BEPPLE – Kamloops City council should not ‘stay in its lane’ on Gaza conflict
(Image: Hosny Solar, Pixabay)
CITY OF KAMLOOPS council should just “stay in their lane.” That is what some people have said about my Jan. 9, 2024 Notice of Motion for the mayor of Kamloops, on behalf of council, to send a letter asking the Prime Minister to call for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Gaza conflict, a release of all hostages and unincumbered access for humanitarian aid.
“Stay in their lane” as in City council should deal with issues related to our city.
If the concern is that City council should not interfere with other levels of government, then one needs to know that that ship has sailed. On a regular basis, City council communicates with other levels of government on policies we don’t agree with.
A good example happened last year when council sent a letter to the federal government requesting that international students be allowed to work full-time hours while on their student visa, rather than limited to 20 hours per week. Immigration policy is the responsibility of the federal government, but Kamloops council weighed in with a letter asking for a change.
City council regularly communicates with the federal government on their policies.
“Stay in their lane” might be that the Israeli-Gaza conflict has nothing to do with Kamloops. Except that it does. At the most basic level, there are families and friends on both sides of the conflict who have lost loved ones. There are others in Kamloops who have relatives, some as young as four years old, trapped in Gaza.
Regardless of how close the ties, there are many in our community who are deeply concerned of the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Our community is not alone.
The United Nations, Oxfam, International Red Cross and Red Crescent, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, Save the Children, and UNICEF are just some of the organizations which have raised their concerns.More locally, Port Alberni, Burnaby, Maple Ridge, New Westminister and Nelson City councils have all penned letters to the federal government. Now I’m asking my council colleagues to do the same.
But why bother, one would ask?
First, because ceasefires, even ones that are not permanent, are a proven pathway to conflict resolution.
Second, Canada has a strong history of bringing together sides with seemingly intransigent positions. In the Good Friday Agreement between the British government and the Irish Republican Army, and its political arm Sein Fenn, a Canadian was at the negotiation table.
Third, because in the pathway to resolution, it has been the small voices in Canada that have pushed the federal government to act. Brian Mulroney is hailed as one of the world leaders who moved South Africa away from apartheid.
But it was years in the making. While Canadians at the local level denounced apartheid, for years the Canadian government opposed the African Nation Congress and supported the apartheid regime. It was local voices that moved the federal government under Mulroney to take a stance which helped end apartheid.
Some would argue that one side or the other is to blame in the current crisis. That means nothing to individuals caught up in the humanitarian disaster.
A couple of weeks ago, Dennis Edney, a revered human rights lawyer from Edmonton, died. I had the opportunity to meet him a few times. What I took away from knowing Edney is that human rights of the individual, especially the most vulnerable, need to be defended, even in difficult situations, or perhaps especially in difficult situations.
There are members of Kamloops whose vulnerable loved ones are trapped in the humanitarian disaster of Gaza. City of Kamloops council should support our community members by writing a letter. Our voice is one. But together with others, Canada can help move this humanitarian disaster to a solution.
The motion is on the Jan. 23, 2024 agenda. Whether it passes is to be decided.
Nancy Bepple is a Kamloops City councillor with a strong interest in community building projects.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Not sure if Miss Bepple and council are aware but today the media is reporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated formally he will not recognize a Palestinian state. It’s good that they have finally said out loud what has been the unspoken policy since the early 1950s.
The establishment of a Palestinian state is one of the basic foundational principles of the numerous UN resolutions, which FYI also included the creation of the state of Israel.
Asking the Palestinians to submit to a ceasefire, is effectively asking them to accept eternal and endearing occupation. If your occupier refuses to recognize your right to exist outside of living in Gaza like caged animals, ignores motion after UN motion, states they will not recognize any decision by the international court on genocide, what is this motion really trying to accomplish? I understand the desire to want to stop the indiscriminate killing, but you are condemning them to oppression with the same breath.
Israel will not backtrack on the 80 years of slow occupation creep. That has been their policy all this time – a slow motion war of attrition until they can justify not recognizing a state of Palestine. Palestinians will not accept the loss of all that land, and the loss of their future. The loss of freedom. This is why people fight since the dawn of history. There is no pathway to peace.
