City Council Candidate - HELENA KONANZ

If the Pet-Friendly Penticton project has made one thing clear, it's that this community is passionate about their pets – Pets are family!

Do you share that passion? Tell us about the pets in your life!
If you don't have pets at home, let us know how animals have been important in your life.

  We are passionate about our pets. We have a dog Toby and a cat Donny, and they are both important members of our household. My husband Adam is a “pet” chiropractor, and he had a booth at your wonderful event a couple weeks ago.

[ Dr. Adam Konanz was an exhibitor at Pet-Friendly Penticton's very first event, Pets in the Park on Sept 18th this year. ]

Penticton's pet-amenities are a regular point of contention due to issues around
maintenance, safety, and design/materials. Many Penticton residents regularly travel to surrounding communities across the Okanagan Valley for their dog parks and beaches rather than going to our local places due to these issues.

If elected, what solutions might you propose to address the concerns of residents local pet-amenities?

  Our dog parks are in horrible shape and are too small. It is important to realize the economic and social value of quality dog parks for Penticton residents and as a part of “pet tourism”.   I commit to supporting an upgrade to these parks.

What are your thoughts on the economic impact of non-use on our local pet-amenities and residents regularly commuting for preferable options?

[ no response ]

Ontario's Residential Tenancy Act, Section 14, states that a Landlord cannot prevent a tenant from owning pets. Meanwhile, pets are being surrendered daily, all over BC, because their owners cannot find pet-friendly housing. Penticton faces additional pressure for housing as we have some of the highest rent rates in Canada, and a severe shortage on long-term and year-round rentals of any variety.
While a change to the Residential Tenancy Act is a provincial government matter, municipal government can still move to include/promote similar clauses on a local scale, and has the ability to push in support of such a change if a Bill were proposed.

What are your thoughts on revising the Residential Tenancy Act in BC, to be like that of Ontario, in regards to pets and rentals?

I support a change to the residential tenancy act to allow pets in rental units, but as you mentioned, this is a provincial responsibility.

Penticton doesn't have an emergency veterinary clinic!

If something happens and an animal needs to see a vet in the evenings, on weekends or on holidays, residents need to drive an hour out of Penticton in order to reach help.  Many pets do not make it, and many more don't because their human doesn't have access to transportation.

Were you aware of this situation?

  I’m well aware of this as I have driven my pets many times to the emergency clinic in Kelowna when they have injured themselves on the weekend or evening.  

When vital and time sensitive services are missing from a community, what do you feel are a City Council's responsibilities in regards to communication and/or action?

  This community needs clinics that are open during these off hours, but since these are private businesses, we can only try to make this community as welcome and economically viable for new veterinary clinics to open here.

Pet-Friendly Penticton is a non-partisan organization and will not provide any incentive, preference, or endorsement for any candidate(s) to members of the public toward deciding where to cast their votes. We simply hope to encourage as many potential voters as possible to take an active role in our community and the election process.

Each candidate will be given opportunity to respond to the Questionnaire, however, the choice to provide a response and how to respond is up to the candidate. Responses posted are original and unedited with the exception of formatting.