Think outside the box

Those who have been forecasting the end result (Kelowna's crime rate surges to the highest in Canada) for a few years, sat back patiently waiting to be proven right. We saw it coming.

Our judgement shows that the demographics, lifestyle, city management and dynamics within the population would result in high crime.

Perhaps we didn't expect Kelowna to take the top spot, until we witnessed the last two or three years of continued degradation in the quality of life. Then, at that point, it was guaranteed.

The quality of life that is deteriorating so rapidly in Kelowna and any casual observer can see it with their eyes open. To occasional visitors and tourists it will be even more apparent.

The problem is people keep their eyes closed to what is going on around them or they are in a delusional state because they have to defend their choice of city to live in. They have to defend and justify the traffic snarls, road rage, unaffordable house, the trappings of debt-funded "apparent” wealth, the indebtedness, the social stress, and the shallow drunken or drug induced Okanagan lifestyle.

There are many smaller towns and cities across B.C., and further afield in Canada, that offer a better or equal quality of life. There are also many other countries where mobile, entrepreneurial, adaptable Canadians with portable assets and a positive attitude can relocate to for a significantly better quality of life.

Entire nations, like cities, decline in cycles. Regimes destroy the quality of life at the federal level and local entities continue the work on a different level, mismanaged by those parties who are supposed to protect the quality of life for citizens (the RCMP, unresponsive politicians, the City of Kelowna, the provincial government, various Crown corporations and the very residents of the cities themselves in their attitude towards others, their behaviour and conduct, and how tourists and visitors behave when they come here).

All are to blame in different ways and to different extents.

People have alternatives. They don't need to suffer the endless complaining about the cost of living, snow clearing, traffic jams, commuting time, cold snowy winters, hot suffocating, smoke-filled summers, agricultural burn-pile smoke, dust and pollen, tourists from adjacent provinces, the colour of one's vehicle number plate, the lack of family GPs, deteriorating health care, the price of gas, the lack of police enforcement, gangster shootings or the petty crime.

Think outside the box. Think outside Kelowna. Look for the "next Kelowna" or think even bigger.

It's a big world with plenty of opportunities for the right people—or you could remain trapped in a state of eternal misery, asking for help from the unhelpful and complaining to those who pretend to care but do little.

Ricky Daytona, West Kelowna