Council ignoring the deer problem

Dear editor: Frank Bechard and I, and several others, spent many hours of our time canvassing the South Mission area to get opinions on the deer problem in this area.

The vast majority of those canvassed have had serious damage done to their gardens and are fed up with cleaning the messes the deer leave behind, not to mention the hazards of herds of deer on the roads. Who knows what diseases we are subject to in handling on a continuous basis the deers feces.

We have had several meetings with the provincial government (our MLA Steve Thomson) who are in favour of implementing control measures as carried out in other communities in B.C.

The City of Kelowna and Mayor Colin Basran have chosen to ignore the petition containing almost 1,200 signatures. It is also my understanding that he has ordered his council members to not get involved in any way. The residence I have spoken to during the canvass were close to 100 per cent in favour of some form of control that will reduce the numbers of deer invading the city.

Along with 200-plus residents who lost everything in the 2003 fires, we have spent thousands of dollars to restore our gardens to their prior beauty only to have this plague of animals destroying our hard work.

How much more do we have to suffer without some help from the city? The provincial government claims they can not exercise any form of control without the permission of the City of Kelowna.

I, for one, and the residents who have signed the petition will keep this in mind as we cast our votes for mayor and city council on Saturday. The incumbents are in jeopardy on this and other issues. Anthony Lillington

Kelowna