Letters  

Feels city looks run-down

I was driving a friend from out of town around (Kelowna) and she finally asked, “Why does Kelowna look like a run-down impoverished community?”

I asked her what she meant and she pointed out a boulevard and all the dead weeds that had obviously been there for many months. She also mentioned the garbage she spotted along the roadside but didn’t want to bring it up when she saw it earlier.

But that horrible weed-covered boulevard was finally enough, so she brought it to my attention.

I was shocked and realized we have become so complacent and we don’t actually see the garbage and weeds in our own city, but visitors sure notice. I was both mad and embarrassed that our lovely city has become so run down.

I was curious, so I then went to a few pictures that I took while on a bike ride last week and low and behold, more grass and garbage.

• Why is this happening to our once beautiful city?

• Why do we always have excuses for this type of thing instead of taking action to resolve it?

• Why do we let the first thing visitors see is our laziness?

• Is this the type of city our leaders are proud of?

• What is going to be the legacy our leaders will be remembered for?

My friend then said it’s not the things that you do that draw attention, it’s the things that you don’t do.

Bill Ferguson

Defence of MRNA vaccines

Re. Claudette Kelly’s letter What is debate really about? (Castanet, Sept. 22),

The Covid MRNA vaccines are indeed classified as vaccines by The World Health Organization, Health Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the U.S Food and Drug Administration and the American Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, amongst other recognized public health organizations.

Perhaps your confusion arises from the fact the MRNA vaccines are relatively novel.Those approved vaccines were never intended to eradicate Covid from the human population but to slow the spread of the disease and decrease the severity of the symptoms to reduce hospital admissions and death rates.

Were they effective? Without a doubt, as that has been studied to death.

The Canadian Institute of Health Research, the CDC, the World Health Organization, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency, along with countless other recognized and reputable public health organizations all have countless studies supporting Covid MRNA vaccine effectiveness.

(The writer) asks, "what will it take to end societal division on this topic?” Personally, I believe this will persist as long as a vocal few insist on doubting the experts and doing their own research when they obviously lack the knowledge and expertise to do anything of the sort.

Adam Lyle

Not a microsuite fan

Re. Microsuites dominate build (Castanet, Sept. 23)

The Sutherland Avenue apartment complex (in Kelowna (looks) very nice—240 units, an indoor lounge, a gym, a workspace, an outdoor courtyard, rooftop amenities and even private balconies. That's not all, There will be an outdoor dog run and community gardens. What more could you ask for?

It is a good move to blindside buyers first, promoting all these wonderful amenities and hopefully, they won't realize that the size of these beautiful microsuites isn't even as big as my living room.

There was no mention of the size of the bachelor suites or the one- and two-bedroom units. Are these units for sale or rent? Regardless of whether you buy or rent, I am sure the price won't reflect on the size.

At 300-square-feet, lots of room? Kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, sitting room and laundry room. Maybe there will be room for a bathtub in the living room. When family or friends come over for a visit, you might want to have oxygen masks handy.

I am assuming the hot water and heat are included in the price. That would certainly need to be regulated closely. No one likes to run out of hot water while showering and getting ready for work in the morning.

How many elevators will there be in this building? Washing windows six stories up is not an easy feat. Will that service be provided?

(And then there is) parking. The biggest concern for everyone. Will 240 parking spaces be provided or will you need to scramble around trying to find a place to park your car on the road? Sutherland Avenue. is not very big. Will charging stations also be provided for owners of electric cars?

If you do get a parking space, is there an extra charge.? I have heard this happens and it is quite a money grab.

When city council met with the developer, I certainly hope it considered all the shortcomings of promoting this type of housing and did not grant a permit, or is this just a formality and it has already been approved?

Jeri Truman

Says Speaker should resign

Re. NDP, Bloc say Speaker should resign after honouring man who fought for Nazis (Castanet, Sept. 25)

Don't let the name at the end of this email fool you. I am 100 percent Jewish and proud of it.

I wasn't proud to find out that our Speaker of the House of Commons first of all couldn't be bothered to find out the background of the person he wanted Parliament to laude and whom I refuse to acknowledge, and secondly, that in his half-baked apology, he managed to mention having offended millions of Jews right at the end of his apology. Shouldn't that have come first?

(Speaker) Anthony Rota needs to resign and be quick about it.

Yvonne Callihan

Calls PM a 'glory seeker'

Re. A Mullins letter Aid not a 'boondoggle' (Castanet, Sept. 20)

The answer to the Ukraine aid (question) is simple.

Making large donations to foreign aid is just up, (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau's alley. The man loves being in the spotlight and the centre of attention.

Making announcements that benefit Canadians doesn't make world headlines, whereas making sensational funding announcements to Ukraine's war effort does. It makes Trudeau look good for the next appointment he is looking forward to at the UN.

Don't get me wrong, I believe we should aid Ukraine, but we should also address issues affecting Canadian taxpayers.

Unfortunately, until we remove the “glory seeker” who currently leads this country, things will pretty much remain as the are.

Being a good Canadian means paying your taxes and not questioning how the money is spent. At least, that's how the Liberals seem to see it.

Allan Widmeyer , West Kelowna

B.C. should fund trucks

Re. Poll: Should the province fund "medic trucks" for fire departments to respond to calls for medical service instead of using firetrucks.?

Absolutely it should fund (‘medic trucks').

My generation grew up watching Emergency! on television. (In the show) Squad 51 was a pick-up truck with all the medical equipment needed. I could never understand why that hasn't been a thing in Canada.

It can't be very efficient having a (fire department) pumper or ladder truck with five (firefighters) on board rolling to every medical call. It has to be hard on the equipment and nearly impossible to navigate around rush hour traffic.

If two paramedics in an ambulance can do it, why can't two firefighters in a “medic truck” be dispatched instead of big rig?

M. Boyer, Kelowna