COLUMN: Larson update; Greenwood library gets gaming grants; awards given for chamber week
By Linda Larson
In recognition of the valuable work the B.C. Chamber of Commerce does supporting its business members, the week of Feb. 16 to 20 is Chamber of Commerce Week.
At the recent awards ceremony for the South Okanagan Chamber, the following businesses were recognized. Nunes/Pottinger, Vintage Hospitality Management, Greg Wheeler of Remedy RX and the Osoyoos Credit Union. The B.C. Chamber represents more than 36,000 businesses of every size in every sector. Thanks goes to all who support local business and their local Chambers.
Several grants were also announced recently. B.C. Art Council grants have been awarded to the Oliver Community Arts Council for $9,000, the Osoyoos and District Arts Council for $6,000 and the Osoyoos Museum Society for $9,000.
Gaming grants have also been awarded to the Greenwood and District Public Library Association for $6,000 and the Scouts 1st Oliver Group for $3,800.
A huge thank-you to the ladies of the OK Falls Women’s Institute who worked so hard on the fundraising for the bandshell and finally have construction underway. It is an extraordinary feat in a small Community like OK Falls to raise this amount of money for any kind of local project. Well done, ladies!
While most ski areas on the Lower Mainland have experienced poor snow conditions, we are extremely fortunate that Apex and Big White have had excellent conditions for most of the season. But spring and summer are coming and both these beautiful areas are wonderful places to hike and bike in the “off” season and have huge tourism potential for a wide variety of activities for families to enjoy. It is also great to see Mount Baldy back on its feet and I wish them every success.
The recent allocation of hunting tags announced by the minister have caused some anxiety from the resident hunters who feel they have been unfairly treated with the new numbers. There are currently more than 91,000 basic hunting licences issued each year in B.C. The majority of those are for deer, elk and moose, the “freezer” meat often referred to. There are no reallocations in these categories. Less than 10 per cent of tags are for the “trophy” animals such as grizzly bear, goat and sheep and of those only two per cent are allocated to guide outfitters. The changes to allocations of approximately 60 tags in the entire province is in the “trophy hunt” category. In Region 8 (most of this area) the five-year average harvest is 6,955 animals of which 6,360 of those are deer. Many of the clients of guide outfitters are B.C. resident hunters. After seven years of talks between the BCWF and guide outfitters without resolution, government made a decision on allocation based on conservation, First Nations, resident hunters and guide outfitters in that order of priority. Despite the negative feedback, I continue to be a supporter of the BCWF and the resident hunters of B.C.
While the Throne Speech may have been boring for reporters and news media, it maintains and supports the plan that is keeping B.C.’s economy one that continues to thrive despite the instability of other jurisdictions both nationally and internationally. Government’s job is not to make the media happy; it’s focus is the taxpayer, the creation of jobs and balancing the provincial books. That is what we have done in the past two years and what we will continue to do.
While we seem to be having an early spring, sudden blasts of winter can still happen, so keep that in mind while travelling through our mountain passes.