Rescind this motion and never do such a thing again. Please stick to the local issues you were elected to address.
Thank you for the chance to speak freely. We don’t know how lucky we are to have what we have.
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How dare you tell the people of West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza to stop fighting for their freedom and historic lands which are being illegally occupied right now by Israel. Even the UN states that oppressed people have the legitimate right to fight their occupiers. How dare you ask them to cede anything to an oppressor with a military backed by the USA. The president Bibi of Israel announces that he refuses to consider a Palestine state. And you want them to lay down arms to someone who refuses to allow them a right to exist in freedom? To self determination as a legitimate state? In land that has been historically Palestinian land? By resolution of the UN before you were even born? Every country is predicated on armed capability for defence. Cease fire? By Allah!
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There’s nothing like a religious war to bring out the worst in people. That’s what your notice of motion has done, Councillor Bepple.
Am I saying that no war is justified? How about the killing of civilians including women and children?
Burned into my mind is a photo of Dad, his two brothers and my mom’s two brothers. They were all dressed in their uniforms representing the Canadian Armed Forces in World War 2. All of them were young men. Now they have gone from this life.
Chamberlain believed that a peace treaty with Hitler was the answer to saving the world from another war. Who can forget him waving that worthless piece of paper as Hitler’s war machine was readied for the takeover of the world?
Are all of us who have read your article and perhaps commented on it here because of the sacrifice made by people who fought, even died, to stand up against Hitler? Was that war justified? Do you not think those young people had many other things they could have been doing than go to Europe and possibly shed their blood for the cause of freedom?
Your homeland was freed by mostly Canadian troops that did just that, Nancy. You are here and had the freedom to run for municipal government in a democratic country because of them. I’m pretty sure none of the ground troops wanted to see what they did as they were liberating the Netherlands. I’m sure most of them wish they had never seen it and never experienced it.
Did the means justify the end? Was World War 2 a conflict that was in any way justified?
Your notice of motion, to me, demonstrates a lack of understanding on your part about religious wars.
It also shows that you don’t have a sense of how the citizens of Kamloops feel about taking sides in a religious war. Most of us don’t want to take a side. Don’t drag us into it.
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Hear hear. John and myself may have very different opinions on this conflict. That’s OK. What’s not OK, is council taking a formal position on a war, when you cannot possibly speak for all of the citizens of this community on this issue. There is no position you can take on this conflict that won’t offend or upset some demographic.
This is precisely why this is such a bad idea, completely ill considered and quite laughable. A group of mostly comfortable old white people in a small town, with no proximity or lived experience of either side of this conflict, naively using city business to formalize a position on an intractable Middle East conflict. “Stop fighting”. Wow. Has that ever worked before for this conflict?
It’s as if you have no understanding of the complexity of this conflict. If Hamas stops fighting, Israeli settlers continue their terrorist attacks on Palestinians and land will continue to be lost until it’s just Gaza. If Israelis stop fighting, they risk further incursions by Hamas. Netanyahu has said he won’t recognize a Palestinian state. And you want everyone to stop fighting? Wow.
To think that council can formulate a position on this generations old conflict is stunning in its audacity, arrogance and ignorance!!!
Why can’t Bepple right her bicycle down to Frank’s office and drop off a letter herself?
Unbelievable.
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Interesting to read a perspective of someone who was raised in Ontario (you wrote this in a previous post), and hasn’t felt what it’s like to experience war in Canada.
Writing a couple of sentences to give the impression that you know anything about religious wars which you’ve never experienced if you’ve always lived in Canada, makes me think of the hollowness of the motto, Lest We Forget? It seems that you’ve forgotten that there are no winners in war, and that neither of the two World Wars have made us anymore cautious of preventing another one. Sacrifices by soldiers or genocide of human beings don’t justify the killing of thousands of children in another. The cards are lining up because ‘men’ are digging their uncompromising heels in. Your statement “don’t drag us into it”, demonstrates that you think you are immune to war and don’t care because you live in Canada. And if you think another war is justified because Israel won’t comprise on giving a Palestinian state, you have a lot to learn about religious wars that don’t end because you bomb the crap out of civilians.
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Thank you for the thoughtful reply.
