iN DISCUSSION: The power of The Complaint

This is where cold hard facts give way to the hottest of takes, mostly mine I suppose. I’m the editor, Marshall Jones.

Want to include yours? Listen, this isn’t the comment section, this isn’t social media. Discussion and debate requires context and a wee bit of bravery — we need your name and where you’re writing from. Include it in your account or email me anytime.

Making a complaint about complainers

I’d like to make a complaint about our complaint departments.

Today’s feature story is about a Shuswap food truck owner who stuck to her guns against ridiculous liquor laws and more ridiculous liquor inspectors. It’s good to see someone win.

But behind the scenes of this tiresome story is The Complaint. Someone has made a whole bunch of them about her business.

Nothing lights the back of a bureaucrat’s pants on fire like The Complaint. Bylaw officers too. Lots of officers and agents we employ would do nothing at all without complaints.

Our whole lives are based on them now. No one cares about five star reviews, no one believes them. Everyone wants to read the one star reviews. Those we can believe.

We give far too much attention and power to the Karens of the world. They know how this works. Enough complaints to the right people and soon no one can dance and listen to live music with a beer and a burger for a grassy picnic.

I think it’s fine to have complaint-based systems, it’s how we deal with complaints that’s the problem. The goal is only to confirm and enforce. It’s the checkboxes. ‘You either didn’t — or you did, and you’ll be warned/fined/shut down.’

There’s no evidence they investigate, understand, solve problems, there’s no incentive to resolve anything.

And of course there are zero consequences for those who make false complaints or frivolous or vexatious complaints.

The result is the weight you can feel on the shoulders of Sharon Toews, the food truck owner, the kind of entrepreneur we need to celebrate a lot more instead of beating her down.

That’s my Complaint, what’s yours? Email me at mjones@infonews.ca.

Marshall Jones

Managing Editor

iN RESPONSE

iN RESPONSE to Monday’s newsletter opinion-editorial on complaining about complainers

Normally the complaint process works. Take for instance the bylaw against having a sea-can in your yard for storage. You see them all the time. Should the bylaw officers ticket every one they see or should they wait to see if anyone complains? It seems more efficient to act on complaint.

The problem is that we don’t track the complainers. I know of a couple of people who’s complaints have ruined lives.

One was someone working on the pediatric wing. They would call in birth alerts against anyone with native ancestry. This would cause MCFD to apprehend the newborn and the parents would spend at least 6 months to get their baby out of foster care. Eventually they got rid of birth alerts but the racist kept their job with no consequences.

Another was a woman who would make up lies about the families in her neighbourhood. MCFD would swoop in and grab the kids first and investigate later. They had to “err on the side of the child” because of all the wildly incompetent mistakes they have made. They couldn’t just list the woman as an unreliable source.

I did see once where the complainer got caught out. There was a wealthy secluded neighborhood where one of the neighbours hated house parties. As soon as the clock struck 11 there was a noise complaint. The police would show up to break up the party. Finally they invited the police chief to come to the party in plain clothes. At 11 p.m. there was a noise complaint. The station called the chief. He confirmed that the house party was perfectly reasonable. “Go ahead and have as loud a party as you like. We won’t be answering her calls anymore”.
The party the next weekend was epic.

— Grant Fraser, Kamloops via email

Not a complaint but sure tired of hearing my name said with a scowl and how bad tempered we ‘KAREN’s” of the world are…lol.

— Karen Amos, Oliver via email

I’d like to complain about your complaining about complaining LOL.

— Brian Porter via email

iN RESPONSE to April 17 newsletter opinion-editorial on MAID

We need to hold fast against this.
There are plenty of places happy to take life.
There ought to be some sanctuary for those who abhor this practice.

— Thomas F. Barry Desmond via email

MAID is horribly problematic.
MAID was given to a 26 year old man, otherwise healthy with tremendous family support, yet who was struggling with depression.
MAID is being offered to our Canadian Armed Forces Veterans who are struggling with PTSD.
MAID has become the only option for Canadians who are living below the poverty line with no housing opportunities.
Doctors & Nurses are badgering patients into accepting MAID, instead of treating them.
MAID was offered to an 84 year old woman who came into the ER complaining of back pain. She has fully recovered and is travelling.Whatever good intentions MAID was supposed to be for, it has become obvious now that MAID is being abused.
Let us invest in palliative care and treat those dying with true dignity, while improving our medical services for people struggling with mental health issues as well as addressing ER overcrowding.

— John Annicchiarico, Kamloops via email

MAID is not a medical cure. Curing by killing sounds like a contradiction in terms.
No, our medical providers should never be forced to ‘treat’ by ending lives.

— Tonia Howell via email

First, let’s call it what it is… assisted suicide. Suicide has always been of great concern. There are help lines and recovery programs to help people who have attempted suicide.
And where a person does die from suicide it is generally considered a great tragedy.
For thousands of years suicide has been considered a tragedy and a sin by Christians. A grievous sin that could prevent a soul from entering heaven. Now that it has been deemed “legal”, is society expected to accept and embrace it? But what about the majority of Canadians and Christians in particular, who still consider suicide, even at the end of life a tragedy and a sin? Should they be forced to participate in it? They should not, and that includes medical doctors, hospitals, and hospices.

— Anita Sehn, Kamloops via email

No hospital provides all services!
There is no reason why this one particular “Elective”procedure should be considered As necessarily available everywhere that receives government funding.
The inconvenience of being moved to a different hospital is suffered by people at every stage of life in the public health system. Some people have to go and pay for procedures in order to receive them in a timely manner.
This is not a religious question. This is a realistic situation.
Bottom line: No hospital in British Columbia offers all services to all patients who request them!

— Kathy Dahl, Kamloops via email

Disclaimer: Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed on this page are solely those of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the editor, iNFOnews.ca, iNFOTEL MULTIMEDIA, its partners, principals or advertisers.