Opinion

VIEWPOINT

GOVERNMENT ALBAS: Travel post-COVID

As my summer listening tour continues, one topic that I continue to hear being raised is regarding vaccine passports. While I continue to hear opposition, I am also increasingly hearing from DAN ALBAS VIEW FROM THE HILL other citizens who are demanding the Federal Government announce a federal vaccine passport program.

Most have opposed the use of documents -- whether it is a called a ‘vaccination record’ or ‘passport’ domestically.

I should note that the decision to require citizens within Canada to use such documentation would be a provincial and not a federal one.

However, it becomes a federal matter when that travel is international.

It is a sovereign right of any country to establish under law who may enter their country and under what circumstances.

As a Member of Parliament, I believe Canada has the same sovereign right to admit or reject any admission under its own lawful authority and I believe Canadians strongly support that right.

It has been reported to me that some countries will only recognize mRNA vaccines manufactured by companies such as Pfizer and Moderna.

In other words, Canada will provide more flexibility on the list of approved vaccines to visitors than many other countries who have formerly announced guidelines to foreign visitors.

While a federal vaccine passport program has not yet been announced my question this week is as follows:

When there is a federal vaccine passport program here in Canada, will you access it?

I can be reached at Dan.Albas@parl. gc.ca or call toll free 1-800-665-8711.

Janelle Gage

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OPINION

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LETTERS to the editor New committee needed for water use

Editor,

Water, water, water everywhere but nary a drop for your lawn.

If a person standing in Nicola Lake told you, “Hey, it’s a fourth stage drought here, so you cannot drink the water you are standing in”, I think you would say they needed to get some serious mental help. Yet this is what the DCS for the City of Merritt is attempting to tell the citizens of Merritt after hearing “The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development have informed the City of Merritt that we are now in Drought Level 4”.

He is relatively new to Merritt and may not realize that the City of Merritt is literally and physically afloat over three massive aquifers. The first is mere feet below the surface you are walking on. This has been known to all the Old Timers of Merritt and its original Aboriginal inhabitants. The water Granny Gray uses to water her garden and lawn is returned filtered to these aquifers merely days after her use of it. The filtering ability of our soil and aquifers is nothing short of miraculous when you think of the hundred or so years that city septic tanks have been draining into it, plus all the pollutants that were dumped on the ground by the City’s industries. Yet the water in our aquifers remains pristine in quality, and the provincial government only recently forced us to chlorinate our water for NO real reason. If you doubt me on this, I would suggest looking up the 2018 Water Golder Associates’ study, among many others.

That the City of Merritt has repeatedly not listened to its citizenry regarding the water situation comes as no surprise to all of us. However, the famage they have accomplished by not listening does. The Kengard Well is a prime example of this costly damage.

Now our DCS is not the sole one to blame in this water fiasco, as his boss CAO Sean Smith recently penned an article that contained this little gem just this year. Q: Does Merritt have sufficient water in its aquifers to support growth?

A: Yes. Merritt is blessed to be built on top of three different aquifers, a position that puts us in a much better position than many other communities across the province. Even without any new infrastructure, existing wells in the Upper Merritt aquifer could readily support a much larger population than we currently have.”

YET WE CANNOT WATER OUR LAWNS!!??

Regardless of how misguided City staff members may or may not be, the ultimate responsibility falls on the Mayor and Council. This “New” Council has terminated garden water every year of their reign, even to be as cold-hearted as shutting the Water Park for small children who suffered so that year. No other Council has ever done this. Yet, they claim they listen. Yet, I and many others have been to numerous Council meetings requesting an Independent Water committee be formed. The Mayor herself promised this in 2019, then democracy ended. To date, no such committee has been created (but numerous subdivisions have been approved for non-Merritt citizens that take their profits away from Merritt). The Water Committee must be an independent committee formed by volunteers from Merritt reporting their findings to the Merritt Council. Not toy committees as created in the past, where staff and Council outnumbered committee members from the community.

SO, WHAT CAN WE DO?

If you wish to volunteer for a Merritt water committee or want to help establish a website for the Water Committee, or would like to support our efforts with your help, I would ask you to send an email to bc48gray@ gmail.com

Craig Gray Merritt, BC

Thank you to a local business

Editor,

I wish to thank Sun Country Optical for their kind service. We were visiting our daughter in Merritt when the left lens in my glasses fell out due to a loose, teeny-tiny screw. There was no way that I could fix it myself! Even though Sun Country Optical was closed on Saturday, the optician was there and saw us peering into the dark office. She kindly opened the door, fixed my glasses, and did not accept any payment. Thank you so much, Sun Country Optical!

Judith Vetsch Squamish, BC

From the Herald archives: August, 1948

VOGHT PARK BEING IMPROVED

Members of the Merritt Athletic Association, and other interested parties have already begun the task of repairing and improving Voght Park for the coming Labour Day Sports.

The City has provided one hundred dollars to help put the Park in shape.

Quantities of posts and boards have been donated by the mill and a general work bee is planned for September 5.

A good deal of preparation is necessary in the way of cleaning up the grounds.

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

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