One of my uncles went to England during the Second World War and was assigned to pick up body parts of civilians following air raids. Who knows how many of them were children. He treated the wounded. Mom said her brother was a happy-go-lucky young man when he left but was never the same after he returned.
He served on the volunteer fire department (a small village in SW Ontario….for future reference) and became chief for a number of years. First aid was one of his greatest assets as a fireman. Apparently it was a transferred skill from his service during the war.
If you think I’m immune to war, I shall let you have your thoughts.
We could trade barbs but no real end in sight if that happened.
All the best to you.
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There are winners in war. Canada doesn’t have a swastika symbol on its flag because the axis lost, and the men of conscience won.
You misunderstand the meaning of Lest We Forget. I am an immigrant to this country. I have studied the history. It is not a praise of peace. Or a cautionary tale of war.
It means that freedom is not free. That those that came before us died for our ideals, and we must honour their sacrifice by remembering them, and being ready to fight to uphold those ideals should the time ever come.
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Instead of putting all that money into building that outdoor skating rink at Riverside Park, Nancy should do the right thing and make a motion to redirect those funds to humanitarian aid for the embattled folks in Gaza and Israel.
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Agreed. Let’s commit a portion of the tax increase toward this motion. Put our money where our mouth is. I would also like to see TNRD and council dedicate portions of their salary to Gaza aid. We can ask the same of the city administrators.
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Dear Edward Said,
I presume your comment is directed to me, as you’ve taken my namesake and referenced the windmills of Don Quixote. Mine is a Muslim name btw, and not the English “said” as in uttering words in the past tense. It’s mildly offensive to play with my name in such a way, but on the off chance you are Muslim and share my namesake, then ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ.
We are only past the first paragraph and already have learned a valuable lesson here – wading into something when you think you have an understanding of it, when you really don’t, comes with risk. من طلب الكثير أضاع القليل.
Kamloops council, in all its wisdom, now wants to wade formally into a flashpoint unsolved for generations.
I believe other commenters mentioned as well, that the issue is not with the message or content. It actually has nothing to do with taking a stand at all. This is the crux of the matter. It’s not on council to take any stand at all on this issue. Council has no standing, influence or business taking a formal stand on international wars, especially when local issues are being effectively ignored. Council is here to do municipal work. Local work. Trails, roads, garbage, community safety, bylaw and the like. They are not paid lobbyists for international conflicts.
This motion, and others like it, could really be an endless string of causes simply because a council person has a personal stance or interest in it. Council could spend all day every day writing letters to advocate for a position on all the world’s problems. But clearly, this is not their role.
If Coun. Bepple is really about D.E.I., then surely this particular international cause can’t be singled out and prioritized over all the others?That certainly doesn’t seem fair, is not inclusionary, nor representative all the other ties to all the other global issues that have similar links to individuals or groups in this community.
But this is why we have a federal government and departments like global affairs. It’s actually why there is a separation of government – federal, provincial, municipal. They all have different roles and responsibilities.
There are already people dedicated to doing the work mentioned in Coun. Bepple’s motion. Experts who have made careers in global affairs. Advisors who are well connected and have direct access to intelligence. Imagine the opposite, that global affairs writes a letter to Kamloops council asking it to cooperate with the Mayor and stop the childish behaviour. They wouldn’t do so because municipal affairs is not their wheelhouse and they would be immediately and rightly criticized for doing so.
Let’s ignore for a moment the blatant absurdity in such a motion coming from a group that itself can’t get along.
If council genuinely cares as you say, why are they not addressing the issues that mattered to voters, each and every meeting they have until they’re all scratched off the list? What has council done since being elected? I can’t think of much worthwhile.
If those on council want to engage in lobbying for international issues, they should resign their seat and get out there, and leave the municipal work to someone dedicated to addressing local concerns, of which there are plenty to keep council busy.
Should anyone think that council should spend its time and our money on kumbaya motions and resolving to write letters for all the problems of the world, I am disappointed that they can’t see the futility and irresponsibility, but also the risks in dedicating effort toward that.
This is Sancho Panza warning Bepple that what she sees as giants are only windmills. Let’s see if council has more Don Quixotes in it.
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Dear Michael Said,
It’s a common surname, in Palestine, and elsewhere. Muslims and Christians alike think it to be quite a joyful name. Although, I do appreciate your candour.
