Keep To The Left
Dear Sir: During this pandemic many of us are walking outside the city limits where there are no sidewalks. It’s a safe practice and also the law to “Walk on Left Facing Traffic.” Thank you.
Laird Siemens, Cranbrook
Who would do such a thing?
There is a goose killer on the loose in Wycliffe. Yes you read that correctly.
One evening last week we were on our property admiring the views and suddenly there was a gun blast. We saw the muzzle flash of a rifle, a goose flying away squawking and another goose falling to the ground on our property. Yup just like that in a few seconds our evening was wrecked and a goose was dead. We saw the silhouette of a person on the North Star rails to trails path and then nothing more.
The perpetrator shot a goose while it and its mate sat on a nest on our property. The gun was pointed in the direction of our house and us. We were stunned.
Who would do such a nasty deed and why? Who? Obviously s/he is a sick disgusting person without regard for rules of the land or care for wildlife. Crack shot? Don’t kid yourself – these were sitting ducks- or more accurately sitting geese.
Why? Only that person, and maybe one or two others really know but we wonder. Were the geese too noisy? Did a goose fly over you once and irritate you? Did a goose poop in your yard or on your car?
One could say – big deal just one goose. But- the gun was shot on public land in an inhabited area, toward geese on private land and toward a residence. And it was an out of season shooting of wildlife!
Yes we called the police and conservation officers. The situation is being investigated. We are upset someone would point and shoot a high power rifle in a domestic area, our area to be specific, and because we value the wildlife. We hope the killer brags about his “prowess ” and gets turned in to the CO’s or the investigators are able to find the person responsible for this irresponsible act.
To this person we say “shame on you, you pathetic person for going after nesting geese!”
Dale and Doug Martin, Wycliffe
Re: “Climate Change is Real” says Kootenay-Columbia MP
This current decade is the defining one as we learn to live within our means – our planetary means that is. It is helpful that our MP, Rob Morrison states that climate change is real, and that “we must address the human contribution to this crisis” see March 23, 2021 article.
Mr. Morrison’s statement that “carbon tax has not worked” however is unsupported.
Evidence shows it decreases greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, saving lives and healthcare dollars. Refer to case studies at: ecofiscal.ca/carbon-pricing/fast-facts/effectiveness/.
In BC, the carbon tax has helped reduce overall emissions, increase innovation and the uptake of fuel efficient vehicles without loss of jobs or harm to lower income households. Refer to Institute for Research on Public Policy “Lessons from BC’s carbon tax”. Kathryn Harris. July 11, 2019.
It should be noted however that some of our highest emitting industries are exempt from the BC carbon tax to protect them from competition from jurisdictions who don’t have carbon pricing. In part, this explains why it hasn’t been more effective at reducing emissions in these sectors.
Carbon tax revenues are returned via household rebates, tax cuts, and low carbon investments like public transit. These can help make life more affordable for lower-income households while working to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
We encourage Mr. Morrison to lead the charge on taxing heavy emitters, as he has suggested. And, we also need more than one strategy. At this time in history, we need many.
Carbon pricing is an important strategy which is called for by the International Monetary Fund, 3,500 economists, 27 Nobel Prize winners, the World Bank and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, among others, to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while making it more affordable for all households to do so.
Sue Cairns, Cranbrook; Judeth Betts, Nelson
