Vox Populi

Canmore’s public hearing on March 10 at 6 p.m. should be of interest to citizens. Stiff increases are proposed for food and beverage operators in order to fund promoting the town through its contracted agency.

Editor: It is gratifying to read from reports in the Feb. 19 issue that the federal government through the National Trail Council is contributing funds to a further extension of the Legacy Trail.

Editor: While it’s true that I prefer to approach things with hope, optimism and trust instead of the anger, pessimism and paranoia preferred by others, do not think for a moment that also implies naiveté or a lack of skepticism.

Editor: If Moses had to put the recently passed bylaw on tablets of stone he would have depleted a quarry. A full 19 pages of print as to how we are requested to use our roads. The challenge is where to start commenting. Maybe here: 5. BICYCLES 5.1.

Recent data on Canmore’s wildlife corridors shows there is more human use than wildlife use in the wildlife corridors. This demonstrates that little consideration has been given as to how to make these wildlife corridors functional.

So it would appear that some people are content to live in a never-neverland fantasy world in which everything is roses and unicorns, blindly accepting what government tells them is the truth and what they do is righteous.

On a recent visit as a tourist to Banff, I read the article by Cathy Ellis (Feb. 5) in which she describes the rationale used by the Alberta government to justify the killing of wolves to save the caribou.

Editor: I'd like to thank council for its decision-making process last week regarding the rezoning proposal adjacent to Peaks of Grassi. Perhaps because I am not an immediate neighbour of the Peaks area and feel no direct impact from the decision, my thanks are less for the decision itself than for how the decision was made.

Re: Hundreds of wolves killed to save caribou. I was very fortunate to see a herd of caribou while backpacking the Brazeau Loop several years ago. Our group was close enough to hear the clicking of their hind legs. We were awed as we watched them move up the slope and out of sight. I will never forget it. I am sad that they are in decline and I will likely never see them again in this area, however, the writing has long been on the wall and we wrote it.

Editor: I prefer to believe that outright buffoonery is still a couple of letters away, although the sense of tilting at windmills certainly grows weekly. Some introductory social studies are in order this time. At the direction of council, administration is requested to return with reports and recommendations with respect to policies. Council then reviews the reports and decides which, if any, recommendations to pursue. I don't believe that meets the definition of rubber-stamping.