Holmes: Summerland roads are getting fixed – thanks for your patience

Summerland road repairs

One of Summerland district council’s top priorities for this term has been to focus on core municipal infrastructure, including paving more roads than in the past.

This spring and summer will see concurrent roadwork projects that will impact traffic on several major routes, including Prairie Valley Road, Wharton Street and Victoria Road South.

For each project, roads will have to be closed for periods of time and there will need to be detours to re-route traffic. Contractors will try to accommodate the movement of traffic wherever possible, however we ask residents for their patience and to keep in mind that we are finally fixing the roads that everyone has been complaining about for so long.

Large roadwork projects usually involve more than just repaving the road. Work on Prairie Valley Road, between Morrow Ave and Darke Road, is currently underway and includes building a multi-use pathway and replacing a watermain that dates back to 1939. A developer is also paying for a sewer main to be installed. The $3.6 million project is scheduled for completion in August.

Starting in May, Wharton Street, between Kelly Avenue and Victoria Road, will undergo road reconstruction, sidewalk installation, stormwater upgrades, the burying of overhead power lines and enhancements to Memorial Park, including relocating the cenotaph and creating a pedestrianized Henry Avenue plaza between Main St and Wharton St. There will also be safety improvements at the Main and Victoria intersection.

That major downtown revitalization project will cost $8.56 million, including $3.47 million for the electrical upgrades and is expected to be substantially completed by November, in time for Remembrance Day.

The Victoria Road South upgrade will also resume this summer with the reconstruction of a further 750 metres of road, a multi-use pathway and watermain upgrades. That will be a $3.85 million project, with $1.5 million coming in grants for the pathway and water infrastructure. It is expected to continue until spring 2026.

Besides those major capital works projects, council has also steadily increased the district’s annual operational budget for basic street repair and repaving. This budget was increased to $345,000 from $285,000 in 2023, to $388,000 in 2024 and to $461,000 this year.

Besides filling in potholes and sealing cracks, we were able to use the budget last year to repave Blair Street and a portion of Canyon View Road and this year we will repave a portion of Fyffe Road.

We can often reclaim old asphalt, or millings, from road reconstruction projects and use it elsewhere. While not of the same quality as new pavement, millings have so far been spread onto the parking lot next to the Badminton Hall and at the end of Garnet Valley Road, almost to Garnet Lake.

While it is rare for Summerland to have so much concurrent road construction, all projects have been in the planning and design phase for a number of years, and financing has been accounted for through reserves, borrowing or grants.

Projects have been prioritized in accordance to the district’s Integrated Road and Water Master Plan, which received the 2023 Union of BC Municipalities Community Excellence Award in asset management.

The plan details the condition of all of Summerland’s 175 kilometres of local and collector roads and 200 kilometres of water mains. It is available on the District of Summerland website where an interactive map provides information about work being planned and project costs.

Doug Holmes is mayor of Summerland.

Kamloops-Thompson Board of Education seeks feedback on its 2025-26 preliminary budget

SD73 seeks budget input

On April 9, our school board and school district staff presented the Kamloops-Thompson School District’s 2025-2026 preliminary budget in a live streamed event that has been viewed by more than 1,500 people.

School boards across B.C. face static funding and rising costs. With no direct taxing authority, B.C. school districts will be looking for ways to reduce expenses to align with revenues. Presuming our board approves the preliminary budget as presented on April 28, the district will move to a sustainable financial position, with an approximate annual budget of $251 million.

Our recent budget presentation highlighted the significant financial challenges our District, and others around the province are facing. Throughout this budget development process, we have tried to balance the priorities set out for us by the government, feedback from our District and school communities, and the realities of inflationary and funding pressures.

The district’s 2022-2027 District Strategic Plan helped guide our budget priorities, including intellectual development, human and social development, cultural and identity development, career development, and systems development.

Throughout this process, district staff and board engaged in robust community consultation with employee partner groups, Indigenous rights holders, staff, parents, students and school communities on the district's budget priorities and challenges. The four-month consultation process included 20 focus group meetings with CUPE 3500, the Kamloops-Thompson Teachers’ Association, the Kamloops-Thompson Principals’ and Vice Principals’ Association, the District Parent Advisory Council, the District Student Advisory Council and the Indigenous Education Council, as well as a public survey and email feedback.

That resulted in approximately 290 responses from the community, all of which were carefully considered.

