Signs our politicians are disconnected
I am not quite sure about this world.
First, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau skipped the world climate conference to go see Taylor Swift.
Then Premier David Eby paid off his newly elected MLAs and gave them raises.
This really shows how hopelessly disconnected from reality our politicians are.
William Jones
Sooke
B.C. cabinet deserves the pay increase
I support paying our cabinet well and approve of the 30% to 50% wage increases Premier David Eby has enabled.
My reasons:
1. There is no more important job in our society than to create law that upholds the rights of citizens in a democratic society.
2. There is no job I can think of that is more vulnerable to public feedback. And I don’t mean just on election day. Everybody has an opinion and nobody is shy of sharing it with the person in the elected chair, as it should be. However, one has to be tough to hold this job, even for four years.
3. Democracy is vulnerable these days. It is our treasure and it needs protecting by well paid, intelligent, empathic people.
4. These people are responsible for spending an enormous collective budget. What a huge responsibility.
5. Being an MLA is a 24 /7 job: I’m just happy they are not demanding an hourly rate.
Marne St Claire
Victoria
B.C.’s idea of affordable housing
The British Columbia idea of affordable housing is to increase rents and taxes so Premier David Eby and his muppet show can give themselves high wage increases from the extra taxes they can levy, all the while seniors on low-income government pension have to do without essentials just to pay greedy landlords who don’t repair failing infrastructure.
James Cooper
Victoria
Police program hurt students, costs money
That the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association changed our position to reject the police liaison program shows something important: We listened, researched, and based our decision on evidence, not politicking.
The research is clear: These programs do harm to some, typically our vulnerable students, and do not reduce crime. A major U.S. study last year found they “criminalize students, without keeping them safe.”
So do the citizens of Victoria really want to increase their property taxes for this?
Tara Ehrcke
former president
Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association
Victoria
Government must lead on affordable housing
Re: “Affordable housing? What does that mean?” letter, Nov. 23.
This is an excellent question, which never seems to be properly addressed or understood by those who bandy the term about so freely. As the letter correctly notes, there is never a reference to the target group.
The only way to achieve affordable housing for lower-income groups is for the government to offer a combination of tax incentives to developers and subsidies for buyers/renters, unless there is some philanthropic benefactor willing to make up the difference.
I’m not aware of any philanthropic developers in Victoria, so we must look to the municipal, provincial and federal governments to make “affordable” housing a reality.
However, there has generally been a noticeable silence on any financial commitments, despite the repeated references to the term “affordable housing.”
James Dykes
Architect (retired)
Victoria
A time for charity for those in need
Re: “Affordable housing? What does that mean?” letter, Nov. 23.
I was disappointed to read that someone doesn’t understand the need for affordable housing, especially as the letter was published the day after Friday which was Canada’s official National Housing Day!
That day seeks to reinforce that “all Canadians have access to safe and affordable places to live.”
The definition of affordable housing is nicely explained by the B.C. Housing website.
Just about every community in Canada is having challenges providing housing for those that may not have the wherewithal to obtain market housing. This is 2024, Christmas is just around the corner, where is our long held value of charity for those in need?
Rod Hughes
Victoria
More police needed in downtown Victoria
Apparently instead of allocating enough money to hire four more police officers, the alternative in Victoria was to fire five of them.
How can council possibly not understand the need for more police in downtown Victoria for the safety of people and property. The police chief would probably say that hiring as many as possible would be very much needed.
Losing five would make the city so much worse off. Surely there must be other areas where the budget cuts could be handled.
If the only solution is lowering payroll costs, there must be many other city employees that do not contribute as much to everyone’s well-being as the police force does.
Larry Ware
Saanich
No money for seniors, plenty for NDP MLAs
And here I thought I was being ignored by the federal government for providing me with a $250 uplift in April 2025 to help me with the increased costs of living .
Yet then I found out as a senior I did not qualify as they gave me an increase which is true as in $10 a month increase October 2024 which still does not equal $250 one time.
They also said only for the working who earn up to $150,000 a year ignoring those with disabilities and unable to work.
Surprise! Our provincial government just gave themselves a 30 to 50 per cent increase. Well, there goes all our increases.
Something is horribly wrong with this picture. I thought our premier said he heard us in what needs to be fixed.
Perhaps we can issue hearing aids to them.
Robert Holloway
Victoria
$250 payment, GST cut are the work of buffoons
Trust this federal Liberal government to make a mess of trying to make things right that they were a major part of them being bad in the first place.
We calculated the “gift” that would be given to us for our food costs. On a total monthly output of almost $1,600 we would save $20!
That bill for groceries and a couple of cheap meals at restaurants is more than 25% higher in our household than it was a couple of years ago largely due to mismanagement of the economy and the government’s inflation-inducing policies. Thanks for that!
Because we are seniors, and our adult children have adult children themselves, none of our family would have any interest in purchasing toys, diapers and children’s clothing which might fetch a few dollars more in savings.