That said,
Consider this, locals in Kamloops may have family and friends that live in this conflict zone, if the locals here don’t feel supported by their community even on a symbolic level. What kind of message does that send about council and about Kamloops? This motion did not come out of thin air— it does have support within the community. Not by everyone, clearly.
How do we signal to our representatives that an issue is important to us? Separation exists for good reason, as does the ability to engage with your representatives to attend to matters that are not accessible otherwise to individuals.
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Dear Edward,
You raise another valid question, about how individuals will feel supported, even symbolically, if council doesn’t make a formal representation?
My humble answer to this is that council is not the entity to look to for support on this issue. Israel ignores Canada and everyone else when it disagrees anyway. If people are truly looking at city council for comfort, they are misguided, and do not understand that most Canadians do not want to see this issue in civic politics. Canada has already done everything in the motion anyway. The time and resource of council is not infinite so that they can extend their focus beyond the business of managing a city. Let me tell you my brother, that I wear the shemagh proudly every day, so you know where my heart lies in this matter.
Any of us can take up this issue ourselves. We can contact those with the responsibility for these issues. Those with that responsibility are not the 9 on municipal council. Of course one can try, but after what has transpired, I would wager you will not see a formal motion on this succeed at a local level. The issue is too divisive to touch. 8 on council understood this. One didn’t, and maybe won’t.
Ma’a salama.
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What those who oppose bike lanes, windmills, and harm reduction fail to understand is the importance of speaking out and taking a stance.
With “freedom, economic progress, and democracy” as your rallying cry, one would expect a better understanding of the responsibility to uphold the values we claim to defend and routinely go to war for.
Council members play a role in demonstrating their responsibility and leadership. When they fail to acknowledge and condemn acts of genocide, it raises concerns about their effectiveness in guiding us in a nuanced world that occasionally demands a strong stance.
While a statement alone may not end the war, it can send a powerful message to our community that our council is genuinely invested in global issues and can think beyond our immediate surroundings. If council members cannot address something as reprehensible as the murder of **over 24,000 people and the displacement of 90% of the residents of a city roughly the size of Kamloops in 100 Days,** it becomes valid to wonder if they have the depth and competence to handle complex matters on our behalf.
Consider this: what are the consequences of having a council that lacks the conscience to speak out against genocide simply because it’s not happening here? What if it were to happen? Wouldn’t we seek help from the world and ask them to speak out on our behalf? People are reaching out to family and friends, pleading that they engage with their representatives.
It’s ironic, whether you’re for limited government or against it. To have a say on global issues, we have to go through this very process. It is as much about ensuring that the people in our community feel safe, knowing that their councillors genuinely care when faced with such a significant loss of life in a short period as it applies to important local matters such as swastika graffiti removal, shelters, and improving local businesses.
Should everyone have the ability to communicate with their local council? Absolutely. That is precisely why they are elected—to be the voice of their community.
In a world where justice can seem abstract and driven by processes, let’s hope we can still engage with our council members and others. Otherwise, if we can’t even call out murder in plain daylight, what are the real issues?
Thank you, Coun. Bepple
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Why don’t you consider views that oppose your own as “taking a stance”? Why are only the views you agree with considered to be “taking a stance”? Your argument doesn’t make logical sense. That I guess explains why you are pro harm reduction, which is also a loaded term. We don’t yet fully understand the long term implications of toxic poison abuse, but you can bet that it causes what is likely lifelong harm to the user. By supporting harm reduction instead of abstinence and recovery, you prolong misery. Imagine if that was your child out on the street, and the government’s official policy is to make it easier for them to abuse poison, which rots the body and soul from the inside out?
You are also using loaded language like “genocide” to describe a conflict. There are internationally accepted definitions of that term, and we will find out in time if the court with the authority on that (not your personal feelings) rules if this is a genocide or not, however horrible the casualties are.
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considering that the opposing view is the literal death of thousands of people in the name of self defence.
With all due respect, the only complex aspect of this is your own feelings as to who has “the right” to rule.
The problem here is settlers don’t want to confront the fact that they’re on stolen land. It’s hard to confront the fact that you have to do some pretty terrible things for it to be “yours”. We don’t want to open Pandora’s box. Are you seeing the paradox here?
