LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- February 12, 2008
To The Editor;
Snow shoveling is a common subject in these parts. Most people would probably like to see more clearing of public areas and we no doubt all have our own favourite gripes. Where I live, for example, the kids have to stand right on the highway to wait for the school bus because the public area where they gather is unknown as such to the highway crew and hence used for piling excess snow. According to the people in charge, any change in procedure is out of the question. It's not a perfect world, and that's country living, but I believe it is time for some changes.
So far this year, I've been able to keep up with the snow. I have some disability, but I like to do what I can. There are many people out there who are much worse off, and I am lucky that I don't need a wheelchair. I am also not too fussy about snow clearing, so a couple of stairs and a spot for the car in the driveway is about all that I really need to keep things navigable. I manage OK. There's only one problem. Highway access.
Once I've cleared the bit behind the car, I have to tackle the wall of snow and ice which is piled up by the highway maintenance crew. Sometimes this is not so high and the work involved is relatively manageable so I don't mind
'doing my share' and making up for the deficiencies of the process.
However, other times there is so much compacted snow and ice that I simply cannot do it without help. Even then, because I can't just watch, the amount of work typically leaves me unable to do anything else for a while. Recently I was blocked in for two days until a couple of boys came and helped me. I chose to live here, so that's my problem. Or is it?
In a recent conversation with the local highways contractor, I was told that they were not willing to accommodate anyone's needs regarding where they pile the snow from the clearing of the highway. Furthermore, if I wanted access to the highway, it was my responsibility to remove what they had placed in front of my driveway. I had barely been able to keep up with them so far this year, but when I mentioned that it was beyond my physical capability to remove the pile they had recently given me, they suggested that I ask for local charity or pay someone. A subsequent conversation with the Highways Department office confirmed that this is indeed the current policy.
So, I had to come to terms with the fact that there is no apparent regulation protecting a senior or disabled person's right to use the highway. Access can, in fact, be deliberately blocked. Or can it?
The snow blockage is not an 'act of God.' I have comparatively little problem with the snow which falls naturally. The difficulty is with heavily compacted snow and ice which is scraped from elsewhere and placed in front of driveways by the Highways Department using heavy machinery. Please note that I am NOT talking about the clearing of driveways or sidewalks. The maintenance of private property is clearly a private responsibility. I am only referring to the piling of snow which has been collected and which is blocking highway access. In my case, like many others, there is plenty of vacant space up and down the road, so the problem is caused solely by policy or procedure.
From talking with other people in my community, I understand that the situation has not been so acute in the past. The maintenance of driveway access while clearing the highway is, after all, a relatively small matter where heavy machinery is involved. There seems to be less snow in recent years so maybe there has been a change in attitude or a degradation of ability. Whatever the problem, I maintain that forcing seniors and people with disabilities to essentially help with highway maintenance as a requirement for highway use, is discriminatory.
I would say that blocking access to a highway could likely be illegal. If there was an emergency, there could certainly be a liability in some cases.
A situation needing a trip to the hospital or perhaps requiring ambulance access could have serious consequences. Scheduling of hired help, if one can afford it, is impossible because there is no knowing when help is needed. Crews often work at night, and driveways could be blocked at any time without warning.
We all help one another. It is not too difficult for a couple of healthy people to carry someone in a wheelchair up a short flight of stairs. Certainly it takes less time and effort than it does to remove a three foot high wall of compacted snow. Some years ago, it was common to see a person in a wheelchair being helped up the stairs. Nowadays, thanks to our Human Rights acts, we have ramps and other facilities because the disabled person has a right to equal access in public places. Just like it used to seem reasonable for that person to have to hail a couple of helpers, it is nowadays expected that they do the same in order to overcome the unnecessary burden placed on them by the Highway Department's current policy.
It may seem reasonable that we all help with the job of dealing with highway snow. The people charged with that job have a lot of work to do and need to make a profit. They are, after all, a company, and perhaps we can't expect them to do it alone, nor even with the public interest in mind.
However, there are other ways to think about this.
For those with compromised health, there may not be a willing volunteer, or hired help, readily available. Without equal physical strength, or ability to pay workers, not everyone has equal access to the public highway and there is a contravention of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The BC Human Rights Act also makes it illegal to
'discriminate against a person or class of persons regarding any ... facility customarily available to the public.'
