Our Hearts Are With the Okanagan

Our hearts and souls are with our fellow British Columbians in the Okanagan Valley, where 20,000 residents have been displaced and the fire is now only 15 kilometers from the towns of Summerland, he entire District of Summerland is under evacuation order, and the flames are pressing toward Peachland and Penticton. The gross inactivity of the provincial government over the past decade on forest fire preventive measures, and the nearly impossible barriers to using our forestry resources, have allowed fuel to accumulate and cascade into this catastrophe — and eventually all of us British Columbians have to pay the price, and bear the sorrow of lost property, lost lives and lost communities.