This is a portmanteau letter, but not the 400-plus pages of the federal government’s bills, and just three items, not the dozens of ones in theirs. I like to be clear.
One: I was delighted to read in today’s Western that the city is planting at least two native species of trees to replace the (mostly) Siberian elm along Lakeshore Drive. The black cottonwood is particularly welcome; as the only large deciduous tree of the Okanagan, it is of tremendous importance for wildlife of many kinds and these will replace at least some of the many that have been cut down in the city in the 20-plus years I’ve lived in the area.
As this species grows relatively quickly (relative to conifers, for example), the new ones will be a respectable size for shade in considerably less than 20 years. Unfortunately, the bald eagles and falcons that frequent the tops of the existing trees will lose their perches along the shore, but the long-term results will be positive.
Two: Could someone please tell me in what way a proposed development on 300 acres of land to be annexed from the regional district adjacent to Skaha Provincial Park is not urban sprawl?
The main reason for this proposal appears to be the views of the lakes, but hey, guys, what happened to densification and reducing the city’s footprint, not to mention the cost of infrastructure in an area of steep slopes, slide-prone soil, and lots of rock? And of course it’s just bare land, right? Sorry, that land is already fully occupied, just not by humans. Oh, but I forgot, they don’t have buckets of money.
Three: I got a good laugh out of the “heavyweight political support” for the Liberal candidate Dan Ashton: federal Conservative Stockwell Day and former MLA in the Social Credit government Jim Hewitt. Now all that’s needed to prove the B.C. Liberal’s liberal credentials is to get the endorsement of the Wild Rose Party.
Eva Durance
Penticton