Letter to the Editor

Say it ain’t so, Cranbrook city hall!

I still have difficulty believing that mayor, city council and CAO would approve a clandestine deer cull (kill) in-camera without the taxpayers knowledge while telling the public they were going to translocate deer instead of killing them. Then carry out the cull spending taxpayers’ money doing it – and at the same time – accept plaudits from the many opposed to the cull including the Animal Alliance of Canada who offered to donate $10,000 to the translocation program.

Then when their sleazy, deceitful act was exposed in a video – yes, a YouTube video! – by the animal rights people and questioned by the media they stick their haughty noses in the air and say they don’t discuss sordid deeds like this in the media!

But unless the sun has started rising in the west and setting in the east this is apparently what they did. And once again Cranbrook’s name has been darkened from coast-to-coast-to coast. In his play Hamlet, Shakespeare says “something is rotten in the state of Demark.” Well, I’m going to update the Bard and say unequivocally that “something is rotten at Cranbrook City Hall” and it’s time these representatives of the people fessed up.

And oh yes, I have special knowledge of this situation and know how difficult an issue the deer situation is because I was a city councillor myself in the previous administration and foolishly made the same mistake myself of approving a deer cull in-camera without telling the people. But when our council got caught in the act, I admitted what we had done, apologized to the public and condemned council for what it had done starting with myself first.

Never again, I said, and it didn’t happen again during that council’s term. Instead we did surveys and studied the problem, which didn’t do a hell of a lot of good either. But at least we didn’t hide behind the public’s back. So I challenge this council, the mayor and the CAO to do the right thing and apologize publicly to the citizens of Cranbrook for your perfidy. In the circumstances, it’s the least you can do.

Gerry Warner,

Cranbrook

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