However it’s defined there’s no world in which it’s moral to subject over 2 million people to collective punishment. Withholding water and food, entry and exit. Destroying hospitals (over 30 not 1 or 2) schools, universities, churches… you get the point. How is that okay?
I too enjoy semantics, this “conflict” has been described as the deadliest conflict in the 21st century. Perspective matters, with 25k dead 10k presumably under the rubble, 60k injured and 2 million people displaced. I assure you the word is not being used for effect.
I would love to agree with you on abstention when it comes to drugs. But it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work with a lot of things (think alcohol prohibition) if people want drugs they’re going to find drugs. I’d much prefer they be regulated and safe rather than unrestricted and toxic. I don’t think anyone should be using drugs but people do and I would rather they got the chance to live rather than die due to toxic drug supply or be a criminal if you survive.
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Dear Ed,
I’m happy to inform that Kamloops council has leveraged their hostage negotiation skills in this latest motion, and has secured the release of all Israeli hostages. A unexpected bonus was that China was so impressed by the skill of Kamloops council, that they decided to release all political prisoners, effective immediately.
China has also graciously extended their chemical precursor factories, and has agreed to supply council with unfettered access in order to ensure a stable supply chain for all harm reduction and safe supply initiatives.
Believe it or not, the world has taken note of this council. The breadth and depth of expertise of this council knows no bounds.
Council is also planning to procure an LCS class frigate, and set sail for the Red Sea. Helmed by the visionary influence of Coun. Bepple, soon, all the world’s wrongs will be righted.
The songs that will be sung about this council will echo through history forever.
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“WHEREAS there is a potential for local government elected officials to pursue activities that are not supported by, and not in the best interests of their constituents, potentially causing financial, social or operational harm in their communities: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the Province of British Columbia amend BCs Community Charter to include a mechanism enabling voters to recall their local government elected officials, whereby the signatures of more than 50 of registered municipal or ward voters would be required, with the petition being initiated no less than 18 months after the date the local government elected official was sworn in to office, following the same recall timeline currently being used by Elections BC for the recall of Members of the Legislative Assembly.”
Today I learned that no recall mechanism exists for local government elected officials. A request from the UBCM was denied by the BC gov. A pity, as there are a number of poster children for such a measure down at city hall.
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Should your suggestion be put into legislation with a 50 voter requirement we would never have a major or council. The MLA recall requires more signatures.
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This is a motion from the UBCM itself. The Union of Municipalities, of which Kamloops council is a member, wanted a way to remove their own people. They have it on their website to show that the BC government shot down their own proposal for having a formal mechanism to remove council and mayors. I am guessing the 50 signatures is the preliminary amount to initiate a recall, with more signatures required before a removal is possible.
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The contents of the motion is something many would support. I haven’t seen anyone arguing against the content. The obvious problem here is one of someone not knowing their role and mandate, and hijacking civic politics to further a personal cause.
Kamloops council is a profound embarrassment to this city. They have done little to nothing so far to address numerous issues raised by the electorate, and therefore no latitude can be given when so many problems plaguing this city are taking a back seat to feelings, personal advocacy and childish behaviour. It’s laughable that those responsible for a toxic climate at city hall would even think they have any standing to add their voice to an international conflict.
Kamloops council is not the foreign affairs office, nor the Star Wars Imperial Council. They would do good to recognize that by obliterating this motion when it comes to a vote. It’s unbelievable that it even made it to a vote.
Had council taken steps to address any of the myriad issues that mattered to voters, perhaps some latitude would have been extended by the community. But when things are this bad, this broken, and the community sees council diddling around in international wars and patting each other on the back (some of them voting raises for themselves over at TNRD) instead of addressing local problems, goodwill quickly evaporates. You are wasting our money, time, and patience is running out. It’s amateur hour down at city hall, and the electorate is paying the price, both figuratively and literally.
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I agree with many of the comments above. You are within your right to have a personal opinion but you are abusing your position by using it to assert said personal opinion. We have higher levels of government versed in international relations who are handling matters as they should for the best interest of the country. That is not you, Ms. Bepple. You are discussing an international war, any effect of which on the city of Kamloops is indirect and outside of your jurisdiction.