As a board, we appreciate the input of all the community members who gave of their time and energy to contribute their thoughts on spending priorities.

The consultation and feedback highlighted the importance of providing support for students, curriculum and programming. While developing the 2025-2026 budget, we applied this feedback and focused on maintaining classroom-based staff to ensure the well-being and academic success of our students.

Our priorities focus on retaining programming that matters to students, parents, and staff, while limiting curricular programming reductions to certain non-funded programming and staff.

School district funding is based on student enrolment. Recent years have seen the district grow at approximately 250 students annually. That resulted in increased revenue helping to offset increased costs over the last four years and used the capacity of existing school facilities more efficiently. Demographics are now shifting across B.C. and like many districts, SD73 can no longer rely on increased revenue from substantial enrolment growth.

Also, like districts across the province, we are grappling with funding that is not keeping pace with cost increases, inflationary pressures and increased support needed for students with complex needs. We anticipate $5.79 million in cost increases for the next school year comprised of higher salaries, employee benefits, inflation, school bus and support equipment replacement, portable moving costs, new school opening costs and services and supplies increases.

Many of those cost pressures are not funded and must be absorbed into existing budgets. While partially offset by retirements, meeting our fiscal responsibility will necessitate some staff reductions.

All those pressures necessitate difficult recommendations in the development of the 2025-2026 preliminary budget. School Boards are elected to fulfill a multi-faceted mandate.

One aspect of that role is to align revenues and expenses. While we can collectively lobby the provincial government for funding increases, we cannot simply abdicate our responsibility and refuse to take the necessary steps. To do so would simply result in the loss of local representation, termination of the board and the appointment of a provincial administrator.

The board wants this process to be clear and transparent. Any member of the public can view our budget presentation here.

There is still time to provide feedback on the 2025-2026 preliminary budget. Please submit your comments by April 21 to budgetfeedback@sd73.bc.ca. After considering final input from employee groups and members in the community, the board of education will vote on the final budget on April 28.

The board thanks all its staff, partners and community members who took the time to learn about this preliminary budget and provide input. This will be a difficult process but we will remain focused on protecting the classroom to the full extent we are able.

John O'Fee is Kamloops-Thompson Board of Education trustee.

Gordon Campbell: The end of magical thinking. Canada, let’s get real.

Vote for Canada's future

Donald Trump has become the most influential political figure in Canada. Is that what’s best for Canada?

The contagion that is Trump’s trolling has led to collective amnesia. We seem to have forgotten both who we are, and the damage Liberal policy has done to Canada over the last 10 years.

We should resist this form of Trump derangement in all its manifestations and focus on Canada’s priorities, act independently, and come to terms with how far Canada has gone off course, weakened as a direct result of Liberal mismanagement of immigration, health care, education, housing, the cost of living and the economy. No one has been untouched.

Preston Manning’s warning that a Liberal victory could heighten western alienation was made because he cares about a unified Canada. Mark Carney said Mr. Manning’s warning was “unhelpful”. There’s not much distance between his “unhelpful” and Trudeau’s “unacceptable”.

It reflects the dismissal the west has known for too long. Carney’s reaction was far from pragmatic. He says, “I know the west” but he really. He left 41 years ago. Davos is not Drumheller. Evidence suggests he knows the WEF and an enclave of cloistered advisors, but not the west. He’s carrying on the Liberal way. If you disagree, you are dismissed as “a small fringe minority.”

For nine plus years Liberal government, that Carney advised, held Canada back. We have been made more vulnerable by policies that hurt our economy. Carney pretends that he has had a ‘road to Damascus’ conversion on Canada’s energy and natural resources. He hasn’t. He has one priority– to retain power. He will say whatever he can to reach that goal and then he’ll do whatever he wants afterwards.

A pragmatist would never have supported, as Carney did, the Liberal energy policies that continued our reliance on the U.S. A pragmatist would not have said no to the Northern Gateway pipeline and would not retain Bills C69 with its impossible Impact Assessment Act, a true strait jacket Canadian prosperity.

A pragmatist would repeal Bills C69 and C48, knowing they create insurmountable barriers to critical national infrastructure. Far from the “build faster than we can imagine” words that Carney says, Bill C69 sends a clear message to all: don’t invest, don’t build. Canada is not open for business in the energy sector. All Canadians should understand that.

