A 4 www.ash-cache-journal.com Published by Black Press Ltd. 402 - 4th St., Ashcroft BC V0K 1A0. Founded in 1895 Editor: Wendy Coomber
The Editor’s Desk
Thursday, October 29, 2015 The Journal
COMMUNITY
VIEWPOINTS
WENDY COOMBER
Ashcroft has no room for the rodeo Ashcroft Council announced its decision this week that there is no land available on the Mesa for the rodeo. The committee approached the Council earlier this year after they were told to move off of the property they’d leased for decades of Ashcroft Rodeos, asking to be granted some of the land that sits overlooking Ashcroft. Council and Village staff looked at the confusing property lines there, trying to distinguish between Crown Land, Village property and the land they’d promised to the school board for some time before announcing their official decision almost six months later. Unfortunately, the answer is “No”. “It’s important that we have land for future development and we are planning to move forward with it,” said Councillor Alf Trill. “The request led to a lot of consideration and review on our part,” said Mayor Jack Jeyes. “In order to position ourselves for the future, I think it’s necessary.” The reasoning is justifiable, although one wonders how stable that land is and why it hasn’t been developed before now if it’s such prime real estate. However, given that the rodeo has such a positive impact on the town and its businesses, I would have hoped that the Council would have been a little more proactive in helping the committee find a new home elsewhere. They have connections that the committee doesn’t have. We’ve already missed one rodeo this year - and we did miss it! It takes a lot of planning to pull off an event that big and time’s a-wasting. If it isn’t already too late for 2016, then it looks like the ball is in Cache Creek’s court. The committee has asked the Village to help them convince Wastech to let them set up on some of their property along the highway. It’s certainly not as nice as the old rodeo grounds were, but anything will do in a pinch. And Cache Creek Council has already said it is unwilling to let the Rodeo leave this area if it can help keep it, for the sake of the local business community. Let’s hope progress is made soon.
MOSS AND LICHEN cover an old knotty board on the side of a cabin on Vidette Lake
More funding for mental health needed Dear Editor Recently I read a document I found online from B.C. Care Providers Association (www.bccare.ca) . There was a graph on page 16 that concerned me. Interior Health Expenditures for Mental Health for 2014-2015 were only six per cent of their total expenditures. Figures for other health authorities around the province ranged from 6-9 per cent. Many mental health conditions can manifest themselves in serious physical illnesses and often those people end up in acute care beds which cost approximately $1,200 a day. It seems to me that if more moneys were allocated for mental health services, less moneys would have to be spent in emergency rooms and for acute care beds, just to name two areas of health expenses. Police costs would probably become less as many times they are called to deal with someone who has serious mental health problems. How many times have people visited emergency rooms with rather vague symptoms, mainly due to having overwhelming feelings of depression, anxiety or other mental health issues and really needing to find a source of support? When people reach breaking points, if they are able to get help, they will reach out for what
is available. Sometimes people resort to drugs/alcohol to deal with underlying mental health issues and treatment for those two conditions make our medical costs soar. Caregivers burn out and become physically ill as they are not able to get the support they need. We are fortunate in having two mental health/addictions support workers in our hospital but they are only 1.5. I am sure if their numbers were doubled, they would find people who would benefit from their guidance and support. Too often, we are also hampered by the idea that having a mental illness is something shameful. I felt that way for years when I suffered from several serious bouts of depression. I was so fortunate in having my doctor send me to an outpatient depression clinic where education, nutritional guidance, group counselling, creative outlets and physical exercise helped us realize we were suffering from a chemical imbalance. If we got help and if we worked towards becoming well, with or without medication, we became healthy again. Please encourage Interior Health to increase the amount of spending they spend on mental health, and please learn to view mental health isssues in a different manner. Marilyn Bueckert Ashcroft
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No response to school name petition Dear Editor Where is the Government when you need them? A letter was sent to the Honorable Minister Fasbender, Minister of Education for British Columbia, copy to our MLA, Ms. Tegart back in late June or early July regarding the renaming of the school in Ashcroft. The same letter was sent to the Honorable Minister Bernier who replaced Mr. Fasbender with a copy to our MLA, Ms. Tegart. This letter was from the petitioners asking the Board of Trustees SD74 to revisit their decision regarding the name given to the Ministry for the newly renovated K-12 school in Ashcroft. To date there has been no response from either the Minister of Education or our MLA. I understand that both are probably very busy and this is a relatively minor matter in their overall portfolio, but an acknowledgement of the receipt of our letter would have seemed in order due to the fact that 648 constituents had appealed to them and asked them to reply to our appeal. A copy was hand delivered to Ms. See LETTER on p. 5 Subscribe to The Journal 1 Year Subscription: $44.10 (GST included) Senior Rate: $37.80 (GST included) Out of area subscriptions pay a $17.85 mailing surcharge The Journal is a politically independent community newspaper. All material contained in this publication is protected by copyright. Reproduction is expressly prohibited by the rights holder. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.