Editor:
I’ve Had Enough!
Saturday morning, August 13, 9 a.m., at the corner of Dogwood and Bayview avenues, Ladysmith.
I drove out of my home to find a barricade with unidentifiable people once again blocking the street and asking me where I’m going.
This time it is a tall man with glasses and a bright orange Hawaiian shirt telling me that I cannot access my required route because there is going to be a parade and that I must drive a very long distance out of my way.
When I explain that as a citizen of both Canada and Ladysmith I’m not happy about giving up my basic rights for special interest groups, I am told that I am a (expletive deleted)? I’ve had enough! I’ve previously been told that I could not turn into my driveway during Light Up Festival by a man who cursed me and actually punched my vehicle. Well-intentioned perhaps, some of these volunteers are trying to impose an anarchistic authority they do not have. I proceeded around the blockade and drove on as intended with no more problems. There was no parade for at least another hour.
In my opinion, if someone has a legitimate reason for blockading a street or public place then they must be accountable to the point of having official attire and identification. They must also understand that if their endeavour is in regard to a special event it is being imposed on the general public without general consensus. Ladysmith is a lovely community and I am happy to share its streets and parks for events of benefit to the common good.
I am not prepared to be restricted and abused in any way for any special interest group. As it turns out, the hundreds of dollars of business that I was about to conduct with a Ladysmith merchant that morning was instead completed in Nanaimo.
Fred Bailey
Ladysmith