Even more golden oldies to enjoy

Dear editor: Here are two more songs about the Okanagan.

“Dreamy Okanagan Moon’’ written by local resident Florence Fazan. It was recorded by The Rhythm Pals in 1955. It is sung now by Chordial Invitation the Kelowna Barbershop Chorus. Colin Fazan is a present member of Chordial Invitation and son of Florence.

The other song is “The Old Okanagan” by Fredric Manchester. I’m not sure of the history of this song. Mike Stanway, member Chordial Invitation branches in a single green army uniform.

Years of tradition and regimental pride were destroyed with the stroke of a pen. Regiments carry their heroic victories and their shameful acts for centuries. It is a source of unity; service and pride of duty and honor of country.

During the federal Liberal government’s last mandate before being defeated by a Conservative minority government the Liberals introduced legislation removing the long-term disability pensions for disabled vets and replacing it with one-time bulk payouts.

The Conservative minority was forced to tread a fine line so they supported many of the Liberal initiatives in legislation in order to stay in power.

In Harper’s second majority mandate he honoured all UN and NATO veterans’ injuries and wounds with back payments to bring current disability pensions up to date. Previous to this disability pensions for veterans were years in arrears before just compensation was paid out.

He authorized retroactive surgeries. He rebuilt the RCAF’s Transport Command purchasing a C-130 Hercules and a CH147 Chinook Squadron plus four C-17 global strategic heavy transport aircraft.

Thanks to the Harper government many veterans waiting years for a disability pension finally received their due.

Now that the Liberals are again in power, as you said, the practice of screwing the veteran again is taking precedence. Ernie Slump

Penticton its construction in such an area back then. To ask for a liquor license decades on from opening its doors seems like a bit of a bamboozle from its original plan.

It's not the place for a bar, nightclub or neighbourhood pub and if this were a neighbourhood bar or pub I'm sure they would stand tall in their opposition to such a licence with letters, a show in numbers at city council meetings and general public outcry at such a travesty.

In the past when bars and pubs have had people stand up to voice their concerns at the selected location, a lot of the times the suggestion is to move to a more suitable location and try again before applying for a liquor license.

So in closing, I ask them to select a more suitable location for a licensed facility and this is why I say no to their current application and I ask others to stand up, voice their concerns and be a thorn in the side of such a license being issued to the Penticton Seniors' Drop-In Centre. Mark Hanson Penticton encourage what some call fancy footwork voting — casting a ballot not for the person you want to vote for, but for the candidate best positioned to defeat the candidate you most dislike.

A third question to ask is: What is a popular alternative?

It's called proportional representation, and it would benefit smaller parties that win a respectable share of the overall votes cast in the country, but can't quite eke out a firstplace finish in a particular riding to win an actual seat in the provincial government or House of Commons.

There are a variety of PR models but the objective is to make a party's share of seats in the legislature equal to their slice of the popular vote.

Generally, PR involves electing multiple members in each district, with seats assigned according to each party's share of the vote in that district.

Lately there has been much said as to “pros and cons” of both. Some of the dialogue comes out as “mumbo-jumbo” while some of the dialogue seems to make sense.

The problem seems to be: “Which is which?” A fourth question might be: “What do I support?”

I have looked around to see what countries are using what system.

The following are using FPTP: Canada, India, United States, Britain and New Zealand.

Those using pro rep in some form: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Still confused or undecided? Me too! Ron Barillaro

Penticton