Financial disaster without a change
B.C. was one of the most financially successful provinces in Canada a decade ago and now, after John Horgan and David Eby, we are at one of the worst.
If British Columbians don’t wake up, and keep Eby there, we will face a financial disaster in the not-too-distant future.
The decline happened swiftly and immediate action is crucial to reverse this downward spiral. There is only one solution to avoid colossal disaster and that is to remove the NDP from power.
Our debt is massive and in a few weeks we have the chance to do something about it.
The choice is clear. We need to change gear and veer right. The present government’s tendency to mismanage our money and spend spend spend is pure lunacy.
Marielle Desjardins
Victoria
Closing of lightstations will not affect rescues
There seems to be a perception about our lightstations that is not quite accurate. A lightkeeper’s duty is to maintain their light/equipment and keep it in good running order.
All of that can now be done remotely, whether a light switches to backup or a low oil alarm for their power generators. They are not there as a search-and-rescue resource.
It is coast guard radio that is called when a mariner has trouble and the coast guard radio station works with Rescue Coordination Centre, which deploys resources to effect a rescue.
Lightstations have been automated all across Canada for at least 20 years without difficulties. They are a lightstation, not a lifeboat station.
David Conrad
North Saanich
Give more respect to those unhoused
I have been appalled at the increasing level of stigmatization and hatred directed toward the unhoused population.
I live on Pandora Avenue and frequently walk by individuals suffering most severely from our province’s housing crisis. I’ve witnessed individuals in crisis and using threatening language towards passersby but I have also witnessed verbal harassment of unhoused individuals coming from the balconies of luxury apartments.
Public safety is a two-way street, everyone deserves the right to safety and dignity. A 2023 study by the Ministry of Housing reports that 67% of unhoused individuals have lived in their community for more than five years and 23% for their entire lives.
These are our neighbours, and they deserve respect just as much as us who are housed.
Chris Holiday
Victoria
Bicycle lanes cause problems for horses
I’ve been living in James Bay for 18 months, and watch and hear the horse-drawn carriages go past my building numerous times a day. They start about 9:30 a.m. and sometimes go near midnight in two shifts of about six or seven hours each, rain or shine.
You don’t have to be an equine specialist to easily recognize that these poor souls become exhausted by the heat and hard asphalt, especially later in the day. As their shift progresses, they move slower and sway sideways with their mouths open and heads down.
It’s a sad thing to watch.
To make matters worse, new bicycle lanes have drastically narrowed the streets in James Bay. There is little maneuverability for the wide carriages, especially as they round tight corners.
Some drivers stuck behind become impatient at the slower pace, pass too close and honk their horns, spooking these gentle giants. That too is sad to watch and hear.
While some folks may think it’s a unique and heritage-type attraction, it’s more than time that this cruel and archaic practice is ended.
The operators say these beautiful creatures are bred for this and are treated well, but they belong in a rural setting, not toiling on our busy, narrow and hot city streets. It’s shameful and a blight on Victoria.
Jen Reimer
James Bay
Medical assistance has strong public support
Re: “Mental illnesses raise concern about medical assistance in dying,” editorial, Aug. 30.
I am amazed that MAID is considered controversial among politicians and in the media. An Ipsos poll in 2022 indicated that 90% of Canadians over 55 supported MAID and 85% supported advanced requests re: dementia.
I can’t think of any other social issue so widely supported by the public. Yet the politicians prevaricate, and the editorial promotes the myth of contentiousness.
Even in 1992, a majority of the Canadian public supported medical assistance in dying. Sue Rodriguez lost her Supreme Court case in 1992 because the majority of the justices were Catholic and gave great weight to the Catholic teachings on “suicide,” ignoring the Charter of Rights.
Thankfully the 2015 court got it right.
Mike Day
Saanich
Educate cyclists, enforce rules
Perhaps it can be an easy fix for everyone. Since the government is making all these new rules for short-term rentals, homeless accommodation, pedestrian/cyclists and vehicle operators, why not just licence bikes when used on the road and start by schooling everyone?
Like England where you need to take a bike course to learn the road rules before setting out, we could adopt the same rules to bring some sanity to the roads.
Everyone would know the rules and could plan how to approach and overtake a bike. Bike riders will stop trying to get into the Darwin Awards.
I’m tired of cyclists driving toward me on the same side of the road, blowing through intersections without stopping, riding on the sidewalk and nearly taking me out while I’m walking along, or cycling through crosswalks.
As the name implies, it’s a “cross” “walk.”
As a driver I know to stop when a pedestrian or person starts “walking” their bike through the stripes. How do you anticipate the Spandex warrior who thinks he owns the road, even though he doesn’t have a licence, and blows on through the intersection?
When will the police start enforcing the rules that I grew up with 50 years ago?
We have more people trying to interact with each other; let’s start enforcing some sanity rules that make sense and start by educating those who want to play in the sandbox.
The police can’t enforce if the government continues to turn a blind eye and thinks this will solve itself.
Tim Kehler
Ladysmith
In politics, a rose by any other name
Liberals? Conservatives? BC United? Social Credit?
As Joe Friday used to say on Dragnet: only the names have changed to protect the innocent.
Alastair Kerr
Victoria
Assisted dying is all about emotion
Re: “Mental illnesses raise concern about medical assistance in dying,” editorial, August 30.
It is regrettable that the editorial fell into Pierre Poilievre’s trap as he seeks to exploit yet another a wedge issue that will divide Canadians in anticipation of an upcoming federal election.
The editorial rightly accuses the Conservative Party leader, who says he will cancel legislation to extend Medical Assistance in Dying to those diagnosed with an intractable mental illness, of appealing to emotion over logic. Of course, that’s how controversy is created.
But when has MAID (more accurately called euthanasia according all standard dictionaries) not been emotional?
In any discussion of this topic it is impossible to separate emotion from logic. It is riven through and motivated by fear.
Where fear of dying was a fundamental part of what made euthanasia against the law, fear of pain and suffering has now made an induced death a constitutional right.
As for logic, the mental contortions done by the Supreme Court of Canada to assert that euthanasia is somehow part of the right to life, liberty and security of the person remain a stunning feat of sophistry.
Poilievre is simply playing cheap politics, but the editorial does point to a problem that has plagued this policy since it was first translated into action, because it is a moral quandary that cannot be overcome.
Who gets to decide who lives and who dies?
Paul Walton
Nanaimo
More logic is needed in police oversight
Last fall I made a submission to the committee reviewing the Police Act. I did this because I found both Police Services at the Attorney-General and the Office of the Police Complaint Commission extremely logic-challenged.
I had to point out some rather obvious and serious blunders. My MLA was also useless.
We don’t need any more inside baseball types there or on police boards. We need people with reasoned level-headed logic.
The latter term, they all need to reacquaint themselves with.
Grant Maxwell
Nanaimo
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