Technology to improve senior life
Two Markham organizations are part of a new program to improve the lives of seniors and the disabled. The Intelligent Computational Assistive Science and Technology network, launched earlier this month at York University, is a Canadawide initiative sponsored by Precarn Incorporated, a non-profit company in York and Ottawa that supports the development of commercially viable technologies. Academics, industry and others will work in four clusters within the network, including mobility, communication, smart homes and issues pertaining to the elderly.

The environment is not a dead issue in Cowichan
Cowichanians are thankfully fed up with environmental degradation and courageously took action this year. But reversing damage already done to our land, water and air by the Crofton pulp mill, logging companies, hunters, farmers and developers won’t be easy. Even rural neighbours torch wood and household wastes as a traditional garage-disposal method. Let’s all think together. Not content to sit idly by, various watchdog groups bravely made headway in opposing pollution and development that’s ruining our Valley. The fledgling Quamichan Watershed Stewardship Group met with experts to try and resuscitate Quamichan Lake that’s been one of North Cowichan’s dirty little sewers for years. Hopefully, septage and runoff can be turned off, and streams unplugged this year to save the dying lake.