As a senior couple living with income only from pensions, we would not qualify for the $250 they want to give back to “working people” even though our combined pensions are only a third of the $150,000 annual limit proposed as a cap on earnings. Considering we paid generously to governments in taxes over our working lives, we are not due any consideration for making our lives a little bit easier now.
Because, at our age, we prefer to drink good wine rather than low alcohol beer, most of it made in Canada, we would not get any return on our average monthly bill of $200 for liquor.
We are probably fortunate that, from our own lifetime management and planning of our finances, we can afford to eat as well as we do compared to other families.
Adding another $6 billion to the national debt (the funds would have to be borrowed) will only make things worse for Canadians, especially those younger Canadians whose higher taxes from limited incomes will have to service and eventually (?) pay it off.
The proposed holiday on GST collection over the holidays is nothing more than a cynical attempt to convince us this group knows what they are doing, most certainly a bribe to entice us to vote for them.
The sooner these buffoons in charge in Ottawa are gone, the better it will be for all of us.
Pearson James
Langford
Cheaper chips and beer as the deficit soars
Maybe it’s just me. But can someone PLEEZ take away the debit card from Trudeau who thinks he can “tap” his way out of the political polling wilderness while leaving you and me to pay for it when the bill arrives. And it will.
Of course everyone’s been clamouring for a GST rebate on burgers and beer! Really? And a cheque for $250, too? Huh? And just who is paying the $6 billion-plus cost of this year-end bribe? We know who, don’t we?
During the Trudeau reign of error our national debt has doubled. And our servicing cost alone on our debt — which is more than $1.2 trillion — is more than $50 billion!
(And by the way, the Liberal deficit this year will add about $50 billion more.)
So, if you think the PM is thinking of you with his latest financial foolery, think again.
And excuse me but aren’t we faced with a housing crisis, a health care system in dire need, a defence department unable to defend, rampant crime, extensive homelessness, etc. — for starters?
Yet, the best our unpopular PM can do for meaningful policy ideas to assist Canadians is to offer temporarily cheaper chips and beer and a cheque written on our own account!
This latest Liberal boondoggle is yet more embarrassing evidence that Trudeau and his minions are long past their best-before date. Surely Canadians deserve better. Much better.
But maybe it’s just me.
Gordon Zawaski
Parksville
A bad tax policy, but we can make it work
A GST holiday is bad tax policy, pandering for votes rather than addressing real needs. Removing GST from items like alcohol and convenience foods doesn’t make any sense.
This policy disproportionately benefits those who spend more, while those on tight budgets will see minimal impact.
For most, a five per cent saving at the till won’t be noticeable. It is my hope that as a community we can turn this flawed policy into a positive force.
If five per cent doesn’t matter to you, consider donating your savings to those who could use a lift.
Spending $2,000 this holiday season results in $100 in GST savings — consider donating it to charity before the holiday season kicks off.
That way, households in need will have access to more support and you can get a donation receipt for your personal tax return. You could team up with friends to sponsor a holiday hamper. (Victoria Women’s Transition House is still looking to fill some!)
You could buy a gift card and drop it off at your neighbourhood school so the administration can give it to a family who could use some help in adding a little sparkle to their holiday season.
Food banks could use the boost, we know they’re being used at higher rates than ever before.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s policy is short-sighted, but as a community I think we can make it meaningful.
Kira Rochefort
business owner
Victoria
GST holiday is not fair to everyone
The federal government has a plan to send cheques for $250 to each person who “worked” during 2023. Does this “worked” include self-employed contractors (I’m not talking big companies) such as someone who does single jobs, not a large company?
This policy ignores seniors, and persons on disability pensions and handicapped — all of these categories include some of the most marginalized and poor in our population. They are excluded once again from a benefit that could truly make a difference in their lives.
I have heard nothing from any of the parties (Conservatives, Block, Green, NDP) about this lack of payment to a segment of our society who have contributed and some of whom would be among the most in need of this benefit. And to my surprise I have also heard nothing from the press about it either!
This doesn’t even begin to tell how appalled I am that we’re even thinking of paying this money out when we are already in a large deficit position — how can we afford to do this?
But if you’re going to do it, then for goodness sakes, do it fairly.
C.L. Blais
Saanichton
Spend the money on Canada’s military
Costing for the federal government’s $250 rebate is about $4.7 billion, and an additional $1.6 billion for two-month GST break.
I think it is irresponsible for the government to do this. It would be better to spend these funds on increasing the serviceability of our military.
The military needs equipment, ordnance and personnel. Higher pay should attract more applicants.
Also, our government must speed up the building of warships, including armed arctic icebreakers. These benefits do not convince me to vote for the Liberals.
Jon M. DeLaurier
Sidney
68 cents a day from the prime minister
So for those who qualify, after paying thousands in GST/HST etc. this year, they receive $250, or 68 cents a day. Enough for? Well, enough for nothing!
Bill Carere
Victoria
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