Editorials

Last week, New Zealand passed another groundbreaking legislation — this time, for couples who go through a miscarriage or stillbirth. New Zealand approved the new law allowing three-day paid leave after miscarriages or stillbirth without the couple having to tap into their sick leave.

A white man went on a terrifying rampage in Atlanta last week, killing a total of eight of which six were women of Asian descent, in an act of a racist attack.

Last week, Ontario’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced that the high schools in Ontario would start offering for-credit courses in American Sign Language (ASL). I take this as a huge step for Canada in the right direction.

International Women’s Day just went by and while I am of the opinion that women should be celebrated everyday, I am also open to celebrating them on this particular day and just take the opportunity to uplift, empower and celebrate women.

Yet another day, yet another vaccine approved in Canada.

Over the past several months, I have come across over a couple of dozen acts of kindness in the community. From random strangers helping out people stuck in the ditches to community members raising funds to help families who lost their homes in house fires. People have come together in ways I wouldn’t have thought of.

Are you a dog person or a cat person? Someone would ask me and “neither” would be my quick response, eliciting gasps as if I have said something out of the world like “I believe in an alien invasion.” But really, I have never been a pet person. As a child, I used to be pretty scared of dogs. My aunt had a Doberman and he was ferocious and fiercely protective of her and my cousins. That meant anyone who wasn’t permanently living in their house, was his enemy.

It hasn’t been easy during the pandemic for anyone, and especially for folks with kids. It has been even harder for kids who are suddenly stuck in their homes in some parts of the world while are separated from their friends and regular classmates in other parts of the world, with no idea on when they would get back to just having fun.

After a tumultuous four years and an election that ended in chaos and attack over the U.S. Capitol, the 46th president of the U.S.A. was finally sworn in last week. While that in itself was a cause for celebration for many, the highlight for many others all over the world, including me, was the swearing in of the first female, first woman of colour as the vice president of the country.

When I started writing for Black Press Media, the pandemic had just started to seep into everyday life and things, events, places were closing down. I remember researching about Burns Lake and Lakes District before moving and I was so excited to be able to witness the very different life through the variety of events from the Snow and Shine to the Fall fair and everything in between. However, by the time I came to B.C.