Victoria council, try accountability
The proposal to house the homeless in church parking was an empty gesture. It was a ludicrous and ill-conceived idea that was destined to die the quick death it did.
It achieved its ignoble purpose of channelling outrage, time and energy on the part of neighbours, fomenting anger against other municipalities for not doing their share, pointing the finger at the province for not doing more. How Trumpian!
Meanwhile, this bogus issue has taken the spotlight off the issues that Victoria council has influence, if not control, over.
For example, the lack of standards or oversight mechanisms at the proposed SOLID drug centre on Dowler Place, and the lack of adequate citizen input into this project.
Accountability instead of hand-wringing would be great for a change.
Barbara Wiggins
Victoria
Follow through on those promises
Until all levels of government step up and provide supported housing for the unhoused, plus address the shortage of mental health and addictions professionals and improve health care in general, we will get nowhere with this appalling dehumanization of our most vulnerable citizens.
It will cost an enormous amount of money, but we are already spending too much money by funding extra police and security services plus emergency response people to respond to conflict on our streets.
Far too many of these conflicts are due to mental health and addictions problems.
Every level of government since the closure of residential mental health institutions are to blame for today’s problems.
Politicians make promises but then fail to carry through with the money to support their promises.
Ann Maffey
Saanich
Facts acknowledged, now do something
Premier David Eby says the province was working with chief scientific adviser for psychiatry Dr. Daniel Vigo on a system of care to address both community safety concerns and the needs of people in mental distress.
Finally.
Eby said involuntary mental health care required a “full solution,” which entailed having the mental health professionals who can provide care and supportive programs to allow them to deliver it.
Finally this fact has been acknowledged.
Eby also said mental health care for those committed against their will needs to be “dignified and humane” to be effective as his government works on a strategy about involuntary care.
Yes.
He also said the 2012 closure of Riverview mental health hospital in Coquitlam put vulnerable people on the streets without adequate supports.
Most definitely.
He also said there is still a place for involuntary care in B.C., but “warehousing people” is not enough and any measures taken to address the needs of people in mental health crises must be “humane and respectful.”
Most definitely.
Now will his government please act on these statements and do something?
Sally Clarkson
Victoria
Next, we’ll eliminate some airplane doors
I am absolutely behind Premier David Eby’s revision of our state-of-the-art building code. The chances of fire in all new vertical office towers including residential condos and apartment buildings with six floors is statistically zero.
For all new buildings above six floors will need of course two exits. This change to our thoughtful and lifesaving building code will further bring our code into the present.
Our premier would have no concerns about living with his family in one of these new building code conforming structures.
I do believe this significant change should be passed on to the aircraft company in Seattle, enabling them to build commercial planes with one exit.
John Evans
Brentwood Bay
Women still facing unbearable treatment
Printing an extract from Hilary Peach’s book Thick Skin in the Labour Day issue of Islander was a brilliant move.
It draws attention to the vital activities of skilled workers while informing us (with a touch of humour) of the unbearable treatment women still often receive when they try to step outside the “womanly” boundaries assigned to them (us) by Victorian society.
Nancy Kenyon
Victoria
B.C. should have preferential ballots
In recent provincial byelections and civic elections the voter turnout was so low that you would think the winning candidates would have been ashamed of themselves for accepting the results.
Unfortunately this is par for the course. Politicians don’t care how they win as long as they get in.
In Canada, if you don’t vote for the winner your vote is redundant, and that is in serious need of attention. We do not need proportional representation — where party leaders have dictatorial powers — to improve things.
We need preferential or ranked ballots, 50% to win and mandatory voting. Easy to understand and most people get some say in the formation of a government.
Many countries have mandatory voting. In Australia, with more than 100 years of mandatory voting, 94% of voters strongly oppose optional voting because they feel they have a stronger and more representative government with their system and its ranked voting.
It’s only a small fine if you don’t vote, and with more responsive governments there is less voter apathy.
A democratic government should be about cooperation and consensus. It also requires more public participation, not just a trip to the ballot box every few years. Politicians should be serving and interacting with their constituents first and not with some vague ideology.
For some reason none of our major parties want to end our first-past-the-post system, not even in civic elections where a ranked ballot can be easily implemented.
For now we have to continue with this absurd adversarial system.
We have a serious climate crisis and growing wealth polarization with its housing, poverty and public safety concerns that require immediate attention.
Time has run out for political party platitudes, diversions and personal attacks. Support democratizing our elections.
Ivan Olynyk
Victoria
We need the revenue from natural gas
Re: “Think climate change when casting ballots,” letter, Sept. 6.
The letter points out 2022 Conservative policy states “drastically expand B.C. natural gas production”
Looks like the NDP have stolen the Conservative policy because that is exactly what the NDP are doing. Drilling, fracking, pipelining has continued at a record pace.
And please don’t get me wrong; it has to, the massive amount of taxes that come from natural gas provides us with the funding necessary to run the province.
Sheldon Reves
Nanaimo
Stop a Trump victory to slow dictatorships
On holiday in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, we see adjacent and to the right of a “stop” sign, a huge banner on a house saying “TRUMP 2024 SAVE AMERICA”.
Citizens in many countries in the world worry that American citizens are under such a strong spell of political capture (set up by their self-serving elites through their ultra libertarian political system) that they are unable to see things in the broader context.
Like not putting these two signs together. But many still hope enough Americans will stop Trump in 2024 to save America … and slow the rise of dictatorships in the western world.
Ron Kot
Victoria
Another outcome of doctor shortage?
My husband and I have witnessed a growing number of near misses and accidents seemingly caused by very elderly people.
This is not ageism as he and I are 72 and 81 respectively.
Maybe these people haven’t got doctors who would tell them it’s time to stop driving. I hope there will be someone to tell me when the time comes.
Margo Blake
Victoria
Pre-med degree takes from working years
In England, medical students are not required to study a pre-med degree.
Which means that they have a few more working years to their lives, do not study a subject that often is not relevant to medicine, at much less expense to themselves.
Audrey Lomax
Nanaimo
Who should pay when views are lost?
Six-storey wood-frame apartment blocks are springing up all over Greater Victoria after the province loosened the safety rules.
Now, developers are being given a further break by no longer requiring a second means of egress from these mid-rises, and they are allowed to build closer and closer to the property lines. No room for shade trees.
Neighbouring property owners have few rights when their views are obstructed. Developers price their units according to their particular view (generally, the higher the floor, the higher the price).
Should the developers be required to compensate property owners for the real financial loss in value due to the new construction affecting their views?
Kenneth Mintz
Victoria
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