Falcon would repeat a huge mistake
What a flashback I had when I read that Kevin Falcon and the BC United want to bribe me with my own money just like he did when he was in the B.C. Liberal government in July 2001.
You can be forgiven if you’ve forgotten that then-premier Gordon Campbell promised, and then delivered, a 25% income tax cut, bribing voters for their votes along with Falcon enthusiastically supporting it.
Now, Falcon is doubling down on that same bribe in hopes that people don’t connect the dots on just what kind of carnage that would do to British Columbians.
Since the 2001 hollowing-out of government resources, our health-care system is in crisis, our educational system is suffering, our infrastructure is lacking and degrading; but Falcon thinks that cutting over $5 billion from government coffers will help? We need more resources, not less.
In 2001 the savings passed on to low-income British Columbians was purported to be $1.5 billion, and he now wants to provide more than triple that number. Just think about what they’ll have to cut to cover that bill.
I get that BC United is feeling desperate as their support seems to crumble more each day, but repeating some of the worst mistakes ever made in provincial budgetary history is not the way to go.
Stu Shields
Saanich
Please, just stop with all the building
Re: “Gordon Head plan heads to public hearing,” Aug. 14.
The area proposed for so many housing units at the corner of Feltham and Gordon Head roads is only a small field.
Enough is enough now with all the building occurring — it is no longer necessary. Greater Victoria is already one big traffic jam and we still have no doctors.
Why can’t the council see this already happening disaster and prevent our now-ruined Victoria from further ruination?
The area at Gordon Head and Feltham is perfect for about four new family homes only. Please stop wrecking Victoria and Langford with so much building and construction.
Remember we have no doctors or walk-in clinics, and traffic and parking is already a big problem.
Diane Wolf
Gordon Head
Thank private sector for the Martin Mars
Re: “After the final flight, what is the plan?” letter, Aug. 14.
It is a shame that a fitting comment on the flypast was negated by a trite and pedestrian attack on “the government.”
“The government” did not bring the Mars, with its massive payload. The private sector brought it in, refitted it, and used it for purpose.
It was a unique (only four converted) example of many Second World War era planes (mostly bombers) converted to wild fire suppression, and by far the largest capable of swoop-and-scoop reloading.
Hawaii Mars’s “reliability” was solely the work of the private sector maintenance workers who kept her in magnificent shape.
But times change, technology moves on, and the private sector continues to evolve better, more up-to-date, fire suppression aircraft: Canadair’s CL-215 and DHC-515 in particular and the three-team smaller planes, both swoop-and-scoop for non-stop lake reloading, and the giant DC-10, Boeing 747 and C-130 Hercules airframes for ground refilling.
Operated by the private sector. Nothing to do with a snarky “camel is a horse designed by committee” government solution that promises to inevitably fall short of what is required.
Andy House
View Royal
Just a tax grab, and not helping us
Re: “Carbon taxes are misrepresented,” letter, Aug. 14.
A couple of corrections are necessary regarding the comments on the carbon tax. The letter asserts that the tax, instituted in B.C. by the Campbell government, produced emission reductions, and was not a tax grab.
In fact, it is widely understood that the emission reductions that did occur were the result of the industrial downturn caused by the 2008 economic crisis. Indeed, in subsequent years emission levels soon returned to, and even surpassed, previous levels — and do so to this day.
Secondly, when the tax was instituted in 2008, it was purposely made revenue-neutral; that is, income derived from the carbon tax was offset by reductions in other taxes.
The first thing the NDP government did when it took office was to decouple the carbon tax from other revenues, thus converting it into a “tax grab.”
Needless to say, they have been extremely efficient in spending all the additional monies generated from this new source of revenue.
Michel Murray
Saanich
Electric-vehicle tire wear depends on driver
Re: “Electric vehicles carry particulate problems,” letter, Aug. 13.
The letter makes a big generalization. I have a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and certainly don’t have a tire wear problem. With 105,000 kilometres driven in six years on all-season tires, the wear bars don’t show yet.
If one drives their vehicle (EV or otherwise) hard, brakes hard, and accelerates hard, then of course tires will wear fast.
Look at the amount of brake dust that accumulates on the front wheels of some cars. Hint: They’re usually speeding and racing up to red lights.
EVs usually have harder compound tires for less rolling resistance, and while EVs are heavier, they are only making more tire wear when the driver is hard on the accelerator or brakes or corners.
The biggest scam for increased tire wear is the campaign tire manufacturers have to make us buy soft tires to use in the winter. All-season tires work just fine below 7 C. How about a campaign just to slow down and not drive like an ass year-round?
If you choose to drive in ice and snow, then sure, use a set of winter tires.
Ken Mawdsley
Saanich
Gold medal effort by Cleve Dheensaw
Thank you, Cleve Dheensaw, for the excellent coverage of the Paris Olympics you provided Times Colonist readers. If there were a gold medal presented to reporters for thoroughness and dedication to detail, you would have received it.
Throughout the year, no one does a better job of reporting the accomplishments and paths to success of our local and Island athletes than you do, even taking the time to mention the high schools they attended.
Your coverage of these and all Canadian athletes at the Paris Olympics was, in my opinion, some of the best reporting you’ve done in your long career with the TC.
Even though we know you won’t receive an actual gold medal for all your hard work, you should know that the athletes you reported on, their families, the high schools they attended, and all of their coaches hold you in high esteem and thank you for a job well done.
Steve Murphy
Oak Bay
Numbers at protests speak to importance
Re: “Policy failure discredits the rule of law,” letter, Aug. 14.
According to the letter, pro-Israeli protesters would be arrested for the same actions that police ignore when carried out by pro-Palestinian protesters. Why? “There were just too many pro-Palestiners for the police to handle.“
If true, the inaction says something about the police, but the numbers of protesters also speak to the critical importance of the issue.
Anne Percival
Saanich
Fix the Lambrick cage, don’t destroy it
I use Lambrick Park almost daily, have done so for many years, passing the hammer-throw cage as I walk the circuit.
Never once have I seen a miss-throw, nor heard of one. I love watching all the baseball games on the many fields and I would like to know who got hit from the batting cage and when. If it needs repair, just fix it!
Sylvia Bews-Wright
Victoria
Who needs a cage for hammer throwing?
Why not tear down the hammer-throw cage at Lambrick Park?
As long as one has a seven-foot circle to throw from, everyone learning to throw can release the hammer in any direction putting gaping holes in cars, people, houses, and whatnot.
So go ahead and tear that cage down. We’ve got a champion anyway.
Steve Hoffman
Saanich
Cyclist vs. car door, and the door wins
I had the misfortune to be “doored” last week. Kinda like running into a wall, of a sudden!
I had the good fortune to have been looked after by the most amazing collection of health care providers, from the paramedics who picked me up off the pavement, the emergency trauma staff and the South Fifth floor doctors, nurses and aides, who looked after me.
Everyone of you provided the best care. Thank you.
As far as the kid who doored me: No real feelings about him at all. He won’t make that mistake again.
There is a lesson here, however. No matter what you think about cyclists, please, please check your mirror before you open your door.
I have four broken ribs. And had a small brain bleed. Not looking for sympathy, just asking for your co-operation.
It’s simple, look before you open.
Have a safe day.
Jay Bowles
Esquimalt
SEND US YOUR LETTERS
• Email letters to: [email protected]
• Mail: Letters to the editor, Times Colonist, 201-655 Tyee Rd., Victoria, B.C. V9A 6X5
• Submissions should be no more than 250 words; subject to editing for length and clarity. Provide your contact information; it will not be published. Avoid sending your letter as an email attachment.
