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Letters: Locked garbage bins in Coquitlam will not keep the bears away

The Editor, Re. “Bears & garbage are why we have to get up early” (Letters, The Tri-City News, Aug. 19).
bear

The Editor,

Re. “Bears & garbage are why we have to get up early” (Letters, The Tri-City News, Aug. 19).

I’m not sure Terry Roberts understood the complaint made by Patrick Maguire, and I was taken aback at the sarcastic tone of the letter. We all know about alarm clocks, but what about those who leave for work before 5:30 a.m.? And conjecture, like the statement that garbage “in all likelihood” led to the bear attack on a local child is not fact. Here are the facts.

First, as Patrick stated in his letter, garbage containers are not kept indoors at most residences. Whether they are on the road at a certain time or in a driveway or carport makes no difference.

Second, the locks on the containers do nothing but avoid potential messes. They do not have air tight seals so they in no way deter the attraction of wildlife.

Third, if bears know there’s garbage around, it won’t matter how many times they encounter a locked container. They will keep returning. And what about smells from kitchen windows and cookouts?

Lastly, the city has encroached on forestland for decades and the government has decided to leave much of the green space in the middle of these communities untouched.

In short, it’s the government’s city planning decisions that have created this dilemma and it can’t be fixed by locking garbage cans or fining people for putting their garbage out.

Dave Carruthers
Port Moody

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TOO MANY RULES

The Editor,

Re. “Why does he have to get up early for trash?” (Letters, The Tri-City News, Aug. 12).

I think that it is Coquitlam city hall bureaucrats who need to be educated and not residents.

This is democracy and not dictatorship. City hall is happy to collect fines in the name of totally absurd regulations, like not picking up ripe fruits. We don’t like to be told like kindergarten children what we can and can’t do.

I and many of my neighbours fully support the letter writer and I call on the city to stop this nonsense with frivolous fines as we don’t like to be told when we must get up in the morning to put the garbage out for collection to satisfy this stupidity.

Are we close to being told by city hall what time we can or cannot flush the toilet?

Mark Sasik
Coquitlam