THURSDAY, January 2, 2014
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YOUROPINION
KAMLOOPS
THIS WEEK
No need to reform a successful system
Speak up You can comment on any story you read @ kamloopsthisweek.com
A selection of comments on KTW stories, culled online
Re: Story: Dog’s thick skull may have saved animal’s life: “Unless there was a reasonable threat of mortal injury to a person, this officer’s firearm should have remained holstered. “It’s that simple. “If a citizen had shot a dog, there would have been firearm charges put forward — guaranteed. “Why the pass for this officer?” — posted by Edwin L. Lussier “What a bunch of liars! “I am the mom who was there. This dog was called upstairs by the girl’s father. As he ran toward the stairs, there was a wimpy cop standing there with a gun — and he shot the dog point blank! “It is quite apparent he could not wait to get his hand on the gun and this dog now sits suffering with open wounds at the city pound while these morons make a decision on his fate! “This does not end here. “We as a society are tired of the lies the cops say to make themselves look better.” — posted by Debra Milenk
HO, HO, HO! NOW YOU KNOW Editor: Santa Claus Parade day is an annual tradition. For more than three decades, Kamloops parents have been bundling up their children and bringing them downtown to catch a glimpse of the big man himself. What many don’t realize is the vast amount of behind-the-scenes work it takes to prepare for Santa’s arrival. The committee of elves start planning two months in advance. They bring together representatives from various parts of the community, including sponsors, facilitators, logistics, participants, volunteers and sponsors. The logistics personnel are first in. They include the Downtown Kamloops Business Association, RCMP, City of Kamloops, Rotary Clubs of Kamloops, BC Transit, Kamloops Search and Rescue and CFJC-TV. They close streets, re-route traffic, deliver and setup barricades, book and organize the many entries and much more. The sponsors — Kamloops Square Management, Interior Savings Credit Union, Doubletree Hotel, Kamloops Daily News, Kamloops Toner, KGHM Ajax, Kamloops Branch Foresters — and sponsor non-profits judge entries and host and provide breakfast. Each year, the parade hosts more than 75 floats. Each float has a team of volunteers that dedicates days of work. The teams bring down dump trucks and back hoes, fire trucks, cars, kids, decorations and animals.
They build structures, ride horses and dress sheep. You name it, they do it — and do it well. This already long list doesn’t include the most important inner workings of the parade — the volunteers. The annual Santa Claus Parade would not be possible without its many volunteers — more than 75 of them on parade day. These include Rotarians from almost every club in town who marshal the parade and the head volunteer and chief marshal of the parade, the North Shore’s own Tom Hammer. Tom has been chief marshal for more than a decade — or at least as long as we can remember as we took over the parade in 2004. There you have it — a little look into the underbelly of the annual Santa Claus Parade. With more than 75 entries each year, it is one massive undertaking. There are hundreds upon hundreds of volunteers who dedicate their time and effort in an attempt to bring joy and happiness to all the children of Kamloops. The elves at the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association would like to thank everyone involved for their help in hosting the 33rd annual Santa Claus Parade. It is truly a community event put on by the community itself. Gay Pooler general manager Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association
Editor: The Program for International Student Assessment is an international assessment of randomly selected 15-year-olds in a large number of jurisdictions around the world. The most recent results published earlier this month indicate that, while students in many Canadian provinces are declining in math ability, students in B.C. and Quebec remain competitive with students in other top-performing education systems. These results demonstrate British Columbia continues to be held as one of the premier public-education systems in the world. Few jurisdictions demonstrate the same continued success spanning many governments as the only consistent factor in the system are the teachers who work within it. These results invalidate the provincial government’s need to reform a system that continues to perform well. In fact, it is these reform movements across Canada that are causing harm to the education of students in other provinces. Like any system, the public-education system needs stability and funding, rather than continual change. To avoid the trend that education systems in other provinces have shown, the provincial government needs to provide true stability in B.C.’s public-education system. This can be done by restoring classroom and learning conditions, providing genuine support for teachers and providing appropriate funding to school boards to avoid continual reduction in programs. David Komljenovic B.C. Teachers’ Federation executive committee Kamloops
Dyer column said it best Editor: Re: Gwynne Dyer’s column of Dec. 19 (‘Not a saint, but Mandela was right man at right time’): I could not have written a better column on Nelson Mandela. This is my point exactly. Let him rest in peace. Let’s fight our own battles and prevent the evils that are invading Canada, like drugs, child porn, poverty, spending of taxpayer money, flying around the world with feeble excuses and people wanting our land and country. Just take a look at where we live. Alvida van Zyl Kamloops
sroom contact w e s fo rN r th u o Y eB e est g a Comm r unity Cove Photographer Dave Eagles dave_eagles@ kamloopsthisweek.com
Entertainment/Community Tim Petruk tim@ kamloopsthisweek.com
Sports Marty Hastings sports@ kamloopsthisweek.com
TALK BACK
Q&A WE ASKED Are you in favour of all aspects of prostitution being made legal in Canada?
SURVEY RESULTS
YES 61% NO 39% 31 VOTES WHAT’S YOUR TAKE? Are you going to make a New Year’s resolution?
VOTE ONLINE Go online to kamloopsthisweek.com and scroll down right side of the page.
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