Sneaky location for info session
Dear Editor:
Re: 鈥淐ity needs to work harder to buy sa国际传媒 Springs鈥 (letters, April 2)
Denciti Development Corporation, led by CEO Garry Fawley, is the Vancouver-based developer that acquired the sa国际传媒 Springs property in 2022.
How much of an effort did the sa国际传媒 city staff really put forth to purchase the property? The cynic in me says: Not much!
Last December, Mayor Tom Dyas said in a news release that sa国际传媒 city council directed staff to explore 鈥渁ll options鈥 for the city to acquire the property, to protect it for recreational use.
In any of the discussions with the Denciti group, did staff tell them that one of the citysa国际传媒 options is expropriation? The city has the power to purchase property at market value without the consent of the owner for any purpose relating to the exercise of its powers, duties and functions.
The 18-hole golf course reverts to a nine-hole course this year. What are Dencitisa国际传媒 immediate plans for the back nine holes? Stop watering the lawns? Let the lawns go wild? What exactly?
A healthy lawn can survive several weeks without water, especially during cooler months, and may even go dormant, turning brown, but it can recover. However, if a lawn doesn鈥檛 receive adequate water for four consecutive weeks, it can experience permanent damage, leading to thinning and weed invasion.
A community information forum about the site will take place Wed. April 9 at Spring Valley Middle School, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Why isn鈥檛 this forum being held at sa国际传媒 Springs Golf Course?
If the forum was held there, sa国际传媒 residents -- whether they are golfers or not -- would see just how beautiful the entire property is.
David Buckna
sa国际传媒
When you vote, think climate
Dear Editor:
The climate crisis is a major election issue. It is connected to all of the other major election issues. Consider:
The cost of living? Yes, itsa国际传媒 connected.
Oil and gas company profits are one of the biggest inflation drivers. Fossil fuel companies also discourage climate action, multiplying tomorrowsa国际传媒 costs for all. Climate crisis-caused droughts and temperature extremes damage crops, raising food prices. Wildfires and floods boost insurance rates.
What about Canadian security? Yes, this too is connected to the climate crisis.
Melting Arctic attracts U.S., Russia and China. As climate-vulnerable low-income countries lose homes, food and water, conflict grows, and millions of desperate refugees seek help. Extreme weather damages critical infrastructure and ecosystems. Ontario relies on American natural gas. Climate-caused disasters will be far worse for our children.
And government spending? Yes, again.
Subsidies to oil and gas industries promote pollution and risk wasted expense on stranded assets like new pipelines. Climate change will cost Canadasa国际传媒 already-strained healthcare system billions of dollars each year, due to heat-related deaths, ozone exposure, and air pollution.
Addressing the climate crisis means addressing these other election issues. And Canada can tackle them all. Solar and wind are now the cheapest energy sources and are built quickly. Regulating big polluters and cutting pollution subsidies will allow clean energy to flourish, rapidly deliver reliable affordable Canadian-owned energy, drive down pollution, boost domestic manufacturing and jobs and revive hope for a healthy, secure future.
Letsa国际传媒 not lose sight of our planet this election. Please vote, and vote for the climate. When you do, you will also be voting to address the other major election issues.
Lori Goldman
Penticton
Sock obsession with Tory leader
Dear Editor:
It appears the leader of the Official Opposition finds it impossible to rise above certain baser instincts.
Having spent 20 years 鈥渉oning鈥 these tactics at our expense, without compunction he insults Mark Carneysa国际传媒 haircut, clothes and socks. (Whatsa国际传媒 with this Northern Republican fixation with socks? Is there a support group for sock obsession?) He has gone so far as to accuse Carney of criminal activity, calling the man a 鈥済rifter鈥.
Do these people think we鈥檙e amnesiac, or just plain stupid? Or are they convinced by strong-arming the nonpartisan media , they can keep us in ignorance of their past and present? Wrong.
The Harper government appointed major accounting association KPMG as advisor to the CRA, even while KPMG was in court fighting to shield from the CRA, the files of Canadian billionaires with money in offshore tax havens. Harper and several top Conservative cabinet ministers met and posed, publicly with senior staff from KPMGsa国际传媒 tax division, even promoting KPMG at taxpayer funded events.
While enjoying the lowest tax rates in years, Canadian corporations, as of 2014 had stashed a record 200 billion untaxed dollars in offshore tax havens, even as the Conservatives used the CRA to lead a witch hunt against charities.
Former Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page was stonewalled and ridiculed when he attempted to calculate how much money Canada was losing to offshore tax havens.
By September 2015, 61% of Canadians polled, felt that Harper himself should be investigated.
It is ludicrous for a product and participant of the Harper decade of destruction to insult someone of Carneysa国际传媒 economic acumen..
When did it become acceptable to be a bully, a liar, and a thug?
Elaine Lawrence
sa国际传媒
Vote strategically, vote for the NDP
Dear Editor:
Canada needs a third political party. All we have to do is look at the two-party mess south of us to see why. You are either a Republican or a Democrat. You vote accordingly even if the candidate (Donald Trump) is a known liar and psychopath with one interest, to line his pockets with cash at the expense of the American public.
The only national third party in Canada of any stature is the NDP. So strategic voters should vote for the NDP to maintain a vigorous third party.
The Bloc is only interested in Quebec and they are very clear about this. The NDP has an admirable track record working on behalf of all Canadians, not just Quebec priorities.
And the NDP doesn鈥檛 work for millionaire buddies, unlike the Conservatives and Liberals. Vote strategically for a third party in Canada. Vote for the New Democratic Party.
Steve Burke
West sa国际传媒
Carney-Sankey: the perfect ticket
Dear Editor:
Think about it! What kind of leadership do you want to handle the economic and social turmoil brought on the U.S. presidentsa国际传媒 tariffs? Do you want someone whose only experience is as a 鈥渞ipper鈥 MP whosa国际传媒 more skilled at tearing things down rather than building things up?
Or do you want someone who has successfully managed the economic turmoil of the COVID years and the Brexit fiasco? To me, the choice is clear, we need a Mark Carney- led government in Ottawa. He is a man of impeccable credentials.
So how do we achieve that in Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay?
For the past 10 years we have been well represented by Richard Cannings of the New Democrats. Dare I say, one of the best MPs in the country. Typically, the contest here is between the New Democrats and the Conservatives.
To achieve our goal here, we need to defeat the Conservatives by electing Linda Sankey, the New Democratic Party candidate, a worthy successor to Dick Cannings. Linda is capable and well-known. She has served our community well as an advocate for affordable housing and as executive director of the Brain Injury Society. She deserves your support. On April 28, I urge you to cast your ballot for Linda Sankey.
Peter Benson
Naramata
Lawn sign thieves busy this election
Dear Editor:
Shades of the Osoyoos municipal election. After placing campaign signs on Road 18 they have been stolen three times. Either they love my signs or hate them.
I have placed signs on the property for the Peoplesa国际传媒 Party of Canada and three times someone has taken the signs. I guess they are so worried about my candidacy that they need to break the law.
Barry Dewar
Osoyoos