The commitments Carney’s made since his telephone call with Trump will stop or stall nationally essential pipelines to the Pacific and the Atlantic. Does anyone really think Trump would rather pay full price for our energy than the current 70+ per cent discount assured by Carney’s Bill C69 and C48.

Delivering Canada’s energy to international markets in Asia and Europe dramatically reduces our dependence on Trump’s America, improves the global environment, and super charges Canada’s economy. Currently, Americans derive more economic benefit from Canada’s energy resources than Canadians do. Carney’s guarantees this unacceptable status quo. No wonder Carney is Trump’s new favorite Prime Minister!

We need pipelines. Building pipelines is pragmatic. Not to build them is wrong.

There can be no vetoes, either provincial or Indigenous, to nationally vital infrastructure. Pipelines are vital. The Federal revenues they generate can be shared with the indigenous people. If a province threatens to stop one, then they should be denied any equalization payments.

We need to strengthen Canada by acting as one nation where national interests take precedence over provincial or political ones.

Most troubles Canada faces were generated by the Liberals, not by Donald Trump.

An election is no time for magical thinking. It is time to get real.

Simply ask, has the last nine plus years strengthened and advanced your interests or Canada’s? Is your family better off?

Canada’s economy is in decline, per capita GDP is at the bottom of the OECD list. The flight of capital has reduced opportunity and hopes for the young in every region. The massive Liberal debt build up will not be paid for a generation. Health care we had will be a distant memory for our children. Carney wants to borrow more. If this continues, we strip our children of their future.

Mr. Carney and the Liberal plan reinforces the status quo, stifles our resource sector, borrows more, spends more, taxes more, and increases the debt our children and grandchildren will have to pay. It means a rising cost of living and stagnant paychecks. It damages Canada’s economic future and divides our country. Their policies undermine Canada as one country. Policies that divide hold Canada back.

Forget Trump! Vote for Canada. Vote for its future. Vote for the next generation and for a Canada ready to take on the future, independent and free to pursue Canadian dreams.

Gordon Campbell was the premier of B.C. from 2001 to 2011 and leader of the BC Liberal party from 1993 to 2011.

Essential online safety tips for seniors in 2025

Staying safe online

As seniors increasingly embrace the digital world, whether for social media, online shopping, or staying connected, cybercriminals are targeting them more than ever.

Reports estimate seniors lose $30 billion annually to online scams in the U.S. alone. Here are several online safety tips to stay safe while enjoying the Internet’s benefits.

1. Secure your devices

• Use strong, unique passwords (mix letters, numbers and symbols) and enable two-factor authentication for accounts.

• Install antivirus software and keep devices updated to patch security flaws.

• Avoid public Wi-Fi for sensitive transactions (e.g. banking).

2. Spot and avoid scams

• Phishing (fake emails and texts) accounts for 80% of online fraud. Never click suspicious links or share personal data.

• Beware of fake lotteries, emergency scams or “too-good-to-be-true” deals.

• Verify unexpected requests (e.g., a grandchild asking for money) by calling the person directly.

3. Social media safety

• Adjust privacy settings to limit who sees your posts.

• Avoid sharing sensitive details (address, vacation plans),

• Reject friend requests from strangers as scammers often use fake profiles.

4. Safe online shopping

• Shop only on HTTPS-secured sites (look for the padlock icon).

• Use credit cards (not debit) for better fraud protection.

• Bookmark trusted retailers to avoid fake websites.

5. Combat misinformation

• Verify news using fact-checking sites like Snopes or Politifact

• Rely on official health sources (e.g., Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, or Canadian Institute for Health Information) for medical advice or talk to your doctor.

6. Protect personal data

• Never share social insurance numbers via email or phone.

• Back up data regularly to guard against ransomware

7. Seek help when needed

• Report scams to authorities (e.g., Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre).

• Enroll in senior-focused digital literacy workshops.

Staying informed and cautious is your best defense. Share these tips with loved ones to create a safer online community for seniors.

For further reading:

• WizCase’s 2025 Senior Safety Guide

• Canadian Senior Safety Tips/Online Safety Tips For Seniors

• Device Protection Strategies

• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

• Guide to Cyber Security and Internet Safety for Seniors

• Cyber Security For Seniors: A Guide To Safe Internet Practices

By adopting these practices, seniors can navigate the digital world confidently and securely.

Jeff Van Dyk is the CEO and co-ounder of Gravitii Technologies.

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