The city will ask for dinner jackets
To Editor:
“Free meals will continue to be provided to city council members and city staff” (Herald, June 19).
Councilman Isaac Gilbert claims he's doing it to support restaurants. Why can't he just order takeout from a restaurant and take a quick walk to freshen up for the rest of the meeting? Why can't he just buy something from a local market or bakery the night before and spread the wealth around town? Hmm. That would mean the council members themselves would actually have to pay.
Mayor Julius Bloomfield seems to think $9,000 is such a small amount that it doesn't really matter. Not many people take $9,000 that lightly.
Any recommendations would be seen as a real threat to this dictatorial council.
So, guess who's coming to dinner?
Next time, will he want a dinner jacket? Not (James) Miller. He needs a bulletproof vest.
Lynn Krasweller
Penticton
Great value in local newspapers
To Editor:
“Newspapers are not what they used to be, so we are discontinuing them,” Peter Mather (letter of June 11)
It would be a shame if two of our local newspaper subscribers did not renew their subscriptions. Community newspapers bring people together and provide opinions and information that are hard to find on radio or television.
The letters section allows for a wide range of opinions, although some contributors repeat the same lines, such as accusing peaceful Ukraine of being invaded by Russia, or blaming Pierre Poilivre for the huge budget deficit, skyrocketing inflation, soaring house prices, housing shortage, illegal immigration, inadequate military spending, and other things that no opposition leader has ever been able to do.
These types of writers must feel very unhappy living in communities where their beliefs and opinions are at odds with the majority of the inhabitants.
Instead of using the letters to the editor section of the Daily Courier, you could consider having a professionally designed website that your supporters can view, as I did for European-Canadian patriots, thus avoiding offending more aware members of your community who may be offended by politically incorrect comments.
Fred B. Woodward
Kelowna
It's time to kick the NDP out
To Editor:
I was very saddened to read an article that said, “Moving trucks travel to Alberta full, but return empty.”
British Columbians should get David Eby out of the house at the next election so they don't have to move.What has the NDP been up to lately?
Answer: Record drug overdoses, softening of crime, closing down industries and stealing billions of dollars in carbon tax revenue from financially strapped British Columbians.
We need a government that is compassionate, fiscally responsible, and has a common-sense approach that supports hardworking Americans, because they are the ones paying for us all. All we want is good paying jobs that allow us to earn and pay the same as before, not excessive taxation, regulation, or government bailouts or rebates.
And one more thing… Eby became Premier unelected. He was the “certain winner” when John Horgan resigned.
It's a shame that the people who were forcibly relocated can't stay and kick the NDP out instead of moving to Alberta!
Greg Snyder
Creston
Our leadership is out of control
To Editor:
The truth is that Russia did not invade Ukraine, but rather intervened in eight ongoing civil wars in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.
It was clear that the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and later those of Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts, did not want to be part of the US-backed nationalist Maidan coup in Kiev in 2014 that overthrew the legitimately elected government of Viktor Yanukovych. The residents of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts have a full right under the UN Charter of Rights to declare independence. The UN Charter of Rights gives everyone the right to reject an illegitimate government and to seek self-determination. This is guaranteed to everyone under the UN Charter of Rights.
Between 2015 and 2018, the US-based Freedom House regularly warned about political violence, torchlight marches and pogroms perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists against Gypsies, non-white students and LGBTQ groups, detailed in archived BBC News files.
According to The Economist, Ukraine's state budget this year is $87 billion, with $43 billion in projected revenues and the rest coming from foreign aid. Verkhovna Rada member Maria Bovslavets says Kiev's Western partners cover not only vital infrastructure but all pensions, all military and civil service salaries, and “in general, keep the country running.” The joint policy of the West and Zelenskyy's government has ruined Ukraine, forcing millions of people out of the country and into precarious lives as refugees.
The US-led military bloc approach to conflict resolution has proven to be a disaster. NATO's diplomatic style is to accuse anyone it doesn't like of every crime in the world and crush them. They don't even follow the rules they made for their own benefit, and Washington resorts to trade restrictions and protectionism to pressure not only its enemies but also its allies.
The Ukrainian people do not want war, but their leaders do. The people of the European Union do not want war, but their leaders do. A Harris Poll shows that 70% of Americans want their government to lead Ukraine to a negotiated settlement, but their leaders want war. What should we do? Our leaders have gone out of control and are now acting independently of the wishes of the majority.
This is not how democracy works.
John Peter Kristoff
West Kelowna
We need pride. We all belong there.
To Editor:
Continues to rise.
We rise to rise from a history of living in fear and rejection, and of violent intimidation, from family and friends.
We stand up to give a voice to those who feel trapped or unable to protect themselves.
We will blaze a trail against the current, so that those who follow in our footsteps can see the path to freedom.
We fly our flag prominently and unite our community in its history, present and future.
We fly the flag for Matthew Shepard and all the other queer people who have lost their lives to violence or suicide for expressing their true selves.
Questioning young people read every comment and increasingly feel the dark shadow of unfiltered hatred.
For those in your family who are still in hiding.
Dedicated to the souls of the 49 people who lost their lives in the nightclub bombing.
For those wondering why we make this claim, we come together to mourn, to rebel, and to celebrate ourselves.
Our agenda is education, love, freedom and the right to live in peace.
If our existence or visibility feels radical or fascist, ask yourself why you feel that way.
Please join us in celebrating progress and remembering the Stonewall Riots.
Everyone is welcome under the rainbow.
We all belong here.
That's the bottom line.
Barry Roberts
Victoria