Clearly that includes access to public highways and reasonable freedom from interference with that access.
In my mind it comes down to this: If the Highway Department's policy is to include public help in their maintenance chores and to disregard human rights issues, then their policy needs to be changed and brought into line with the Human Rights Act. Furthermore if it is currently legal for the Highways Department, or their representatives, to block an individual's access to public roads then the law needs to be changed.
- Ole Juul, Coalmont
Dear Editor;
Over the past few months I have glanced at some of the strange ideas Mr. Dietz has suggested for this community.
But after his last letter regarding the low income rental problem, I have to speak up.
He suggested the Town turn the old Argo building into rental units, so the people living at Princeton Manor can move in.
To suggest that a 77-year old woman pushing a walker, and a 70-year old woman with a bad leg could walk up and down the hill from the old Argo building on a daily basis, is absurd. If he had of checked it out, he would have realized these are mostly seniors, still capable of living on their own, but, need to live close to our local services.
He also suggested using the Riverside Cabins at the PXA grounds so Racing Days can sell tickets.
Even if the cabins survived the trip, what tickets would Racing Days possibly sell out of the old Riverside Motel cabins? It doesn't even make sense.
If Mr. Dietz is going to continue writing these half baked solutions to all our problems, he should at least know what he is talking about. Regards,
- Ed Vermette, Princeton
To The Editor;
Small town living many of us have moved here to get away from the hustle and bustle of large city living and in doing so have had to learn to give up the convenience of multiple choices in services.
I have heard many complaints through the years of not being able to find a plumber, electrician or contractor, etc. when needed. These people do exist in our town. They are our friends and neighbours and they try to do their very best to fit us into their busy
schedules - even to the point of putting their own lives on hold.
The same goes for our doctors and nurses. I remember when Dr. Doug came to our town (to join his brother at the clinic) bringing with him nurse Jenni and three small boys. I also know that he and the other doctors and nurses, and their families have made a lot of sacrifices to insure we get proper health care.
I find it a shame that instead of the joyous well wishes for their future adventures that these professionals have more than earned, they are also bearing the added weight of trying to find replacement doctors to keep our hospital going. This is happening not only in Princeton but also in many other towns across the country.
I love Princeton for all its beauty: the hills when the wildflowers are in bloom; the variety of birds and wildlife; and the snow clad trees sparkling in the sunlight. But what sets it apart is the warmth of its people! We are not just friends and neighbours. We are one big family that has always come together in times of need.
I think it is time we say congratulations to those deserving members of our family. We can start helping where we can: be it letters to MLAs and Ministers, or maybe a first aid course to prepare for emergencies.
How about just starting with a big smile and saying thank you to our Princeton family?
- Doris Whiting, Princeton
Dear Editor;
For many months now I have been completely disillusioned with this Town Council. We have seen rises in our property taxes and now in our water and sewer rates. Personally, we have a problem with a Town pipe adjacent to our land which the Council have been aware of since October 2006.
This summer the Public Works Dept. painted lines on the grass and street TWICE indicating something was going to be done BUT nothing happened. What a waste of manpower and OUR money!
Then there are our roads for days one of the major hills is not ploughed then, when it is, access to the road leading to our house is blocked, not by soft snow, but by days of melted, refrozen snow (now blocks of ice) and a partially disabled person is left to shovel for over 30 minutes to gain access to his home. The town emergency number only services water and sewer after hours! We pay more and get less service.
At the council meeting on Monday, January 21st there was evidence that the Town Administrator had on two occasions withheld information from the Council now we know about these but how many others do we not know about? As a precaution to this happening again, I sent copies of a letter I had written to the Town Administrator to individual Councillors and marked the envelopes in red print
'addressee only.' What happened next I will leave to the reader's imagination.
The Town Council are our elected representatives but they are spending our tax dollars on glorified dreams that cost money e.g. a plan for the town centre already investigated in the 80's.
How much did bringing in the consultants cost? Only for council to decide they do not have the money to carry out the scheme anyway! What about the several unfinished projects around town? More wasted dollars! What accountability is there? How often in the last twelve months has there been a full complement of our elected representatives at Town Council Meetings?
