Here is a no brainier. Why are we even thinking about a jail in the Okanagan when what is really needed is a children’s hospital?
I have often wondered why there is only one in all of B.C. I hear of the cost of what it takes for the family of a sick child to travel to Vancouver. I have two very active kids and friends with kids. The thought of packing up to move to the coast for treatment when there should be a children’s hospital in the interior has more of a need then a prison. I find it frustrating that the very thought of a jail in Penticton to be absurd. Penticton is not designed to be a prison town. Penticton can offer a lot more to the families of sick children then the families of inmates. Think about this. I even have the perfect spot. The old water slide land. It already has experience making children and families laugh. It is close to the lake. There is even a lot of empty condos that can be used to house the families if need be. The jobs will be there.
Ms. Clark, here is a challenge to your government. Family first? How about children’s hospital first? Please give this some thought when the day comes to vote on this prison. Look a child in the eye and think about who is more important: an inmate doing two years less a day or your son, daughter or granddaughter, having to go to Vancouver for treatment when a children’s hospital is here in the Okanagan.
Patrick J. Buchanan
Penticton