Merritt is my home. I choose to live here. There is something unique about the place that is very special. It has a rich history. It’s in a spectacular setting.

We are a diverse people – ethnically, culturally, socially… and yet we are a mosaic. Somehow we manage, for the most part, to work together, to respect each others’ traditions, to form friendships and to support each other in times of need.

But Merritt also has its share of difficulties – more than its fair share. Despite what was reported recently in the Kamloops Daily Newspaper that our “biggest issue is the Merritt Walk of Stars” or that the main problem at Mountain Fest is the local rowdies, we have much more substantial problems that need to be dealt with.

We have infrastructure problems – leaking water mains, potholes galore, and broken sidewalks, to name a few. We have bylaw issues – snow removal from sidewalks, clean up of unsightly properties, watering regulations, excessive noise, and the list goes on.

But we also have huge social issues – drugs, prostitution, petty crime and rampant poverty that cannot and must not be ignored. Not only do we need to offer help to those who need help and want to accept it – (and we are very good at giving help – check out the food bank and the soup kitchens and the Thrift Shop… ), but we need to be tough on those who exploit the weaknesses of others and profit from illegal activities.

How about keeping the Downtown Police Office open at night when we need it, and depend on the Police Station for help during the day? Whatever happened to the bicycle patrol – the police, I mean – not the ones wearing hoodies and dark glasses and riding on the sidewalks?

We need to build on our strengths – our natural setting, our position as a major transportation hub, and our people. We have overcome major difficulties in the past, such as when our city went into receivership. We have dealt with economic slumps. We have dealt with mine closures, crises in the cattle industry and pine beetle devastation.

We’re still here and we can’t just roll up the sidewalks and give up on ourselves. We need to insist on provincial and federal help with drug rehabilitation services and alcohol and substance abuse programs and anti-poverty programs and job incentive programs.

Merritt bottoms out on nearly every category on the BC Regional Socio-Economic Profiles & Indices – economic hardship, crime, health problems, children at risk and youth at risk. Check it out on the internet.

Merritt has huge concerns and it is time we tackled the issues head on. We need to insist on having a hospital – a real hospital. There are so many issues that need attention that it boggles the mind to think that our “biggest issue” is that we can’t all agree on what we think about Walk of Stars. Walk of Stars isn’t the problem. We have bigger issues to deal with.

And when we come to grips with the fact that we need to recognize we have issues before we can start to solve them, then perhaps we will start to reclaim Merritt as a place where folks aren’t afraid to go downtown in the evening, where store owners don’t have to barricade their windows so they don’t get broken, where drug deals in the open aren’t common place, and where citizens and visitors will once again feel safe and welcomed. We just can’t afford to turn a blind eye to our problems.

Municipal elections are coming up in the fall. Let’s make sure our priorities are clear. Start looking at our strengths and weaknesses, discuss the issues, come up with some radical solutions, get involved. It’s easy to criticize – it’s harder to fix the problems. Merritt is still a good place to live – but it could use a little help right now.

Guest Editorial

Kurt Christopherson