Following are a collection of reader responses to stories or letters to the editor for the fourth week of January 2024. They have been edited slightly for readability. 

Got something you want to add? Send an email to editor Marshall Jones at mjones@infonews.ca.

—

One dismissed, one contested in Kamloops city councillor's court battles

And to think our taxes could have been lower if the kids could quit fighting. — Chris Webster, via iNFOnews.ca 

in RESPONSE to Jan. 29 newsletter editorial on potential overreaction to tariff threats from the U.S.

We need to take a deep breath and not let Trump's threats wreck the economy before we know what he's going to do. I'm more afraid about over reaction from business and the population, which could make things worse than it needs to be. A great example of him backing off of an idea is when he got push-back on his freeze on government spending this week, which was rescinded the next day. He may institute tariffs but there will be a lot of push-back from Governors and big business. Even the general public in the States will see prices going up. I don't think it's going to be as bad as many might think, and if we reduce barriers to trade among the provinces, we can come out OK. A lot will depend on our attitudes and the biggest thing that would help is the Bank of Canada being more aggressive with rate cuts. — Bonnie Derry, via email

—

It should be clear to everyone that Trump wakes up every morning and brushes his teeth with gunpowder so he can shoot his face off all day. Lo and behold it works, people jump and react in all kinds of strange ways, to utter horror (tariffs) to glee (immigration). But you can’t blame him, he is, after all, an American, albeit an ignorant one. But all his bluster about making Canada a state is nonsense and he knows it. Oh I’m sure he would like that, but it would be a big mistake in the long run because a lot of Canadians are sadly Liberals at heart and that would not bode well for the Republican Party. However, all this pounding of the chest would be moot if our leaders of the past had any vision at all. We should have developed the oil sands in Alberta and the vast natural gas fields in B.C. back in the 1970s and 80s. We should have built refineries and pipelines, upgraded port facilities and infrastructure to support or resource based economy, but nope, we let eco terrorists and outside influences to derail that strategy, sadly. Instead of having hundreds of billions of dollars in the bank, we have a 1.2 trillion dollar debt and growing, very sad. But alas, it’s not too late, as oil and gas will be needed for many years to come. We should embark on the biggest infrastructure projects ever, spend our money and get something for it instead of just giving it away. At the same time we would be allowing other countries to stop using coal as a fuel to produce electricity, a win win for us all. Let’s build the Canada East pipeline, Northern Gateway, one to Churchill, more refineries and upgrade our ports. It's not too late. We’ve just had our eyes opened and I hope we have the fortitude to go forward to ensure Canadas future as an independent and sovereign country. — William Balyx, via email

Open letter to West Kelowna Mayor and Council regarding strategic priorities – West Kelowna Hospital

Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) has reached full capacity, with surge beds nearly all occupied in the hallways. The Bennett Bridge, the sole direct route to KGH, often suffers from significant congestion and frequent closures due to accidents. A recent 10 hour shutdown of this critical bridge due to a mental health incident necessitated the use of a rescue boats to transport emergency crews across Okanagan Lake.

West Kelowna residents should be seeking their own hospital within the next decade which should be a top focus on the list of our City Council’s strategic priorities.

Interior Health owns 3.24 hectares of vacant land at Butt Rd. and Elliott Rd., where early 2009 plans envisioned a 3700 square metre, two floor hospital complex, estimated at $20 million when the population was about 30,000. With the Westside population now at 60,000 and expected to grow by another 10,000 to 15,000 in the next ten years, coupled with traffic congestion on the Bennett Bridge, a West Kelowna Hospital could be a lifesaver to everyone living on the Westside of Okanagan Lake while lessening the stresses on KGH.

