Well dang, if it isn’t those ATVs again causing a community rift.
Princeton folks know all about this, of course.
The municipal bylaw enforcing a motor vehicle ban on the KVR through town limits that was passed in 2016 is still a source of controversy. The issue is likely to be increasingly debated as the October election approaches.
But this time it is happening in Tulameen, which made headlines across the province last week when a few community members spoke out on social media and to The Spotlight, demanding that something be done about stunt driving and other off road vehicle antics on village streets.
A hastily organized meeting was attended by about 50 people Saturday and it was clear from the outset there were two very different points of view in the room.
The air felt…a little hostile.
That was demonstrated, in part, by two groups of individuals who at different times insisted The Spotlight stop filming the proceedings. One person at the meeting got uncomfortably close, and ordered that the video tape of people walking into the hall (while ATVs drove up the street) be deleted. No, we didn’t stop taping and nothing got deleted. But it was a little hostile.
Various suggestions were made about how to get dirt bike and quad riders to take more care when driving (illegally) on the town’s provincially-owned roads. And several people spoke up and acknowledged they routinely drive (illegally) on the streets, but stressed they do so in a respectful and safe manner so what’s the problem with that?
They’ve been doing it for years.
And after all it’s Tulameen, right?
Many people categorically stated they did not want to see an increased RCMP presence in Tulameen. Others opined maybe police would be okay on weekends and one woman went so far as to dictate the police can come between midnight and 6 a.m. on long weekends, but needn’t bother showing up during the daytime.
Yeah.
Policing doesn’t really work like that.
RCMP officers are not pizzas. You can’t order them for specific times, with your choice of toppings, delivered in 30 minutes or they are free.
Police swear an oath to uphold and enforce the law. All laws. It doesn’t matter if the law makes no particular sense – and in the case of the Tulameens of the world the Off Road Vehicle Act is a little silly. And it doesn’t matter if an offender is breaking the law quietly and in low gear.
Off road vehicles on provincially owned, public roads are against the law. Riding on them is not, as was often repeated Saturday, “a privilege.”
Police will have enhanced patrols, they will ticket ORVs that are unlawfully on the streets and they will be checking for insurance, licenses, plates and sobriety.
Still, the detachment IS a generous half hour away and it’s not like Princeton cops don’t have anything else to do.
So you takes your chances and you pays your money.
Whether the ratepayers association will make any headway with education and lobbying for leniency from the province remains to be seen.
And in the meantime hopefully Tulameen residents will find resolutions to their ATV issues without kicking up as much dust as was created here in Princeton. - The Similkameen Spotlight