Opinion

EDITORIAL A farewell to Merritt

It seems a little odd to put into words on a page, but this will be my last edition as the editor of the Merritt Herald.

I have taken JAKE COURTEPATTE up a similar HERALD role in the EDITOR larger market of Kelowna, though I have to admit that leaving this desk will not be easy.

The Merritt Herald is the dictionary definition of small town journalism. The office is a team of four, two of which make up the editorial staff. Everyone seems to have a hand in each aspect of making sure that papers are to press on time to be on doorsteps on Thursdays.

Yet, the team has always seemed to make due with our skeleton staff. I can say with confidence that I am proud of what we have produced in my two-plus years as the editor of this publication.

I would like to use this column to give a special thank you to our publisher and fearless leader, Theresa Arnold. As I mentioned, everyone in this office works together to create a well-oiled machine, and Theresa more than anybody.

So, dear readers, give a warm welcome to the new editor of the Merritt Herald, Izaiah Reyes, who will be taking up the position next week. Merritt may be a small town, but if there is anything that the past two years has shown us, it is certainly full of stories to tell.

I am hoping, in the next few days, to get to say some more goodbyes, though with family still living in town, Merritt hasn’t gotten rid of me just yet.

VIEWPOINT

Phoenix Aspinall, Grade 10

Students, parents, and teachers: submit your student art to newsroom@merrittherald.com for a chance to be featured each week! Submissions are printed on a first come, first serve basis.

Publisher Theresa Arnold publisher@merrittherald.com 250-378-4241

MERRITT HERALD

Editor Jake Courtepatte newsroom@merrittherald.com 250-378-4241 Reporter Morgan Hampton reporter@merrittherald.com 250-378-4241 Sales Representative Office Administrator Ken Couture kcouture@aberdeenpublishing.com 250-378-4241 Making Advertising Work For You.

OPINION

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LETTERS to the editor New things on the horizon for local 4-H club

Editor,

Hi, my name is Morgan, I am the club reporter for the Grassland Homesteaders 4-H Club this year. I picked this job because I thought that it would be fun.

I am excited about 4-H this year because I like trying new things and meeting new people, and I like to work on different projects.

Please keep watching the Merritt Herald for more information on fun things our club is doing.

Morgan Club Reporter, Grassland Homesteaders 4-H Club

ALBAS: What’s the plan in Ottawa?

It was two weeks ago that Canada’s Chief Public Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam stated: “all existing public health policies, including provincial vaccine passports, need to be re-examined — because it’s clear that Canada and the rest of the world will be grappling with COVID-19 for months or years to come.”

Unfortunately, we have yet to see any sort of plan for our path forward from this Trudeau Liberal government.

As a result, earlier this week the Conservative opposition tabled the following motion:

“That, given that provinces are lifting COVID19 restrictions and that Dr. Theresa Tam has said that all existing public health measures need to be ‘re-evaluated’ so that we can ‘get back to some normalcy’, the House call on the government to table a plan for the lifting of all federal mandates and restrictions.”

This motion did not dictate what that plan should look like only that we should have a plan.

It was a motion that Global News Chief Political Correspondent described as a “very reasonable proposition to the Government”.

Sadly, this Government is not, in my view, in a reasonable mood and opposed this motion.

Fortunately, the BLOC was in support of this motion leaving the NDP to be the decider.

I regret to inform you that once again the NDP has sided with the Liberals and opposed this motion.

As you may now be aware, PM Trudeau announced he was invoking the Emergencies Act, which is the replacement for the former War Measures Act.

The War Measures Act was only used once outside of wartime by Pierre Elliott Trudeau at the request of the Quebec Government in 1970.

The replacement Emergencies Act has also never been used until PM Trudeau decided to invoke it this week, despite opposition from many provincial Premiers most notably Quebec.

However, the Premiers of BC and Ontario do support the Emergencies Act being used.

What is the Emergencies Act?

As the Canadian Civil Liberties Association describes it:

“The Emergencies Act can only be invoked

when a situation “seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada” & when the situation “cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada.” The last reference is of particular importance: that “cannot be effectively dealt with under any DAN ALBAS VIEW FROM THE HILL other law of Canada.” As all Canadians will know prior to the Emergency Act being invoked police were able to peacefully clear the Freedom protest that was occurring on the Ambassador Bridge under existing Canadian laws. In summary, much as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has also concluded, PM Trudeau has “not met the threshold necessary to invoke the Emergencies Act”. My thoughts? Aside from the fact that it is well established that existing Canadian Laws can deal with protests, in reality this is largely an Ottawa problem where the Ottawa police for whatever reason have either been unable or unwilling to deal with. Now many Canadians will be subject to the Emergencies Act for what we hope will be a short period of time largely to solve an Ottawa problem.

MERN220217_A From the Herald archives: Feb., 1989

NICOLA RANCH SOLD

The sale of Nicola Ranch has finally gone through, according to ranch manager Jens Larsen.

“Effective Jan. 30, 1988 Nicola Ranch was purchased by Coquihalla Developments Corp. from the previous owner, Nicola Ranch Ltd,” said Larsen.

The new company, owned by the Liu family of Taiwan, will continue to operate the ranch under the name Nicola Ranch.

The ranch was reportedly sold for more than $5 million.

LETTERS POLICY

The Merritt Herald welcomes your letters, on any subject, addressed to the editor. Letters must be signed and include the writer’s name and address. Letters may be edited for length, taste and clarity. Please keep letters to 300 words or less. Email letters to: newsroom@ merrittherald. com.

John Isaac

250-378-1586

Johnisaac@telus.net www.realestatemerritt.com Ph: 250-378-6181

F: 250-378-6184

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