Throughout harvest season, the propane cannons on the farm at 2181 Scenic Rd fire every few minutes, from early morning until evening and sometimes long past dusk, whether birds are present or not, near homes in North Glenmore. Residents' recordings show hundreds of blasts a day, far more than the provincial guideline allows. And because these are only guidelines, not law, nobody enforces them.

An elementary school sits within earshot. Children hear explosions in their classrooms and on the playground, all day, every school day of the season. At home it's no better: neighbours who work from home can't stay in their houses, families including children with autism can't be home, and people are leaving their own properties during the day just to get relief. This is the fourth season in a row, and without a bylaw, it comes back every year.

And here's what makes it worse: this was a quiet hay field until the current operator planted it in 2021. The cannons only began in 2022. Nobody who bought a home here moved in next to blasting; the blasting moved in next to us, our school, and our neighbourhood. Right-to-farm protection exists for established practices, and one of the factors BC's own Farm Industry Review Board weighs is whether the farm operation came first. It didn't.

We are not against farming. Netting, falconry, and distress calls protect crops without a single explosion, and cannons used within provincial limits, away from homes, would still be allowed.

A bylaw is the only enforceable rule, and Kelowna is one of only four cities in BC that the Province has authorized to pass one. The Province even publishes a model bylaw, and Abbotsford has had one since 2013. There is no reason Kelowna can't do the same.

We ask Kelowna City Council to adopt an Audible Bird Scare Device Bylaw with restricted hours, firing limits, a midday quiet period, and a minimum of 300 metres between any cannon and any home or school.

Sign to tell Mayor and Council: our kids' school and our neighbourhood deserve quiet.