When does no not mean no?
When Mayor Malcolm MacLeod says so. How many times do we have to revisit compulsory curbside recyclables and garbage collection before he gets the message? We can not afford it.
The meeting at the Red Barn was convened by the District of Sicamous and the CSRD at the request of council. Fifty-five people attended the meeting; five were in favour and 50 were against. That’s once.
My wife and I mailed out, at our own expense, a no vote ballot to Sicamous households in an attempt to show the mayor that another survey would be a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. Sixty ‘no’ votes were returned to the district office. There was no mention of any ‘yes’ votes. That’s twice. And still, the mayor did not get the message.
So, here we go again with yet another survey mailed out by the district to confirm their Red Barn survey. Will this survey be used like the sewer survey where ‘no’ really meant ‘yes’? Again, this survey is being done when all the snow birds are down south and can not vote. Is that a coincidence? Oh, yes, it has to be. I suspect that this issue will continue on one form or another until the mayor gets his way.
Folks, in my opinion, this has nothing to do with garbage collection. It is all about the recycling of paper, cardboard and plastic bags, which the CSRD is subsidizing with our tax dollars to the tune of about $1 million a year. This incentive is about downloading this cost to the taxpayers as a fee for service, another favourite political ploy to avoid accepting responsibility.
Sicamous has the best garbage collection system in the CSRD. It is controlled directly by the residents. Those who want curbside pick-up can purchase it at a reasonable cost; which some of my friends use and they are voting ‘no’ to the district’s scheme. Why? Because, if the district takes it over, future costs will skyrocket. If you do not believe it, review the water meter rates. Just wait and see what these rates will be when we are all on water meters and the sewer is completed.
All my life I have stood up against threats and bullying and I have had the fat lips, black eyes and sore knuckles to prove it. Our politicians are adamant that bullying cannot be allowed in any form in our society. The revisiting of this issue by the district for at least the third time is bullying of the first order and we, the residents of Sicamous, should not tolerate it. Also, I do not like being threatened by dump closures and higher tipping fees. Thankfully we can fight this issue with our voices and pens, not our fists.
Please complete and return the survey mailed to you by the district and contact the mayor and council personally. Be sure to let them know how you feel about compulsory curbside recyclables and garbage collection.
J. M. Sykes