We do, however, have serious issues within the City of Kamloops that council has completely failed to address, such as homelessness, rampant open drug use, failed infrastructure and poor city planning, housing incl. accessing building permits, and many others. Council as a collective this term has shown a level of disorganization, immaturity, and a lack of professionalism that has embarrassed the city widely and hindered any productivity from your office. Correcting that issue I think would be a much better use of your time, certainly a much better use of public funds.
Inserting yourself into foreign affairs as a city councilman/woman is wildly outside of the job description and does not benefit the city whatsoever. You have every right to express yourself and your opinions openly, and to write whatever letter you want to, but do so as an individual not as a member of City Council. You do not represent the people of Kamloops in your letter, you represent yourself.
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I would like to point out that the example given by Coun. Bepple regarding international students working full-time, is a contributor to out of control housing costs and strip-mall colleges issuing phoney degrees to allow the “student” to achieve what they really want – Canadian employment. Even the Minister has finally come out and said the program is out of control. Policy experts are suggesting that international students be forbidden entirely from working, in addition to substantially reducing immigration, both temporary and permanent. Public polling suggests a nearly unprecedented shift in opinion on immigration.
But if council were calling the shots, they would be making things worse for everyone, all the while thinking they’re helping! This is the definition of a fool. It’s telling that this was chosen as an example, as it shows little capacity for self-reflection and evidence-based decision making. Council needs to stick to local civic issues. As with the immigration example, it should not involve itself in issues that are not their responsibility, and beyond their level of understanding.
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I wrote to council some weeks ago in regard to a local issue and was fobbed off and told to contract the relevant BC Ministry myself if I had an issue. Council would not act on my concern.
Yet this issue gets its own motion?
It seems like personal causes get red carpet treatment down at City Hall and local concerns will be fobbed off faster than you can say Gaza Strip.
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So much to say about Councillor Bepples latest epistle on how to save the world. My opinion is that she should stick to civic matters as she was elected to. For pity sake she and the rest of the gang of 8 haven’t even tried to get along with the mayor. Yet here she is once again taking up a cause half way around the world. Ms. Bepple needs to focus on what the taxpayers are paying her to do here in Kamloops. If not then resign.
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This notice of motion is very brave considering the controversy and risk to Nancy’s position.
Although I don’t support a lot that she advocates for (e.g., an ice skating sheet that will cost millions to operate and maintain over time, vacant bike lanes that cater to less than one hundred hard core cyclists in Kamloops), it is within council’s responsibility to put forward its position on federal and provincial matters.
What if Council didn’t lobby for better drug user treatment, or amendments to strengthen Canada’s bail system to keep repeat offenders off the streets? Municipal councils all over the country lobby the federal and provincial governments on a variety of matters that affect their communities, via the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities.
If you’re an out-of-sight, out-of-mind kind of person, who doesn’t care about civilian casualties in a far off place that you don’t see, then you are just as guilty for not demanding a ceasefire.
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Pretty sure if you follow non-mainstream news you would see everyone should be concerned about what is going on in Gaza, the implications of that war are far bigger than minor civil issues in a community. Do some research Trudeau SHOULD be pushing for a ceasefire and if it takes community leaders to push for that than that’s what’s needed.
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Every voice against the atrocities being leveled on children and other civilians in Gaza is one more voice. I don’t care where it comes from. It’s everyone’s business to stand up for humanitarian causes–to heck with “jurisdiction.” Thank you for this initiative, Nancy. I know we don’t agree on many things, but we sure agree on this. Kudos.
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There is a supreme irony here, lost on Ms. Bepple, and we’ll have to wait for the voting results from the rest of council to determine if it’s lost on the others as well.
We have a group of people who can’t work together, calling for another group of people half way around the world, who can’t work together, to work together.
If council were armed like the Israelis, City Hall would have been reduced to a crater long ago.
Just when you think this council can’t do anything more, they keep doing the most.
You can’t make this stuff up.
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What an incredibly naive motion to bring forward at the municipal level. It reeks of self-importance when the reality is hardly that. “Nelson did it”. These are the visionaries leading our community. Monkey see monkey do.
