Dear Editor:
We try to remain impartial in most political issues, as we do trust in the democratic process and the individuals who we elect to do the job. But as the deer cull process is being turned into a debacle, we feel the need to speak out.
The Invermere Deer Protection Organization (IDPO) does not speak for us. We believe it is time that all the people who support our council and the process stand up and be counted.
The IDPO has brought a civil lawsuit, along with the injunction halting the cull, to the court, suing the District of Invermere for emotional and physical suffering due to imagining what would happen to the deer in the cull.
Do we now all get to sue for emotional distress whenever we dont like a decision? The 14 plaintiffs must be beyond distraught during hunting season.
That people can come in and subvert the process distresses us beyond anything else. When does it end?
What then is the purpose of having a governing body, when after the process has been gone through people can just complain and stop it? Where were the protestors when the committee couldnt get enough people? Why werent they standing together united in the cause then?
That they can arrive at the eleventh hour, and call the council members names and compare the cull to a historical atrocity is reprehensible. They have not followed the correct process to air their complaints in the way everyone else must when we need to talk to the council.
We know that there are no arguments to change anyones mind on either side, and we wont try. However, regardless of the opponents opinions, we are compassionate, and our concerns stem from the fear that young families are feeling, the fear that pet owners with their leashed dogs are feeling, and from the sadness of watching animals who are hurt, wounded or sick that cannot be culled by a natural predator as we have chased them all out of town. Deer are prey and a cull in nature is provided by predators and is necessary.
Please stand up and voice your support for the council and by extension the cull. They made a difficult decision no one would want to make, with the permission of the Crown, and have made it through due process.
Jill & Keith Pawlyshyn, Sandy Puskaric, Marilyn Puskaric, Ed & Holly Jones, Dennis Wass, Taylyn Anderson, Mark & Kara Von Niessen, Kimberley Harris, Norman Gagatek, Theresa Wood, Leslie Hecher, Amanda Smith, Brodie Smith, Josh Page, Heather, Lindsay, Siobhan, Helena & Leigh-Ann Hall, Geoff Hill, Jennifer Moss, Kevin Ede, Dee & Rory Connell, Lori Sluth, Angela Semple, Cathy Wigorski, Erin Wittke, Charlie Smith, Dan Emms, Darren Arcuri, Krista Menzies, Paul Christy
36 people who ALL live, pay taxes, and/or work in Invermere.
