Opponents of the proposed national park reserve in the South Okanagan recently rallied in front of Town Hall to protest the park. (Vanessa Broadbent photo)

By Lyonel Doherty

Aberdeen Publishing

A well-respected and learned white haired lady from Oliver came into the Chronicle last week to express a deep concern about the divisiveness surrounding the national park reserve.

She had a lot of good insight and made a lot of sense about what this issue is doing to the community.

With some diplomacy, she leveled part of the blame on the Oliver Chronicle and Osoyoos Times, saying we are responsible for this divisiveness because we are apparently anti-park.

She is mistaken.

Over the years we have reported countless articles representing both sides. A few years ago most of the articles were mainly representing the yes side because those supporters were the most vocal. Now we’re seeing more anti-park people speaking up, and so we are reporting on that (and being condemned by the yes side).

The recent anti-park rally in Osoyoos was a news event that no media could ignore, so we covered it, and once again were criticized by pro-park supporters. If that was a pro-park rally, we would have been chastised by the no side. We just can’t win.

And people hoping for a referendum will likely be disappointed. Because national parks are a federal jurisdiction, it would require a federal referendum, which would probably be out of the question. And a local referendum would have no effect.

• Read more: National park opponents rally at Town Hall to call for referendum

However, a plebiscite to survey local opinion would be the alternative and a lot cheaper. The results would then be passed on to the cabinet minister responsible, but again, this likely would not have much impact on the final decision, which some believe has already been made.

Back to the learned lady: she maintains that people have a lot more in common than their difference of opinion over the park. She says some people from the anti-park group are using intimidation to scare others.

We have been informed that one lady had her pro-park sign destroyed by a chain saw, while another was subjected to an abusive message left on her answering machine (by a coward) because of her recent letter to the editor.

Not only does this hurt (and threaten) the writer, it really sheds a bad light on the anti-park groups whose members may come across as radicals or just plain rednecks.

We agree that the conversation regarding the national park reserve has rapidly descended into a “black hole,” as one gentleman put it. Intelligent discussion has turned into yelling matches and neighbours aren’t being neighbours anymore.

It’s ironic that such a beautiful area we live in is prompting so many bad feelings. It should be the exact opposite.

It’s time to put down our pitchforks and come together as a community with respect for each other’s values and points of view.

We shouldn’t have to fear reprisals for supporting our beliefs. Let’s get back to being human again, shall we?