I am writing this letter in response to the editorial in last week's paper.
I have always told my daughters that if they don't like something or don't like what someone has said, then speak up and let your voice be heard.
Now, I am taking my own advice.
Last week, the editor of this paper made reference to an article regarding Kelowna's ranking for drinking drivers caught across Canada, and we were No. 1.
Instead of praising the men and women of the RCMP and the hard work they do to keep the drunks off the streets, he makes reference to it like the citizens of this good city should smarten up.
I am sure that cities such as Fort McMurrary, Montreal, Quebec, Halifax, just to name a few cities where I have been, have more drunks, where the
police turn a blind eye to the drunk drivers. They haven't been caught, so they are not a stat.
And while I am on this soapbox, I would also like
to talk a bit about the RCMP member who kicked a suspect in the face while he was down.
From all reports, this policeman kicked a man who was suspected of firing a shotgun on a golf course.
Yes, he kicked him. Yes, he was wrong and it wasn't by the book, but I have watched far too many cases in the U.S. where a gunman killed school kids or citizens.
Maybe if that latest gunman in the states that killed our those children had been kicked by a policeman, it might not have happened.
We have no place in our society for guns; they are for police, military and hunters, not for golf courses because we have geese.
If this geese-shooting man had used his gun to shoot the children at the nearby school, then that cop would have been a hero for kicking him. Instead, he will probably lose his job.
And since I am on a roll, I would like to thank two members of our "lucky to have" police service here in Kelowna - Const. Cheryl McKinnon and Const. Steve Holmes. Both how have made this city a great place to live with their work with our children.
I have had the honour as a PAC president to work with both. They are working and are friends of our
future - not an easy job, but a job they both do extremely well.
Brent Fournier,
Kelowna