Equal rights for everyone

Dear editor: Be good to your neighbour. I agree. Then I read about busking and panhandling. Well it’s about time that we are good neighbours to all people. Wow, what a beautiful concept. Hey, us hippies tried that back in the 60s and it ended the Vietnam War.

Whoa! What’s this I read? Panhandlers are banned from ATM machines at certain hours and if someone donates money” to panhandlers, they will receive a fine of $250. (There are only two ways to control the populace, pain and fear.) What kind of emotions does that panhandler go through? Did you ever walk in their shoes? A person now fears to donate money. If you’re caught giving a dime, it will cost you. What is that person feeling emotionally?

Piano is donated for free. People can donate money to a piano player and not receive a fine. The player does not need permit. Here is where discrimination steps in. A busker must buy their own instruments and pay for a permit to busk for donated money. No fines given. Unfortunately, the panhandler may not have the ability to play an instrument and is therefore discriminated against.

Then I hear that people can’t stop and give bottles to people outside of the bottle depot to dispose for them. The person probably does not want to smell the odor of the depot and does not have time to wait in line.

I believe Mayor Colin Basran goes to his favorite place to eat. I believe he may not want to go to the kitchen because of the odor and wait for his food and carry it back to his table. He probably “donates money” to the server. Basran needs to pay a $250 fine for donating money. Basran may have paid for his friend’s meals and drinks. He should be given a separate $250 fine for each person he feeds. I believe the people he buys for can afford to pay for it themselves.

I have only been in the area for 17 years and Kelowna believes, “feed the greedy — not the needy.” Joseph Hayes Lake Country