Letters  

No hot water; not right

Re. Weeks without hot water (Castanet, March 30)

Since when is a landlord allowed to make their tenants go without hot water in Canada? This is despicable.

Is it because the tenants are students that its OK to stomp all over their rights?

I would advise those students to contact (a lawyer) and have this looked at. The owners should be sued.

Kerry Kozak, Peachland

Concerned by dead animals

There has been a dead raccoon lying in an orchard near the the northern end of Kelowna for several weeks.

What is alarming is no scavengers cleaning it up. I believe it has some kind of disease, such as rabies, distemper or perhaps even anthrax and that is why not even the turkey buzzards are dining on it. Coyotes won’t eat a dead raccoon because they are too closely related and they would get whatever the raccoon died of.

As for other scavengers, they must be able to smell something foul besides the rotting carcass. To make matters worse, there was another dead raccoon in a nearby field. I wonder if there is some disease spreading amongst those critters that could harm our pets and humans?

I contacted both the Regional District of Central Okanagan and the provincial conservation office and both said dead animals are the property owner’s responsibility, not theirs. The conservation officer I spoke with seemed totally uninterested in the idea it might have a horrific disease that could spread by leaching into the ground and that the land owner could contract something by handling it.

He said just to pick it up with a garbage bag covering it and then slide it into aanother bag and dispose of it.

Are we supposed to put dead animals in a dumpster?

In Alberta, they have a dead animal truck will come for a small fee and look after that sort of thing, but apparently not here.

I am not a biologist or veterinarian but I think if ravens, eagles and other carrion-eating birds turn their nose up at it then there is a problem, as they have no qualms about dining at garbage dumps or snacking on road kill.

However, I will inform the orchardist because unless you continue driving up the road you will not see it lying there. Come summer, in 40 C heat, the smell will be enough to gag a maggot.

Are there any biologists or infectious disease experts who could clarify this mystery for me? Is it a zoonotic disease (something spread from animals to people) such as the bubonic plague?

Maybe I am a doomsayer, but what if it is?

Doreen Zyderveld-Hagel, Kelowna

Dangerous speeders

Until recently, I had never heard of Eastside Road (between Penticton and Okanagan Falls). Then, in mid-March, I was hired to provide traffic management for an environmental survey to be conducted in the last week of March.

Before submitting any application to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to perform work on a road, I drive out there and spend an hour scouting it out. My conclusion (for Eastside Road) was it seemed similar to Westside Road (between West Kelowna and Vernon) in the sense that if you are a thrill seeker with a fast car, this road can be fun to race on.

Also, similar to Highway 97 from Peachland to Penticton, it is used by commuters to get to and from work on a daily basis.That concerned me because these are your two most dangerous types of drivers—thrill seekers and commuters. Neither show any consideration for other road users and they travel as quickly as they can.

It only took 15 minutes for me to realize my life was on the line when someone in a charcoal-coloured VW hatchback came flying down a steep hill doing 80 km/h and then came flying around the corner, only to find us setting up for the roadwork.

At that point, he had already driven past three, 48-inch-inch tall reflective bright orange signs warning him there was construction ahead and he should be prepared to stop. Following those three signs were my signs to reduce speed to 30 km/hr. But he still chose to speed—doing almost triple the posted speed limit—showing no concern or consideration for those of us working on the road.

Luckily his extremely loud exhaust warned us of the approaching danger and we all hurried off of the road. Judging by the look on his face as he nearly ran over my client, an environmental technician for an engineering firm, he loved being this type of driver and it gave him a thrill.

Sure enough, I saw him three more times—once on his way back from work that evening and again the next morning and next evening. I reported his dangerous behaviour to the Penticton RCMP and they even attended twice but were unable to catch him or the other very dangerous driver of a white one-quarter ton (pick-up) truck, likely a Ford Ranger.

They both showed complete disregard for other road users and they both travelled as fast as they could, regardless of the speed limit or the danger that come with speeding through construction zones.

I just want to warn readers who travel that road, especially those who ride bikes on it, that you really have to watch your back for drivers like this and to report dangerous drivers.

To drivers, if there is oncoming traffic, you cannot enter the oncoming lane to pass a vehicle, a street sweeper or a cyclist. If you cause an accident you will be 100% liable.

You are required, by law, to wait until you can perform that pass safely without exceeding the speed limit. There is not much that is more dangerous than passing on a blind corner. Crossing a solid line (on the road) anywhere is dangerous, especially when you cannot see around the corner.

Eastside Road is now on my top-five list for dangerous roads.

If you care about the people and families who travel this road or live next to it, you will report any unsafe driving to Penticton RCMP and you will serve as a pace car. Keep your speed under the speed limit and don’t be tempted to behave like everyone else.

Keep your eyes on the road and expect that around the next corner you will find a cyclist, a deer and an oncoming vehicle.

Ask yourself this, “At this speed, and with this limitation on how far head of me I can see, will I be able to stop in time to prevent me from killing a cyclist, a deer or another driver?”

If you cannot answer with “yes” then stop, turn around, go park your vehicle and walk home.

Increase your awareness of the dangers that come from driving over the speed limit or over 30 in residential areas by visiting Love30.ca, or VisionZero.ca.

Troy Gangl

Curtail immigration

Immigration to Canada in 2022 was one million, and another 1.5 million (are expected) over the next three years. That's 2.5 million seeking shelter in Canada.

We certainly don't have accommodation for the people we have now. I agree we need immigration to offset our population decline.

Workers pay (for) pensions for 200,000 seniors retiring each year. That massive immigration will cause our health care (system) and school (populations) to explode. Hospitals and schools are at maximum (capacity) now. We have a shortage of doctors and health care workers.

I agree we need immigration but not this much.

We should be looking at training and educating Canadians to fill our needs as a priority. I wonder if all this immigration will turn Canada into a Third World country.

Gary West, Penticton

Sue parents for kids' actions

Re. R. Rivett's letter Charge ‘terrorist’ juveniles (Castanet, March 30)

I think people who are suffering from such harassment should take advantage of the law.

The province of B.C. has the Parents Liability Act.

Parents liability

3. Subject to Section 6 and Part 3, if a child intentionally takes, damages or destroys property of another person, a parent of a child is liable for the loss or damage of property experienced as a result by an owner and by a person legally entitled to possession of the property.

Bullying and harassment are part of this law too.

I'm not a lawyer but I know parents are responsible for their children's actions. I suggest people start suing the parents of these teenagers for damages.

Having to pay money, is a great deterrent, if people are to busy and unwilling to supervise their children. That means anyone under age 18!

L. Busch

Urges respect in responses

Re. Beverley Ryder's letter Stereotyping the poor (Castanet, March 24)

I am in support of some of her thoughts and ideas, just as I support some of the ideas and thoughts of some male contributors.

I may not agree with everything said but I choose to not respond with an attacking diatribe against the writer. I personally experienced a very negative attack from a regular contributor. He did not like the ideas I presented and rather then keep the written conversation open and try harder at reading between the lines, he chose to fire back at me paragraph after paragraph.

(Castanet’s letters section) gives people the ability to express their thoughts and feelings but it should not allow contributors to engage in negative and abusive responses.

Personally, I think there is a real lack of respect in some submissions and the editor could do a better job choosing not to post them.

Carol Lissa