It all happened on April 18

Kelowna 100 years ago today April 18, 1924

The Kelowna Central Organized Relief Committee, which has been meeting regularly since its inception in January last, has dealt with all the cases of distress which have been brought to its notice. It replaced twelve different relief organizations in the city.

Committee members have recently enlarged the scope of their work and are now engaged in investigation of cases of under-nourished schoolchildren and others who require medical and surgical attention.

The committee will look after such cases where it is determined that the parents are not in a position to have the children attended to properly.

Some children require attention to their eyes, tonsils, or adenoids, and in all these cases the children are being kept back in their studies for want of proper attention.

In due time, the committee will make an appeal for public donations and they will be met with a ready response when it is understood they are helping those whose parents are not sufficiently endowed with worldly goods to be able to give their children the attention they require.

Kelowna 50 years ago today April 18, 1974

In Ottawa, the minority Liberal government introduced legislation to ban American football in Canada.

Health Minister Marc Lalonde called for support of the proposed law, while Heath Macquarrie (PC Hillsborough) delivered an acid speech rejecting it, and Les Benjamin (NDP Regina) supported it.

The initial target of the legislation is the Toronto Northmen of the World Football League, headed by John Bassett Jr.

George Whittaker, the PC MP for Okanagan-Boundary, called the Liberal-NDP unity government an “unholy alliance” and called for an immediate election.

“The sooner we can replace these upstarts, the better off Canada will be,” Whittaker said. “But it will require hard work, because the Liberals love power and will use every trick to hold onto it.”

Mr. Whittaker has been acclaimed as the Progressive Conservative’s candidate. No one stepped forward to challenge him for the nomination.