Sweeping density brings problems
Premier David Eby tells us it’s basically too bad for those who don’t like housing densification because it can happen in any community now and that’s just the way it is.
Does he live in a single family dwelling? I hope he has at least one suite in his house rented out (at an affordable price) and he enjoys being a landlord.
I guess he won’t mind when his neighbourhood changes dramatically and he finds his family home surrounded by fourplexes. Along with the expected loss of privacy, increased traffic, parking woes, increase in overall noise and increasing demands on infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, etc.
Not all people are suited to take on all the responsibilities of maintaining a rental suite and being a landlord. Not all neighbourhoods are suited for the kind of densification being touted. Not all people are good neighbours or live lifestyles that conform to close quarters living.
I can’t help but feel there should be a lot more thought and careful consideration involved before different housing and community issues are created by sweeping densification.
Nina Sundby
Victoria
Higher density won’t fix B.C.’s many issues
Does Premier David Eby consider the consequences and repercussions of his “feel good” 100 days of government rhetoric?
Suggesting that any single-family-zoned property in all of B.C. can now have four units built on it is ridiculous.
Before he further densifies this entire province, we need to fix our litany of problems, or he will sink this ship.
Our health-care system is broken, and one-third or more of the current residents don’t have a family doctor.
Our homeless problem is not based solely on “affordable” housing, but also on the lack of mental-health and addiction treatments available.
We have the most desirable climate in all of Canada, so as a result, people want to live here, therefore land values are high. This won’t change.
Just like the vacancy tax has not addressed the affordability issue. Any desirable place in the world comes with a high cost of living.
Incentives from the government for builders to develop affordable rental properties, as was done in the 1970s, and other creative solutions can be considered.
To think that any owner of a single-family lot, in a single-family-zoned area, is going to want or allow their neighbourhood to become a “densified” zone, when they have purchased and pay exorbitant taxes to enjoy that single family zoning?
I don’t think so. I bet Eby would not want the 36-acre estate of Government House to be subdivided for hundreds of affordable housing lots.
M.J. Hamilton
Sidney
Many more reasons for council conflicts
Re: “Conflict erupting on municipal councils stems from unprecedented pressures: experts,” April 4.
There are additional reasons for more conflicts erupting on municipal councils these days. As a result of those unprecedented pressures, good governance is unfortunately suffering in these troubled times.
There’s a substantial difference between running for council and governing a municipality for everyone, and that’s also true for a regional government.
Civic political parties, whether publicly declared or not, have added a degree of toxicity and polarization that might not have been as prevalent in the past.
The legislative framework for municipalities, the Community Charter was assented to in 2003, and the Local Government Act focusing on regional districts was passed in 2015.
Both are relatively new pieces of legislation, and while there’s been amendments along the way, a wholesale review is overdue.
There’s a disturbing lack of transparency in some municipalities around access to remuneration and financial disclosure documents, to quality broadcasting of council meetings, and ready access to core documents.
This fosters confusion with taxpayers and makes governing more difficult by fostering distrust.
As for misbehaving local politicians, the province has mandated all municipalities adopt codes of conduct this spring or explain the reason to residents. While this is a move in the right direction, there’s little teeth to most codes and so councils must figure out how to work in a civil manner.
Perhaps the appointment of neutral third parties — such as the recently appointed ethics commissioner in Surrey and the integrity commissioner in the City of Vancouver — would help to moderate conflict.
Since the province’s dreadful decision to eliminate the Office of Auditor General for Local Government in 2021, learning from past bungled governance decisions like the Blue Bridge financial boondoggle is much more difficult.
The audits provided objective information and relevant advice to assist them in their accountability to their communities for the stewardship of public assets and the achievement of value for money in their operations.
By eliminating this scrutiny of local government, arguably even more sclerosis has set in. Councils and taxpayers know that, but not the province.
Stan Bartlett,
Vice-Chair
Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria
What has happened to charming Victoria?
When I lived in Chilliwack in the early 1980s, friends and I loved staying at a hotel on Beacon Hill Park so that we could have easy access to downtown Victoria.
We loved the shops and the art galleries in the Empress Hotel as well as on Government Street where I bought hard-to-find cashmere argyle sweaters and beautiful, timeless wool blazers I still own.
The numerous hanging baskets, a touch of mother nature cultivated in containers, were a beautiful contrast to the concrete surfaces. They were unique and, to us, a signature feature of this most polished and welcoming city.
This past week, after avoiding downtown for the past three years because of the pandemic, I wanted to visit a friend who works on Broughton Street.
From the Bay Centre, walking on Broad street, I was shocked to see the most unsightly enclosures made of rough wood on one side of the street. As I drove around town, I saw similar distractions on other streets.
How are businesses permitted to have such rudimentary and repulsive features occupying our sidewalks? Such enclosures would, perhaps, be suited for horses or livestock but they would never be acceptable as part of a city that has the appeal that Victoria used to have.
Shouldn’t all businesses in our city be putting their best foot forward and be the example for all others to follow? Should I not feel like they are rolling out the proverbial “red carpet” to make me feel like they would love me to spend my money in their establishment?
Additionally, where I parked my car, the sidewalk was filthy and the shady part of the street covered in green moss. Even tufts of grass were growing in their cracks. When was the last time the sidewalks were cleaned?
The memories from 40 years ago still remain strong but they are in sharp contrast with what I experienced this past week. What is going on in our fair city is sad and it is doing nothing to make me feel like I need to return soon. Quite the contrary.
Martine Bond
Saanich
Forget the ferries, let’s build a bridge
Reading about the $500-million bail out to B.C. Ferries makes me think, once again, about a bridge. Selling off the fleet to private enterprise has been a disaster.
The organization in place is there for profit. Why wouldn’t it be?
With the population of the Island nearing one million this ferry fiasco is unsustainable.
Prince Edward Island with fewer people than Greater Victoria built a bridge. Why can’t we?
Gordon Hatt
Victoria
It should have been Hillary Clinton
With the former U.S. president facing almost three dozen felony charges related to a porn star payoff and falsifying business records, I am convinced now more than ever that Hillary Clinton should have been, and would currently be, the president.
Remember her — the woman who won the 2016 popular vote despite FBI director James Comey inserting himself into the election by announcing the reopening of an email inquiry against her a mere 10 days before the election?
And remember her stalking, shameless adversary — the current defendant? And the interference of Putin? And “Feel the Bern” Sanders, her tiresome adversarial fellow Democrat?
There was no semblance of a level playing field.
They say that “Silence is Golden” and it certainly was for Donald Trump who, through his then lawyer allegedly paying off a porn star to buy the silence he needed — immediately before the election — ended up as president.
President Hillary Clinton. What could have been. What should have been.
Gordon Zawaski
Parksville
Check source for trouble with tribbles
In his recent column about long-lost emails, Jack Knox directs a reader or readers named Junior to YouTube (which is now apparently a verb, akin to Google) tribbles on Star Trek.
More erudite readers might want to read the book from which the concept of tribbles was stolen: The Rolling Stones, by Robert Heinlein. It will take some looking, but it’s worth it.
Ian Cameron
Brentwood Bay
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