Given the travel time for Peachland or Westside residents to reach KGH, there is an urgent need for at least a small, but expandable, hospital on this side of the lake. This facility could provide emergency services, 24/7 urgent medical care, minor surgery capabilities, CT and X-ray services, medical laboratory technicians, diagnostic and paramedical services, and culturally safe and inclusive healthcare for Indigenous patients.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Thomas Lovell

The population on the west side of Okanagan Lake should support our City Council in planning and lobbying the Provincial Government for a West Kelowna hospital. Planning must begin now to ensure we have a proper hospital within the next ten years.

Thomas Lovell, via email 

Suspension and therapy for BC teacher who yelled at Grade 7 class

Wow! Really? Spoiled little brats. I feel for the teacher having to deal with children that won’t listen. — Carsten Fromme, via iNFOnews.ca

—

This is what’s wrong with today’s kids, who were wrong, not the teacher. The coddled kids have no discipline in their homes and of course don’t understand the word no. If the one who didn’t listen was physically touched by the teacher, yes, the teacher would be wrong, but verbally shouting? Totally ridiculous. — George Girling, via iNFOnews.ca

—

Ha, ha, what a joke! My teacher always had the strap in his pocket and we kinda respected that. — Lisle Frank, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

You could not pay me enough to teach the entitled, poorly behaved babies teachers have to deal with now. — Martin Sparkes, via iNFOnews.ca 

— 

Our students are screwed if this is the reaction to a teacher not bending over and taking it from students. The last thing students who are swinging exercise equipment around after being told not to touch should worry about is a loud voice. This is why teachers are quitting. If you aren’t permitted to take control of students and teach respect and responsibility, and you’re always looking over your shoulder because “yelling” can get you in trouble when you’ve done everything else you can, then why even bother. These are formative years and if your kids can’t handle being yelled at when they are putting themselves in danger then they’ll never survive the real world. They need to learn respect now or they’ll never learn it and I guarantee the parents aren’t teaching it. — Doug Newton, via iNFOnews.ca

— 

It sounds to me that she needs counselling for her deep-seated anger, period. Not just how to behave in the classroom and how to treat children. I don’t know why she chose teaching when it appears to be a huge trigger for her anger. I took the teacher’s aide course and when it came to the placement part I realized, I didn’t want to be around 20 screaming kids all day. I asked myself what am I doing and promptly quit. I think she needs to re-evaluate her job choices. — Teresa Bartz, via iNFOnews.ca 

'No rationale': BC pub fined $7,000 for customer drinking beer in its bowling alley

As usual, almost daily articles like this show how archaic our liquor laws are. — Stephen McBride, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

There should be an online fundraiser for this. What an unreasonable rule. — Austin Vandeburgt, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

Man, our government is out of control with the ludicrous overregulation. — Lucas Squire, via iNFOnews.ca

—

Fine the patron, not the pub. This is a ridiculous abuse of power. — Jeff Ring, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

Well, if they have been warned and fined before, one would think they would have a big ass sign saying if you bring your drink into the bowling alley you will be paying the $7,000 fine, and the sign should be in neon. — Teresa Bartz, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

BC liquor branch is out of touch with reality and has a god complex. This is simply them being bullies and trying to make money to pay their salaries. Time to revamp the whole system. — Mike Anderson, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

To have enough staff to police this would cripple the business. Why is it not the responsibility of the customer? — Dick Dawson,via iNFOnews.ca 

—

Rules are rules. Literally everyone learns this as children. So why do adults think rules don’t matter when they interfere with the convenience of what they feel like doing at the time? It isn’t a difficult concept. No drinks in certain areas. What the ‘f’ is wrong with people that they need to push boundaries. Here are a couple of good reasons not to allow drinks in the bowing area. Nine times out of 10 there isn’t an attendant in the attached ally. When there is one they usually don’t have a serving it right certificate so aren’t legally allowed to serve or deny alcoholic beverages. There isn’t ever enough staff to regulate and ensure no drinks are given to, or taken by, minors who are participating in the bowling. Cleaning alcoholic beverages off the wood floor is a pain in the butt. If it isn’t cleaned quickly it can ruin the floors finish. — Justin Fab, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

