8 www.pentictonwesternnews.com
Wednesday, March 18, 2015 Penticton Western News
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Naturists, owners need to work together Several Three Mile Beach residents have told tax-paying Penticton public and naturists that public nudity is morally reprehensible. They ignore not only Canadian case law (Beaupre and Benolkin), but also Paul M. Bowman’s defence of social public nudity in his Nakedness and the Bible. Pope Paul II said that the naked human body was beautiful because God created it, and that prurience was only in the eyes of the beholder! Three Mile Beach is not the private domain of residents. The only one who can determine whether or not to prosecute for public nudity under
the Canadian Criminal Code is the Attorney General of this province. A small cadre of resident complaints remind us of how evangelical minister, Bernice Gerard and supporters, catapulted Wreck Beach to international fame as a destination naturist beach after trying to shame naturists off the beach in 1976. Naturist caretakers keep Three Mile Beach safe and clean. When Mr. Bazen (Nude beach decision by council leave property owner shocked, March 11, Penticton Western News) suggests that naturists shifted to the south after their access to the northerly section of beach
The next generation learns by example
Young adult: Did you know that the Criminal Code of Canada says you can’t be nude in a public place? Parent: That sounds reasonable. Young adult: Except that the Penticton council is thinking of allowing nudists to use a portion of a public beach in a residential area. The public beach has never been a nudist beach, so why would they do that? Parent: I think the correct term is naturist, and the council was just trying to be nice, you know, trying to please everyone. The naturists also told them that it would be good for the economy. Young adult: So it is OK to break the law if it makes you money? The decision is not pleasing the locals! The naturists want the whole sandy beach and are suggesting that the locals move to the rocky, dog beach. If they think it is so great, why don’t they move there? At least they wouldn’t be in front of homes. Parent: That’s true. It would be even better if the naturists could find a secluded beach elsewhere. Young adult: And what about the lawsuit that the local residents are planning because their properties would be difficult to sell? Is it fair to the taxpayers of Penticton to have to pay a lot of money so that a minority can break the law and be nude in a public place? Is it OK to break the law if you are a special interest group? Parent: I don’t think the council really intended to endorse breaking the law. Young adult: Hmmm ... If laws aren’t that important, maybe I can have a few more drinks and drive then? Parent: What! Don’t do that! Young adult: Well if I get stopped, I can just tell the officer that I like to socialize this way, my friends and I monitor ourselves and liquor sales are good for the economy. Parent: Yikes! I don’t really understand this. The council needs to rethink this decision! Perhaps they should try to get the criminal code changed, so that it is in favour of public nudity, before they alter a public family beach. Anita Mosher Penticton
Daycare could bring needed lower speed limit
We are long-time residents of Lee Avenue, “Old Fogies” and grandparents. Our neighbourhood had its most dramatic change after the big wind storm in 2006. Both my husband and I support the planned daycare on Yorkton Avenue. It would be wonderful to maybe finally get a 30 kilo-
was closed by Mr. Pinkowski seeking to market his property, he fails to mention that former Mayor Garry Litke gave permission for the naturists to move there. Public access to the foreshore cannot be blocked either on marine or fresh waters in Canada. Finally, comparing ThreeMile to Cedar Creek in Kelowna, ignores that Cedar Creek naturists were not represented by an organized group to speak out for naturist rights on public lands. It was lewd behaviour of textiles, not of naturists which led to banning of nudity there. How ironic that Cedar Creek has gone to the dogs much like
metre per hour speed limit in the area: on Yorkton, Lee and Elm Avenues, Southbeach Drive, Parkview Street and Cypress Street. This is something we have been lobbying for years now. This is where it’s happening, especially during the summer months. But, even year round there are playgrounds, ball parks and of course beaches. We need to get the muscle (or shall I say aggressive) and ignorant drivers to slow down. Last August we had a fatal hit and run incident at the corner of Skaha Lake Road and Lee Avenue. Please, please, please we need drivers to slow down and especially if we are going to have more little ones in our lives and in our streets. And we really need more children because only then can us “Oldies” look back on our own lives and say “well done.” Uli & Dan Kostic Penticton
Neighbourhood has legitimate concerns about daycare
