of Second Sober Thoughts has Constitutional concerns.
Last but not least, the nature story of the week. An otter found its way to Vancouver’s Sun Yat-Sen garden and moved into a pond where it’s been dining for five days on the pond’s costly Koi fish ($1000 — $5000 each ). As of Monday, experts were unable to catch the otter or rescue the remaining koi. No one has any idea where the otter came from or how it found the pond. There must be a message there somewhere.
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian and book author.