Canada is really a backward country. We legalize marijuana but demonize cigarette use and somehow have resources to have inspectors in bars and pubs all hours of the day and night punishing pub owners with stupid laws. Again, go for the low hanging fruit instead of doing a proper job. — Jackson Smith, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

Thank you for reporting on these ridiculous BC liquor regulation things. That department is outrageous in what it's enforcing. BC laws absolutely need to change when it comes to liquor licenses, and the first step is showing how ridiculous they are now. Keep it up! — Richard Martin, via email

—

It’s this type of bureaucracy that people are fed up with. I hope when Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is prime minister, he creates a department to spot bull crap like this and put an end to it. Yes, even if it is provincial. Find it and end it. Defund and give penalties to provinces that don’t comply immediately. — Zoe Cattell, via iNFOnews.ca 

Another opens, two set to close in Kamloops shelter whack-a-mole

So consistently doing the same thing over and over again with even worse results is the right pathway? What a joke. — Justin Schweitzer, via iNFOnews.ca 

iN VIDEO: How a Kamloops bakery makes its popular sourdough bread

Thanks Shannon! Nick and Christy are wonderful to work for. We’ve had a lot of folks stopping in to support their business and pick up a loaf of white sour after reading your article. — Courtney Schalm, via iNFOnews.ca 

Meat aisle sticker shock? Buying local beef in Kamloops, Okanagan an affordable option

We have bought sides and quarters of beef pretty much through my life. The one downside is if you buy a side of beef and it turns out to be a tough one. Nothing worse than having a freezer full of tough meat to spend a long time chewing your way through it! — Helen Price, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

We buy our beef from a rancher in Cherry Creek and have for the past three years. It is so much cheaper than any grocery store, and far better meat. — Dianne Jackson, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

Connecting ranchers, orchard owners, and those who want to buy direct and bypass the expensive grocery stores is a good idea. Less waste hopefully, and more profit for those who are more important to our society than dirty dealing grocery stores who lowball their workers, unionized or not. — Patrick Longworth, via email

Province moves to seize accused Kamloops area drug dealer's home a second time

What they need to do is change the criminal code so that these people are charged with attempted murder and locked away for years. They are knowingly destroying someone else’s life and should pay for it accordingly. Seize their assets and their freedom for 10 to 20 years and we may get control of the issues. — Dianne Jackson, via iNFOnews.ca 

BC principal suspended for duct taping pupil to a chair

OK, both these individuals should not be working with students. The principal and teacher should be fired. — Sandra Deutch, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

I'm now long retired from teaching. I will be 93 on my next birthday, but I just read the story of the principal. I was a teacher for more than 20 years, my husband was a teacher for 35 years, and I'm horrified on his behalf that she would even consider such a treatment of a child. Certainly five days is not enough for the kind of treatment she administered to this child. — Anne Frost, via email

'Out of control': Kamloops way over budget on legal bills last year

Perhaps they should stop funding personal lawsuits brought by both counsellors and the mayor. They might start acting like adults if the costs came out of their pockets instead of ours. — Dianne Jackson, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

What are we doing here? Paying more and more for stupid childish kindergarten kids fighting over crap and not doing anything for the city. Fire every last one of them without a pension and move on already. — Debbie Blue, via iNFOnews.ca 

iN PHOTOS: Hungry predators on the hunt in Okanagan, Kamloops

Beautiful photos, thank you Lyn and iNFOnews. — Robert Bishop, via iNFOnews.ca

City suing developer building 42-storey highrise in downtown Kelowna

The City of Kelowna swamp needs cleaning out. I hesitate to use Trumpian language, but he was right, yet wrong. We do need to clear out the political sewage in the legislatures and city hall, as well as Parliament. I gather that the city staff in Kelowna are so incompetent that they failed to foresee the trouble in highrises being put into unsuitable landscapes. Two towers causing damage to neighbouring and older buildings, no surprise to me even though I am not an architect nor a scientist. — Patrick Longworth, via email

iN VIDEO: Kelowna man who shut Bennett bridge blames RCMP for ruining his life

A sad testament to a sad life filled with mental illness and having little to no help. That is the new Canadian way. What is more sad are those who will show no empathy to this man and hope the book is thrown at him. Our prisons are full of people with mental health issues who need help, not solitary confinement. — Greg Speers, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