Some Councillors are too lazy to report on which committee meetings they have attended in the last two weeks, arguing it is their right to choose what they report on! Not so, the minutes need to be accurate, sir, and reflect the work you do for the town. Then there is the increase in middle management more of our dollars.
What about our seniors? Do any of the councillors understand what a fixed income means? Clearly the Council is being advised by someone who has no feeling or understanding for this Community.
In response to the Mayor's support for the work Interior Health are doing to attract doctors to our Community - does the Mayor truly think Interior Health had nothing to do with the closing of our OR? At the time it was prophesied we would have difficulty attracting doctors to our Community without an O.R. Welcome to 2008.
Finally, this Council is responsible for the appointment of a Town Administrator who appears to lack basic communication skills. Did the council carry out due diligence before appointing? I suggest not. Get off your power kick Mr. Robins, forget the grandiose schemes, you are paid far too much not to be dealing with the day-to-day affairs of this Town. I understand you proudly admitted, at the last Council meeting, that you spent most of your time behind your desk!
In disgust
- Jacquie Rowe, Princeton
Dear Editor;
I have just read an article in the News Leader by Mayor Randy McLean regarding the situation Princeton is in with the loss of five doctors in less than six months.
Mayor McLean admits that the Interior Health Authority were responsible for the closing of the operating room at Princeton General Hospital but does not blame them for the loss of our doctors.
Since the operating room was shut down we have lost several doctors because they could not use the skills they were trained for.
I can remember quite a number of years ago when there was a large delegation of Princeton citizens who travelled to Kelowna to beg Murray Ramsden (Interior Health Authority) not to close Princeton General's operating room. Their wishes were ignored.
Naturally they are endeavouring to obtain locum doctors to ease their conscious knowing that they are the root of the predicament that Princeton is in.
While I am on the subject I would like to ask Mayor McLean if he knows where much of the equipment at Princeton General Hospital went when they dismantled the hospital?
Some of that equipment was donated by Princeton organizations and citizens. It is time Princeton citizens asked some serious questions and got honest answers.
Sincerely,
- Isabella Johnson, Princeton
To The Editor;
I suppose it's a waste of time to try to prod our council into more action on the doctor front? They seem to have the attitude that there's no use in hounding government because it will do no use. Baloney. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
When was our mayor last in Victoria pleading our case? How many times a month does George Abbott hear the word Princeton? And I haven't seen any reference to attempts to ensure the short and long term future. Do they think the town is going to shut down, and that it won't need doctors five years hence? Or that an unexpected miracle will occur and the situation will solve itself?
How about this? Offer one first year, one second year and one third year medical student a short-term freebie. Or move it to fourth year, third year and second year if possible. Pay their past tuition and living cost, their current and their future ones until graduation.
In return, get a contract that each will live and work here for five consecutive years after graduation. That would give us a new doctor per year after two, three and four years in the first instance, or after one, two and three in the second. Three new doctors at the end of it. Add the cost to our tax rolls. Their presence would keep us alive to pay it. And spread over our tax base (which would continue to grow rather than shrink because of the lack of doctors) it would hardly hurt a bit. Less than the absence of doctors, anyway.
Something to phone your councilors about.
- Murray R. Woodward, Princeton
Dear Editor;
Re: "B. C. should change name" letter in January 29, 2008 paper from Ben J. Pires
Well Boo-Hoo Mr. Ben J. Pires of Victoria, BC.
Firstly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the name British Columbia! Or BC!
If you are not of British ethnic origin, join the crowd! I doubt very much that 10% of BCers were born here (my own family came here from Iceland and Hawaii). I have lived in 27 different places in my lifetime and I do not personally know ten people over the age of 40 who are native British Columbians (born here).
Have you even considered a little bit, the cost of changing our name for the Federal and Provincial governments, all the businesses, the citizens of BC who would have to change their address for driver's licenses, insurance, taxes, doctors, dentists, schools, friends, relatives, etc.? I highly doubt it!
If you are so all-fired against British Columbia's name, move, go back to where your family came from! Immediately! I'm sure you'll feel right at home there!
Just leave British Columbia alone.
Yours truly,
- Lani Kelm, Keremeos
