It’s increasingly obvious that the provincial government isn’t concerned about ongoing turmoil in the Lumby area.
If if was, a decision would have been made months ago on where a proposed Okanagan correctional facility will be located.
But instead, the government continues to indicate that a decision is looming. One never comes even though interested communities presented their proposals back in the spring.
For the residents of Lumby and the surrounding rural area, this means the bitter divisions that erupted earlier in the year remain. Friends and family members have taken sides on whether a prison will provide a much-needed economic boost or if it will draw criminals and create a negative image for the town.
November’s civic election was a clear example of how the prison continues to dominate debate over and above any other issue in the community.
If Lumby doesn’t get the jail, the process of mending relationships will be simplified, but if the village does rise to the top and lands the facility, the situation could become tense again as individuals on both sides consider ways to proceed.
But predicting the outcome isn’t as important as having one.
If Public Safety Minister Shirley Bond and Premier Christy Clark are actually serious about the well being of communities and putting families first, then one of the first acts of 2012 must be a decision on a correctional facility.
The residents of Lumby deserve far more respect than they have received to date.