Well, if nothing else, he has shown us that we definitely need another bridge. The disruptions caused by the bridge closure were numerous in scope. — Claude Bouchard, via iNFOnews.ca 

—

So he says RCMP ruined his life, which I believe, but to then potentially ruin the lives of innocent people to get back at them? That’s a psychopath mindset. I hope everyone is okay. — Wendi Macaulay-McCallum, via iNFOnews.ca 

Who's in and who's out of the Liberal leadership race

Christy Clark chose not to run? Was anyone wanting her to? — Bonnie Derry, via iNFOnews.ca

Alberta doctors criticize provincial COVID-19 report as harmful 'anti-science'

No wonder Danielle Smith likes hanging out with Trump, she’s as dense as he is. — Curt Finsterwald, via iNFOnews.ca 

BC granddaughter must return cash after dementia diagnosis, legal powers revoked

I am the' Claude' that you wrote about in your article about the Granddaughter, Brittany, who took advantage of me while acting as an ad hoc fiduciary and then POA.

Congratulations, I think that you did a very credible job of condensing a long court decision to an easily understandable article that captured the most important facts of this rather complicated case. Although the Justice seemed to have missed quite a few important issues in her judgement, I find no real fault in her ultimate decision. I believe that she was doing a balancing act and did the best that she felt that she could do.

For me, this case was much more than about money. To be found to be both credible and reliable meant a great deal to me. Missing from Justice's Whately's decision is the mention of Dora and Brittany's strong attempts to have me institutionalized. After being picked up and taken to the psych ward by the RCMP on Oct. 14, 2021, on Brittany's request, I was informed by psychiatrist Shovanek, on Oct. 27, 2021, that they had everything arranged and that I would be going into a home, and that it would cost me $2,200 a month. He made this announcement after I had been tested and scored 28 on a MOCA test, and my tester wrote that he did not observe that I had any cognitive deficiencies. Luckily for me, my son was visiting me and said "No, I will not allow that to happen, Dad can come and live with me." Upon learning that I would be moving to Dan's house, both Dora and Brittany wrote to Shovanek opposing this and telling him that I should be moved to a home. Although he fully supported them, he had little choice but to write in his final report that I had the right to revoke my POA. I experienced complete anchored bias by the whole medical system here. It's been an education to say the least

I hope that people who read your article learn a few things. First, do not be as trusting as I was when making a POA. I trusted both Dora and Brittany explicitly. Our lawyer did not mention any pros or cons regarding a POA. I thought that I was being proactive and that it would be a lot easier and less costly for Dora if something should happen to me. The stock form did not provide, for instance, third party oversight. I know now that I could have protected myself by including some save guarding language in my POA.

Secondly, I hope that people learn to not use anti-psychotic drugs without doing their own research. I have done a lot of researching of these drugs over the last four years and my findings show that they are seldom of much use and that they should only be used as a last resort. They can be very damaging when taken by people who do not need them. Doctors, they say, often justify the prescribing of these drugs, as my doctor did, by saying  'well, they say that you should take them.' I had always had a great deal of respect of my doctor and the medical system. Unfortunately for me, my doctor had retired. Had he been stilling practicing, I feel confident that this would never have happened.

