Careful with development

To: Elsie Lemke, Hon. Mayor Slater & Council, Alain Cunningham, OCP, The Potters, The Osoyoos Times:rnI write to protest the townhouse/condo developments here in town especially the packing house beach area (yes Virginia we should buy it!) and any more lakeside, lakeshore commercial, resort or whatever zoned townhouse/condo developments that are on the fast track to approval.
I especially take exception to any on East Lakeshore Dr. (as per article in The Osoyoos Times on Aug. 10) by Palcor Management.
I was unable to attend the Aug. 3 info meet because we are all too busy in the summer here to deal with questions of that importance.
Development meetings should not be conducted in July and August. It would be too easy to slip approvals through when the residents are busy with tourism and/or family.
Surely this is one thing the Town Fathers can control and should. I too am very concerned about preserving our lakefront for the future, for our children and for the lake, especially the health of our lake and water quality.
When we decided to come to Osoyoos nine years ago it was because of its size and ambience. We do not want another Kelowna-style city here in our lovely small town.
By the way, the size of our town can be limited if you so desire. Many years ago my friends in Santa Barbara, California decided to not be another Los Angeles and voted to limit the size of their town. They have never regretted it. We could ask for a vote on this question if others agree, (to say a general number of seven thousand?)rnHowever, in summary, we really must be more careful and responsible about our heritage, of the lake, the desert & friendly people, and in particular the joy of meeting people you know on the streets and in the shops.
N. MuellederrnOsoyoos

Editor:rnYour Aug. 24th editorial made the common mistake of confusing drug-related crime with prohibition-related crime. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.
The good news is that Canada has already adopted many of the common sense harm reduction interventions first pioneered in Europe. The bad news is that Canada's southern neighbor continues to use its superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe.
The United States provides tragic examples of anti-drug strategies that are best avoided.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the U.S. are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs. This easily preventable public health crisis is a direct result of zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes. Can Canada afford to emulate the harm maximization drug policies of the former land of the free and current record holder in citizens incarcerated?rnU.S. Centers for Disease Control stats:
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/idu.htm
Robert Sharpe, MPA
Policy Analyst
Common Sense for Drug Policy
Washington, DC

Editor:rnTo those stunned at the inability of the USA to respond to the needs of their citizens in the recent hurricane disaster, please don't forget, the hurricane was expected, the failure of the levees was not.
When you give an evacuation notice, you must also follow it up with the tools and aid for those that cannot just pick up and leave. 40% of the people in the affected area were below the poverty line and had not the ability to pick up and leave. They had no where to go, no way to go, and when they got where that place might be, no way of renting a room, buying food, or such.
Consider the fact that all of the infrastructure of a modern large city was gone as well. No phone, no water, no electricity and no hope.
Our government should order a train CPR to travel across Canada picking up the goods and supplies that will be needed for the refugees of the hurricane and deliver it to the nearest shipping dock to New Orleans and unload it. At no cost. That can be water, food stuffs, plywood, portable housing, solar powered water purifiers, blankets, canned meat, canned or fresh fruit, mobile hospitals, and all of the rest of the normal things a person with nothing needs.
Canada should do this because we can, we must and not because it is good PR. After providing whatever the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, or Georgia need, we must watch. We need to watch and learn. Our large major urban centres may not fare much better in a major civil disaster. After all, when was the last time any city practiced an evacuation? When did we put our system to the test? Could Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, or Toronto evacuate 1,000,000 people?rnNorman GreenfieldrnCalgary, Albertarn