If you aren’t yet affected by propane cannons in the blueberry fields, be thankful.
Some people may live within earshot of a distant propane cannon and they think, “It’s not that bad.”
If that faint boom you hear from over the hill every 15 minutes “isn’t that bad,” can you imagine a point where it would become “that bad”? What would it take?
How about that same faint boom 100 times louder?
How about a noise like a shotgun blast in a field next to your house, every five minutes, all day long?
How about three or more triple-shot cannons operating in the same nearby field, all set on automatic timers, each one detonating three blasts at different five-minute intervals from 6:30 in the morning until 8 at night?
Think it will be “not that bad” then? Think again!
This is a very real possibility and it’s happening all across the Fraser Valley. There is nothing in the law that can stop anyone from doing this as long as it’s in the name of agriculture.
Don’t believe that people won’t do the absurd, because they will. And don’t think that municipal noise bylaws, our so-called “Good Neighbour Bylaw” or the police will protect you, because they won’t.
Besides causing an immediate hardship to their neighbours with their extremely loud blasts, inconsiderate blueberry growers operating cannons will cause their neighbours’ property values to decline.
How’s that for a good neighbour? Makes you want to go and give him a big friendly hug, doesn’t it?
If a cannon begins firing near your home, you are out of luck. Once you realize that it is “very bad” it will be too late.
Don’t wait until cannons move into your area. They have to be dealt with NOW! Until propane cannons are banned, there are no guarantees that what happened in our neighborhood won’t happen in yours.
Concerned? Get involved. Contact your MLA and your local government. Help all the other beleaguered residents fight this invasion of our right to peace and quiet.
If you wish to help, send an e-mail to Ban the Cannons: bancannons@hotmail.com
Don Gibbs