A dog in Kamloops recently overdosed on fentanyl. The owner tried unsuccessfully to have the dog returned to his care from the SPCA, however this was denied.
Considering that we are trying to reduce the stigma, and that possession of fentanyl in personal amounts is decriminalized, would Bepple support a letter writing campaign to the SPCA to have this poor addicted dog returned to the rightful owner?
North Korea recently launched more missiles over the straight of Japan. Will council pen a letter to Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party, condemning these actions?
The economic crisis of Argentina. The transition to EVs. The burning of fossil fuels. Modern day slavery in Taiwanese fishing boats. Deforestation in the Amazon. Space junk. Voter fraud. Ransomware. Highly caffeinated beverages. Teen vaping. Indian nuclear weapons. Fukushima nuclear contamination.
Council, we’re going to need a lot of paper, pens and stamps in 2024.
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Pointless and embarrassing.
It does not matter if there are countless international or Canadian organizations agreeing with the argument or not, and comparing this to a communication with the Feds over international students ability to work as justification is just … daft.
This isnt really a stay in your own lane thing … its a shut the heck up, and dont tie Kamloops residents into this argument under the premise that all residents agree with you … they dont.
People here are as divided as everyone else on the planet is about this one.
The most agreeable thing is to stay out of it and allow Kamloops residents to be split on the subject.
You can not be on both side and speak for tax payers and voters on this one
… so you clearly must not be on one.
Council … vote against this, dont be on a high horse … just let go.
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You people can’t even co operate around the council table but you think you can influence this conflict? Get your head back into the light of day and see the world as it is.
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Ms Bepple
THKS for the thoughtful and articulate defence of your proposed motion. Will be interesting to follow the interest your fellow councillors/mayor take.
Can’t help but notice the anti everything group is suddenly silent. Maybe some are having trouble getting their foot out of their mouths
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Well said Nancy. I am one Kamloops resident who thinks it is perfectly within councils right to send a letter and who hopes this resolution passes. Thank you for all your work for Kamloops.
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Lobbying to enable foreign students to work longer hours is a bit different from jumping in with both feet to a conflict that is heavily tied to religious hatred that has existed for thousands of years.
Most of the citizens of Kamloops don’t want to have this level of participation, regardless what our personal views might be.
Are you speaking for the citizens and our best interests or is this your own agenda?
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Progressives are an interesting bunch. I have no doubt that Coun. Bepple goes to sleep at night thinking she’s making the world a better place. A bike lane no one uses. An inclusivity statement here. And anti-war statement there.
But if Coun. Bepple spent a fraction of the effort she does on issues than matter to local constituents, rather than D.E.I and various “save the world” initiatives, she would not only be performing the role she was elected for, citizens of this community may actually see some results.
Coun. Bepple’s rationale for this vote doesn’t hold water. Yes, citizens want you to lobby other levels of government on issues that impact us locally – open drug use is one of those issues. We don’t want you wasting time and money on absurdities. Should every random cause have a chance to speak uninterrupted at City Hall?
By Coun. Bepple’s own logic, no issues are off the table if there’s a local link. Surely there are Russians and Ukrainians in this community? Shall council draft a letter to Putin? Surely there are Taiwanese here as well, should council write to China to tell them to back off? Or write to the PM and tell him to establish our sovereignty in the arctic? Khalistan. Kashmir. Indian state assassinations. Boko Haram. Garbage in the seas. All can be argued to have ties to Kamloops. But this is the most tenuous of arguments in support of this ill-conceived motion.
Coun, Bepple needs to stop chasing windmills and get to work for the voters on the issues that matter. Council was not given the privilege of speaking for this community, only to turn around and do a lot of nothing. If any letter needs to be written, it’s an apology letter to this community.
This is a council that needs a Provincially appointed adult babysitter to come in and show them how to play nice at the daycare centre. Say no more.
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Well said. Ms. Bepple was elected (barely) to be involved in city business. This is not within that area of needing her involvement as an elected politician. Stay focused on the city.
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Bravo! Absolutely hit this nail on the head! Thanks for your well thought out message, sir!
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And yet unfortunate people were literally freezing in the streets in Kamloops BC.
I sure don’t mind fighting for beliefs and principles but please!
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