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Ban back yard burning

Will all of council step forward and say yes, we need to stop back yard burning or just sit on their hands and let it continue?

This is the year 2013. I wonder why when I drive to Sidney that I have to drive through pall of smoke on back yard burning days.

North Saanich allows back yard burning about 36 times a year. Looking from the municipal hall area over to the hills above McTavish Road it’s amazing to me the amount of smoke coming from the fires. You can smell it all day.

I know this has been a hot topic in the past and I have heard all the stories for not banning back yard burning so I don’t need to rehash all of that.

I would appreciate if mayor and council of North Saanich would provide me a smokeless route to Sidney on burning days. Council needs to take a common sense approach to this matter. It’s not about compromise but it’s about common sense. In a day where we have idle-free zones, endless cigarette rules and an increasing health concern over respiratory illness, I would think all of council should be considering a ban on back yard burning.

That is something all council needs to think about and say to themselves: do I have the courage to vote on a permanent ban or in doing so, risk a chance at not being re-elected?

Will all of council step forward and say yes, we need to stop back yard burning or just sit on their hands and let it continue?

Peter Miller

North Saanich