Hard truths and real leadership
Re: “Our hypocrisy on coal exports,” letter, Sept. 19.
The letter asks why our federal and provincial governments “allow thermal coal (the worst fossil fuel polluter),” mined in Montana and Wyoming, to be exported through our province and shipped from Vancouver and Prince Rupert when Washington and Oregon banned such shipments from their ports in 2014 and 2017
It answers that our governments, which claim to be climate leaders, are involved in a “hypocritical charade.” He compares their behaviour to someone selling street drugs who says, “Hey! If I don’t sell it someone else will.”
How, he asks, can MPs and MLAs hide behind such hypocrisy? My answer is that the marketplace and economic opportunity often co-opt and cancel high-minded good intentions, producing varying degrees of wilful blindness, denial and addiction to profit and related perceived economic imperatives.
While I agree that “leadership is about doing the right thing,” I’d also stress that this includes telling hard truths to the public.
Like oil and gas, the use of coal is interwoven into the global economy, which means that there are no easy solutions in managing and reducing its negative impacts.
If our politicians are going to be true leaders, they need to forthrightly address these difficult realities with the public.
Until they do, they will be engaging in a hypocritical charade, carbon will continue to relentlessly accumulate in the atmosphere and humanity will proceed on its perilous slide toward global warming oblivion.
Patrick Wolfe
Victoria
Reassess approaches to taxation
With a provincial election looming and a clear choice to be made, surely the time is ripe for a full and informed discussion about taxation.
The HST was introduced around 2009 and would have achieved several desirable goals — people consuming services would, rightly, pay tax on them as with goods, government revenues would increase measurably, lower income families would get a rebate, exporters would get a rebate that would make them more competitive.
Premier Gordon Campbell later caved as a result of misinformation from opponents. Wrong result. Richer people now freeload.
EVs and hybrid purchasers get rebates. Wrong approach, since manufacturers can raise their prices, knowing that the consumer will not pay the full cost.
Instead, penalize the purchase of gas vehicles, based on their consumption rates. Revenue, not expense!
EVs and hybrids don’t pay much, if any, fuel tax for road upkeep. Wrong approach. Price licence fees according to annual mileage and weight.
People earning below the living wage get deeper in the hole by paying income taxes. Crazy thinking. Tax only income above the living wage. The base can be adjusted by location, since the data are available.
The 20th century is over; this century is different, so governments need to reassess their approaches to taxation.
Roger Love
Saanich
No, we don’t need decorative bricks
Are there other important ways to spend taxpayer dollars rather than the decorative bricks being installed at the entrance to the dirt trail Galloping Goose at Happy Valley Road in Langford?
I can think of a few more important uses for the money being spent.
Michele Kiefert
Metchosin
Fix the root causes, not the after-effects
“B.C. gives millions to communities for tackling effects of climate change,” Sept. 19.
Wow! A whole story in a single line.
This is like Trump tossing rolls of paper towels to flood victims. At best this is typical pre-election goodies.
Our government will spend all our wealth on the effects of climate change. But what about fighting climate change itself? Where does that disaster come from?
Eby & Co. still subsidize fracking and fossil fuels in areas bigger than all the tar sands projects in Canada put together. ’Nuff said.
Martin Hykin
Victoria
European sirens would be better
Re: “Emergency vehicles and sirens at night,” letter, Sept. 18.
Though I too am kept awake at night with the endless surge of sirens, most attending the homeless encampment on Pandora Avenue, it should be said these emergency vehicles (fire and ambulance) unlike police are not permitted to operate with flashing lamps alone under the province’s “emergency vehicle driving regulations” pursuant to Section 122 of the Motor Vehicles Act/Regulations.
What could be done is changing the siren tones from the ultra high-frequency American sirens to that of the European low frequency 400/600 KHz which have a good effect in traffic without the penetration of structures that the American sirens have.
The unique tones of the European sirens would also enable the public to differentiate police, fire and ambulance respondents from each other.
