Kelowna man bemoans 'awful,' unexpected FortisBC tree work
CBC
Giulio Di Palma was shocked to return home from work one day in April to find the branches on half of his large spruce tree missing and a portion of the top cut off.
The tree stood proudly in middle of his front yard, but it's been humbled by the unexpected pruning job, with every one of its street-facing limbs removed.
"It looks awful," said Di Palma. "I'm the laughing stock on Barkley Road."
Di Palma's case serves as an example of how far utility company FortisBC is allowed to go when a tree grows near power lines.
The Kelowna resident says he understands the tree could have posed a safety risk near the wires, but he's upset he received no communication from FortisBC before it was trimmed.
The company says residents are notified when a tree needs to be completely removed, but not necessarily when trimmed.
Di Palma says his beloved tree, which he estimates to be more than 50 years old, was already on the property when he bought it 26 years ago.
He said the tree offers privacy from the street, and had been about 25 feet tall before FortisBC cut three feet off the top.
Di Palma is puzzled as to why the company cut as many branches as it did.
"I couldn't understand the ones on the bottom — which were literally 20 or 30 feet away from the wires — how they would be at all affected," he said.
Gary Toft with FortisBC confirmed to CBC that Di Palma was not contacted prior to the tree work.
He said it's "less often" that property owners are notified when a tree needs to be trimmed, as opposed to removed.
"We're not there to trim for esthetic reasons; we're there to keep the community safe," Toft said Wednesday on CBC's Radio West.
"If we're there, it's because it's become a safety issue and it needs to be addressed."
Author Suzanne Craig-Whytock has written post-apocalyptic fantasies and dark thrillers to humour for teens and adults and has a number of titles to her name including The Dome, Smile and Feasting Upon the Bones.
They wish they didn't need it, but it's now a necessity.
An ongoing debate in the House of Commons could push some government departments into a cash crunch and run up against other deadlines as the end of the fall sitting approaches.
Celebrity chef Vikram Vij is partnering with a Toronto charity to help raise funds for cash-strapped food banks.
The federal government did not meet the targets for its program to plant two billion trees during the program's third planting season.
Governments in Canada, the U.S. and abroad along with tech giants are all eyeing nuclear power to meet a growing demand for electricity and climate goals at the same time.
Allison McCabe's own story of medical dismissal began last August with a trip to an emergency room in Vancouver.
The leader of Canada's Green Party had some strong words for Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservatives while joining her provincial counterpart on the campaign trail. Elizabeth May was in Halifax Saturday to support the Nova Scotia Green Party in the final days of the provincial election campaign. She criticized PC Leader Tim Houston for calling a snap election this fall after the Tories passed legislation in 2021 that gave Nova Scotia fixed election dates every four years.
Manitoba business owners are gearing up for a temporary federal tax break this holiday season, and while some welcome it, others worry about its timing and the amount of work it will require.
A 36-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly trying to set a fire outside Vancouver City Hall late Friday night, police say.
Calgary city council reversed its decision to close the Inglewood Aquatic Centre Friday.