I am a homeowner near this proposed “Major Daycare.” I have the right to question the size of this daycare and the manner in which the city is pushing this ahead, without being subjected to sarcasm and disrespect. The reader’s poll conducted by the Penticton Western News last week is not fair as it oversimplifies the question and does not consider the facts in this case. Did Ms. Bootsma check with our Economic Development Officer for appropriate business space before purchasing this residential home for her business? Her proposal is to gut the house to accommodate her business — it will never be a residential home again. I support neighbourhood daycare, four to six children in a home daycare as allowed under our residential zoning. It does not have to be a large institution to provide quality daycare. At the public hearing a speaker pointed out to council that daycares are a lucrative and competitive business ($700 per month per child) and that council would be approving an unfair business advantage. His estimate was that Ms. Bootsma would save over $7,000 a year in property taxes. But his comments seem to have been ignored, as was our petition signed by over 30 neighbours. Our neighbourhood has legitimate concerns which are not being addressed. Warning, this can happen in your neighbourhood too. With 10 days notice the zoning can be changed to accommodate whatever proposal council supports. Hanna Taylor Penticton
the entire southerly section of Three Mile. One should also note that Cedar Creek above the park is zoned as residential with 31 listings for sale above 500 MSL whereas Three Mile has only two ALR-zoned listings above the 500 MSL which remain isolated. Former Cedar Creek naturists have now moved to naturist-friendly Three Mile Beach. Mr. Bazan should work with naturists, the public, and City of Penticton so that we may all co-exist in harmony with nature, as nature intended. Judy E. Williams, National /International Contact, 3-MNBC Bradner, B.C
Terrorist laws are not for terrorists
R: Be afraid, letters to the editor, in the Western News, March 6. Here is another person that gets his news from the net. He knows, that all these terrorist laws, are not for any terrorist. These terrorist laws, which the government is selling to the public, are actually for those who have lost their faith in the governing class. Some call them Patriots, conspiracy theorist, independent investigative journalist and all those that expose the flaws, manipulations and falsifications in the official stories on the mainstream media. The government is not afraid of any terrorists, they are afraid of those that publish the secrets of the ruling elite, or those that pull the strings. This is the reason for the Government put restrictions on free speech and the internet. Covertly the call the restrictions, hate speech, racist, or anti-Semitic. There are now millions of people around the world, who figured out the machination of those, who pull the strings. These millions put their noses to the ground and sniff out what our rulers are up to. The hounds are on their trail, as soon as anyone of the rulers makes a move. Unfortunately, we do not hear much of these hounds, because the elite does not want you to know. The patriots work mostly on the internet because they have given up on the mainstream media. In Germany, they are already calling for regime change, because the government operates outside the law and takes the orders from above. The people in Germany know that they have an occupational puppet government, but most Canadians do not. Otto Sturhahn Penticton
Reader’s poll at www.pentictonwesternnews.com
Do you think the minimum wage rate in B.C. is fair? Results:
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1. No — 65.9% 2. Yes — 34.1%
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A selection of comments on Penticton Western News stories found online:
On youth rehabilitation centre in Keremeos closes doors:
“Sad. We need programs like this in our community. I’m from Alberta and there is an abundance of treatment options. Not so much here and it shows.”
— posted by Miranda Lynn
On property owner shocked at nude beach decision:
“Good on the council. I am not a nudist but I don’t see anything wrong with this type of lifestyle. This beach has been used as a nude beach for decades well before most of us were even born or thought of. The landowner should have investigated the area before he purchased. And to think that we would want to change things just because you have monies and plan to build is arrogant.”
— posted by Phillis Zella
On school district having no room left to cut in budget:
“This is ridiculous! Where else can the Districts cut? And cut millions? It is the children who are going to suffer - and they already are! Next thing you know, we will have one teacher in Victoria and the entire province will be doing distance education by Skype! The Premier needs to get her head out of the sand!”
— posted by Dawn Young
On March 13 editorial; Nude beach not about “core values”:
“I would like to address some of the points in this editorial. 1. The public nudity law is one of the very few in Canada in which only the Attorney General of a province can decide to lay charges. The RCMP cannot make this decision. Why might this be? Could it be the best legal brains in the country believe no modern court will enforce a law created in the Victorian age when skirts above the ankles were considered scandalous? 2. Giving local residents control of city facilities as suggested in this article is a slippery slope. If Three Mile residents are allowed to decide how the beach is used then why not the residents along Lakeshore Drive too. What if they were to decide they wanted their beach to be adult only, or they don’t like the show and shine or other events that happen on their doorstep? 3. This last one makes me smile, Three Mile residents plan to sue for any drop in property values. Good luck convincing a judge the crash in oil prices or the Minister of Finance’s new mortgage laws or his verbal efforts to cool the housing market aren’t to blame. No, it’s caused by naturists who can’t be seen from any of the houses and are only visible at the bottom of a long stairway down to the beach. And, of course, all the Three Mile residents will have no problem coughing up thousands of dollars each for the court case because, after all, it’s a sure thing!” — posted by Brad Punt