Thank you for writing this informative article and adding a very good picture of them. — Claude Pelletier, via email

iN RESPONSE to January 22 newsletter editorial on four more years of Trump headlines

I agree that the costs of getting this wrong in negotiating with Trump on the tariffs is disastrous. USA GDP in 2023 is reportedly 27.35 trillion. Canada GDP in 2023 is reportedly 2.14 trillion. The U.S. is an economic tyrannosaurus and we are David. Granted David did well once before, but that wasn't against a tyrannosaurus. I don't want to be on the receiving end of that fight. Job losses in Canada could ramp up very quickly indeed. I am hopeful that the American appreciation for their standard of living may help us, because honestly, we need any help we can get. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's efforts are, well ... an example of why sometimes democracy does not yield particularly smart leaders. — William Mastop, via email

—

For companies like mine, it has a huge impact! The majority of our sales are for product that is manufactured in the U.S. from raw materials originating in Canada. Double whammy. After 27 years developing a very profitable business, I am very worried about this upcoming year. Between Trump's threats and the already terribly depressed dollar with no strong leader working on the behalf of all of Canada, plus throw in the cost of living increases, I feel many companies and individuals will be in bankruptcy. — Doug Andrew, via email

iN RESPONSE to January 27 newsletter editorial on the need for a second crossing of Okanagan Lake

This is a horrible situation again in our valley this morning with the bridge closed. We don’t necessarily need a new bridge, but a different route to get around the major part of Kelowna. Yes, another bridge would help, but another route to detour the bottleneck that is Kelowna. There are other “roads” that maybe just need to be upgraded. Thanks for all your reports and information about our beautiful Valley. — Brenda Mraz, via email

—

Why didn't they just flip it over into the lake? I would have operated the forklift. — John Pinter, via email

—

As my hometown is Penticton, traveling to Kelowna or places north, I remember the ferry crossing then the toll bridge. At that time until now, I have been very critical of why the Province didn't build a road on the east side of Okanagan Lake from Kelowna to Naramata and Penticton. With the Summerland disaster rock slides, the development of West Kelowna, formerly Westbank, the summer visitors, Highway 97 going through the core of Kelowna, now an incident on the bridge, it's time to dig your head out of the beach. Instead of a twinning of the bridge, build a new road. — George Miller, via email

—

Land slides, fire, accidents close our roadways with no alternative routes. — Louise and Mark Marischuk, via email 

—

Knowing that the cost will be high, the growing population and also the increase in tourism in Kelowna, I strongly believe the city is in need of another bridge. Instances like the bomb scare today is only one of the events that can happen to completely close the bridge to traffic. — Don Gagnon, via email

—

Absolutely agree. Every time we go to Kelowna, there is anxiety about whether the bridge is backed up. I also fly out of the airport and can’t imagine missing a flight. — Judy McRae Naulls, Osoyoos, via email

—

We have lived in Peachland for about 13 years and crossing the bridge for shopping, appointments, flights, etc. is getting to be more and more of a problem. West Kelowna and Kelowna are constantly building more and more housing and the infrastructure is not there. Traffic used to be bad over the bridge, mainly in the spring and summer but not anymore. I am constantly thinking of reasons to head to Penticton instead of going over the bridge. Today’s closure just makes this situation even more important at getting another crossing.  — Mr. and Mrs. D Bodnarek, Peachland, via email

—

BC has long had a short sighted view of transportation. A second bridge to and from Kelowna might be the answer or maybe making the current bridge one way and having an overhead deck in the other direction? Bring back vehicle and passenger ferries to the lake, though that too might not resolve the problem. High speed transit lanes seem to worsen the problem and not solve it, but that is part of a solution? — Patrick Longworth, via email

—

They never should’ve built the new bridge in exactly the same place as the old bridge, what were they thinking? Contrary to popular belief, every single car that goes over that bridge isn’t actually wanting to go to Kelowna or through it. A ring road of some sort is a much better idea, especially for big trucks and everybody en route to Kamloops or Calgary. If people want to go shopping in Kelowna, they will. I don’t know why these shop owners are so against a ring road of some sort. Take that highway and go up to Fintry, and the bridge across somewhere over there. That way you completely avoid Kelowna and maybe make a back road through Vernon. — Lana Dionne, via email

To contact a reporter for this story, email Marshall Jones or call 250-718-2724 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2025