Fix Beacon Hill, and Clover Point as well
Re: “Make Beacon Hill Park accessible to all,” letter, April 4.
I agree — this needs to be addressed!
The pandemic is over, the homeless have moved out of the park. Isn’t it time to revisit the conversation of re-opening Beacon Hill Park and Clover Point?
Beacon Hill Park looks unwelcoming, dreary and abandoned, not a vibrant showpiece representing our city. There is hardly any people in the park due to the closure of the roadways. I miss the sound and sight of the horse-drawn carriages through the park.
Clover Point has always been cold and windy. It was a great place to view the storms or sunsets from the warmth of our cars.
It’s has been a tradition for decades to go for a drive; pick up an ice cream or a coffee, and park at Clover Point.
Please move the unused picnic tables on to the very large grassy area in the middle and reopen the roadway and parking spaces all the way around.
Why hasn’t the mayor and council brought this forward for discussion again?
Linda Skalenda
Victoria
Drug use problems in the hospital
Recently, I was at the Royal Jubilee Hospital emergency for three hours before leaving. While there I witnessed three drug addicts using the emergency room bathrooms to do their drugs.
One person left their crack pipe in one of the bathrooms (which I threw out) and the other two people were “sleeping” on the floor in the other bathroom (they were eventually removed by security).
I left because one of the drug addicts was being a nuisance. I figured I’d take my chances and wait to see my GP instead.
I really felt for the nurses on duty and the staff and security guards having to deal with this issue.
Pam Bevan
Victoria
We need to follow Oregon’s lead on drugs
Last week, Oregon’s governor signed into law a bill that recriminalizes the possession of small amounts of illegal drugs. The reason why is obvious: Decriminalization didn’t work.
The number of overdose fatalities dramatically increased as did public drug dealing and usage as well as homelessness and lawlessness. Oregon was in a crisis and finally had to admit that their grand social experiment was a failure.
And yet B.C. continues to move down the same path and inevitably toward the same conclusions. Does our provincial government imagine their policies to be so much better than the ones Oregon created four years ago and are now rescinding?
Michael Butler
North Saanich
Thanks, Victoria council, for listening to us
I would like to applaud Victoria council’s decision to put the issue of a pay raise into the hands of an independent task force. It’s rare to see a government listen to the will of the people, slow down, and make a thoughtful decision.
Whether we like it or not, Victoria is a growing city and, as such, requires competent leadership. I am happy to pay fair wages for this service and, having looked at the numbers, I suspect that our council is underpaid for the work they do.
I look forward to hearing from an independent panel that can make reliable recommendations on fair wages and I commend our council for listening to our concerns and engaging in this act of good governance.
A.B. Buckles
Victoria
The clear message was about integrity
Public uproar had nothing to do with “divergent views” or “concerns about process and procedure.”
What Victoria Coun. Jeremy Caradonna heard from the public was their absolute disgust over the five councillors’ lack of ethics and integrity.
Michael Leeper
Victoria
No council raise, but keep watch on them
Well done fellow Victoriarians! We kept the cabal of five away from the trough.
I guess we can put away the tar and feathers, pitchforks and torches for now, but best to keep them on hand, you never know what they might come up with again.
For example Coun. Krista Loughton says she wanted to ensure that council’s remuneration was not a deterrent to running for office for lower income people.
Lower income people? A salary of a $52,420 for part-time work? What planet is she on?
I would bet there are plenty of folks out there that would gladly accept such a paycheque. The battle has been won, but the war continues!
Robin Goldie
Victoria
Pumping those brakes is an admission of failure
Victoria Coun. Jeremy Caradonna’s comment “about the process by which we made the decision” (about the 25 per cent raise) is foolish.
Yes, quite the undemocratic process. Item slipped in at the very last moment and not at all on the agenda.
Along with his recent silly “push pause, pump the brakes” appeasing comment, and after the public’s outcry, yet that seemingly didn’t occur to him before his misguided attempt at a “coup d’état” ploy.
He needs to issue a public apology, not try to water down this whole debacle. Actually he needs to resign, however we know what that cost the city in having to arrange another election.
(Remember that Laurel Collins was elected to council, resigned, and was re-elected as the federal MP.)
By the way, when one has to “pump the brakes,” it’s indicative that the brakes are not in good order.
John Vanden Heuvel
Victoria
With bus shelters gone, remove park benches
Now that the Cowichan Valley Regional District has decided that the best way to deal with illegal appropriation of bus shelters by some members of the transient population, denying access to bus users, is to tear them down so that no one can use them, we could extend this brilliant solution to other areas.
Let’s remove all park benches. Maybe shopping carts need to go as well. By all means, let’s treat the symptoms, not the disease.
Hugh Stephens
Victoria
Go after oil companies, not the carbon tax
Before April 1, gas prices were around $1.99 (all prices rounded up). After April 1, the carbon tax added three cents to the price, and most of us will get that back in rebates.
Now I see gas is generally $2.07. The carbon tax has been eclipsed by another gouge by the oil companies of around five cents a litre.
Where are protesters blocking highways? Where are the politicians calling for an end to subsidies to the oil industry? Never mind “Axe the Tax”; let’s “Cut the Crap” and sue the oil industry for lying to us about the effects of climate change which is going to cost us billions.
Hopefully, the high cost of gas will get us all thinking about how we can reduce our usage, which is the solid, proven plan all along.
Brian Short, P. Eng. (ret.)
Saanich
We need to sacrifice to save the planet
Re: “Lead by example to save the environment,” letter, April 6.
The letter has a good point about clothing, but at least most clothing can be donated if not at the end of its life.
The big hitters like gas guzzling trucks and large SUVs for everyday transportation, often for one person, are very easily linked to global warming through fossil fuel usage but they seem to be more popular that ever.
Discretionary travel is seeing more demand than ever before. Wouldn’t this also be a good place to start cutting back instead of trying to ensure a person’s children have a better holiday than the neighbours?
To lead by example would require a number of sacrifices by everyone, but we are too self-centred to see that is the only way we will ever possibly reduce greenhouse gases and global warming.
So as I said to the Covid deniers “Pick your plot” if you won’t change your habits.
Mike Wilkinson
Duncan
Carbon tax is missing the major problems
Why do we have an increased carbon tax for B.C. and Canada?
Last year Canada/B.C. exported more coal than any other year to date.
The LNG plant on our coast is exporting our gas resources to other countries with no carbon taxes to pollute the global environment.
Yet Nanaimo is mandating no natural gas stoves to cook on and no gas fireplaces for heat with new buildings etc.
And here’s the big one, taxpayers of Canada are building a multi-billion dollar pipeline to the coast to export fuel to other polluting countries with no carbon tax.
If all these fuels are so bad, why are we not charging the same carbon taxes on our exports as Canadians are to heat their homes and drive our cars?
I’m looking for a sensible answer as to why we are exporting our natural resources to other countries to pollute the world. Or is it just another tax to Canadians?
Len Creed
Comox
Infrastructure comparison has no value
The comparison of Oak Bay with Langford achieves nothing. Comparing the infrastructure of the two municipalities is like comparing the body of a teenager with someone in their 90s and being surprised when the teenage body is in better physical shape.
Jackie Rudd
Oak Bay
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