Opinion

Gordon Campbell was in a buoyant mood as he left the legislative chamber after his final question period as premier.

The federal Liberals plan to shoot down a crime bill proposed by the Conservatives that would include stiffer sentences for drug possession and could also require tens of millions, even billions of dollars, to build new prisons.

With childhood obesity rates reaching alarming levels, parents across the country are frantically scrambling to pry their kids away from their iPods and computer screens to engage in more active lifestyles.

There aren’t too many benefits to living in B.C.’s vast hinterlands, compared to the southwest where three-quarters of B.C. residents reside.

A year ago at this time, Okanagan orchardists were bleeding red ink because the cost of production outstripped the price of apples. Government was urged to help, but nothing of substance ever materialized.

For the last several years, February has been a contentious time for the school system in British Columbia. That’s because two things happen at about this time of year: the annual provincewide Foundation Skills Assessment tests for Grade 4 and 7 students and the Fraser Institute’s annual ranking of the province’s schools based on the results of last year’s FSA.

In his first public comment on the unfolding drama in Egypt, Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, worried aloud last week that the right analogy may be the Iranian revolution of 1979: “Our real fear is of a situation ... which has already developed in several countries including Iran itself, repressive regimes of radical Islam.”