Police, however, are exempted from using sirens when responding to calls under regulations where silent appliances would further aid in the protection of life and property.
I hope this clarifies why we are all kept awake at night because of the homeless encampments and chronic drug addicts.
James Cooper
Victoria
Locking people up is compassionate
I might be going against common opinions against the proposal to involuntarily send the brain injured, mentally ill, and drug addicts into locked facilities.
At some point they can no longer make sound decisions for their own good and need long term treatment in a secure setting to keep themselves and society safe.
Some if not most may never be able to live in the community.
How can I feel this way? It’s what we do for our seniors with advanced dementia. We lock them up in care homes, care for them, feed them, love them and give them quality of life.
It’s not cruel. It’s compassion.
Not everyone is able to look after their loved ones or they have no one available who can. Same with the addicts who are unhoused and untreated.
It’s cruel to leave them in the streets to overdose and harm themselves or others. Until there is a better solution out there, I am in full support.
Lucie Jackson
Saanich
A better way to decide about carbon tax
Federal politicians are making the carbon tax a big election issue, when many other issues are more important.
If we end up with an election in the near future, we want to evaluate the overall policy of the party we vote for.
I think the Liberals need to make a policy that when we have the next election there will also be a referendum on the capital gains tax.
Let the public decide. Every party should state before the election if they will consider the referendum results to be binding.
Before the election there should be an all-party committee of financial experts to decide on the pluses and minuses of the capital gains tax.
That includes exactly how the financial effect is calculated for a few income levels. Their agreement should be highly publicized so we don’t have to rely on exaggerations and false statements of self interest groups.
This committee should be formed immediately and given a short window to come to an agreement.
Any actions that could trigger an election should not be permitted until the committee has made their report.
If this committee cannot come to an agreement quick enough, perhaps 30 days, then an impartial arbitrator should be appointed to decide exactly what goes into the report.
Fred Trudell
Saanich
Find a way to pay for trail first aid
It seems that the biggest concern for destaffing the two Island lighthouses has nothing to do with the lighthouses’ real purpose, which is to protect shipping and mariners.
While lightkeepers have provided essential first aid services in times of harm to West Coast Trail users, that is only side benefit being provided to the hikers.
It would seem that if hiker safety is deemed important enough, the hikers should pay for that service.
The fee is $325.25 per person to hike the West Coast Trail. This includes trail permit, reservation fee, fees for the two ferry crossings on the trails, and national park entry fee.
If $100, or so, were added to this fee, it could fund first aid for injured hikers. The persons manning the first aid station(s) could be volunteers or possibly National Park employees in which supervision of the attendants is already in place.
If the extra $100 fee does not cover the whole cost of the service, the B.C. Government could fund the cost shortfall. Since the national park service does not provide first aid services for remote parks, it could do so if the funding was solely from the collection of fees, with no net cost to the national parks budget.
Problem solved!
Bruce Morrison
Victoria
No-fault insurance should also be scrapped
If Premier David Eby can flip-flop on the carbon tax, certainly he can do the same for the ICBC no-fault model that is an insult and an abomination of car insurance by any standard.
Mike Wilkinson
Duncan
Research that makes a difference
Wow. Research at the University of Victoria is discovering that Pleistocene-era teenagers from 25,000 years ago went through similar puberty stages as modern-day youth.
Money well spent.
Mike Turner
North Saanich
Simple solutions for road safety
I have written and re-written this letter too many times to count.
Focused on all users of our roads, both broadly and individually, with no way to really make the point I wanted to make.
But, I think that the solution has presented itself in a “eureka” moment. Here it is.
All roads would be safer for all users if one simple thing happened: Follow the rules.
Stop for red lights and stop signs. Don’t walk when the light is red or showing the “don’t walk” symbol. Obey speed limits. Use turn signals. Be a defensive driver/rider/pedestrian.
Wouldn’t it be great if this were to happen? No more complaining about drivers ignoring cyclists and vice versa. Utopia!
Ron Sleen
Victoria
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