Get used to the sirens around Dowler Place
At Tuesday’s meeting where 300 people confronted Victoria’s mayor and council over the siting of the Society of Living Intravenous Drug users (SOLID) facility to cater for said drug addicts, Mayor Marianne Alto dismissed objections to the existence of such a place, funded by the city taxpayers, saying that “This is an essential service. These are health services that are not … up for debate.”
To which I respond, “Balderdash!”
Providing a $2 million place where drug addicts can congregate and do their thing is manifestly not health care. This is enabling, not reducing, the harm. Its existence is so misguided, I can hardly believe the idea ever saw the light of day.
I hope the folks who live there are used to the sound of sirens in the night.
David Hansen
Victoria
Previous shopping area had a better mix
Re: “Cordova Bay businesses struggling with Saanich ban on portable signs,” Aug. 31.
Poor signs aren’t the main reason why Gigi’s Italian Specialty store is suffering, it’s the fact that there is no reason for most people to visit that plaza on a regular basis.
She is the sole retailer in the entire complex. When the developer initially pitched the idea for the Haro, he promised the essentials of the “15 minute neighbourhood” with eateries and retail shops anchored by a full-size grocery store.
Whatever the shortcomings of the old Cordova Bay Plaza, it housed a supermarket with the best butcher on the Peninsula, a dollar store, a bakery, a cafe, a bank, etc., all destinations that attracted frequent stops.
Due to the high cost of purchase or lease, it is no surprise that the new complex is dominated by professional offices, e.g. a lawyer, a wealth adviser, a bank, a dentist and assorted medical offices plus a spa.
There are still a few vacant storefronts two years after official opening. We never got the replacement grocery store and the largest premises are occupied by a fitness gym that attracts a younger crowd than the age of most residents of Cordova Bay.
Apart from the gym, there is no need to visit any of these facilities on an impromptu or daily basis. I feel particularly sorry for the condo owners who paid dearly to overlook the parking lot with its LED signs that blight the night.
Clearly the developer and Saanich council missed a great opportunity to create a vibrant community space in the core village.
All of these problems were anticipated and voiced by the community but fell on deaf ears. For now, Mattick’s Farm gets my business. Gigi’s might consider doing the same.
Janet Munson
Cordova Bay
Politicians, please say what you will do
Here’s a message to all of the individuals running for election this year: Please stop with the garbage ads in the media that simply decry the villainy of your opposition.
Instead of telling me over and over again how bad this candidate is, or how this candidate is going to destroy the province, or ruin my life, how about you tell me how you and your party are going to make it better.
The pressure on the common Canadian and British Columbian has never been greater.
Financial strains, degrading urban safety and decay, unprecedented business closings are all growing and getting worse.
The middle class is quickly disappearing with more and more jobs being relocated overseas.
Tell me how you and your party are going to turn things around.
Quit telling me to either vote for you or vote for an incredible ogre who doesn’t share your ideals.
Attack, attack, attack, that’s all I see and hear.
No solutions, no plans, no ideas.
Except the Green Party who stated they will raise taxes. At least they are honest.
Dewane Ollech
Victoria
How to slow bicycles speeding on PKOLS
Two word solution: speed bumps.
Richard Savard
Esquimalt
P.S. I cycle.
Borrowing more money to subsidize housing
So the NDP government will put up $672 million to provide subsidized housing.
Considering that they are already running a deficit and have increased the provincial debit to $85 billion, they must borrow to cover this “promise.”
Apparently the present debt interest payment of $11.2 million per day is not a problem for the NDP.
Well it is a problem for me, and especially for my grandchildren.
Don Graham
Chemainus
Nuchatlaht land claim did not meet guidelines
Re: “Nuchatlaht First Nation appeals decision on Aboriginal title,” Sept. 18.
Respecting the report on the appeal filed by the Nuchatlaht, the article would have been more balanced if it had noted that Mr. Justice Elliott Myers followed the Supreme Court of Canada’s test for determining Aboriginal title.
The claimants did not convince the justice that they met the guidelines to succeed in their claim for some 50,000 acres of Nootka Island. It was a detailed and thoughtful decision, which can be found on the B.C. Supreme Court’s judgment data base.
The Haida Gwaii agreement in principle between the Haida Nation and the NDP government went far beyond the Supreme Court’s guidelines. Little wonder that the Nuchatlaht would now ask for a similar deal.
I wonder if the NDP’s reconciliation policies will become an issue during the election campaign.
Richard McCandless
Brentwood Bay
These seniors are walking the talk
Re: “Will we reduce our use of fossil fuels?” letter, Sept. 17.
The writer raises valid concerns regarding “whether the attendees will follow through,” however most members of Seniors for Climate Victoria are walking, biking or taking public transit, have significantly curtailed air travel and are vegetarian.
This is a group of people who walk the talk and the same can be said for many who will attend this rally.
We also take issue with the unfair criticism of Trevor Hancock and Seniors for Climate Victoria for allegedly failing to consider the role of human behaviour in transitioning to a clean energy economy.
It is actually our understanding of the role of human behaviour in societal change that motivates our efforts.
American psychologist William James stated: “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.”
Hancock’s columns and efforts of 60 groups organizing climate rallies across Canada on Oct. 1 are intended to do exactly that; educate and alter attitude.
The statement that “most people, not just seniors, won’t willingly sacrifice their comfortable fossil-fuelled lifestyle” is probably true. The key word here is “willingly.”
The consequences of inaction are becoming increasingly evident to a growing percentage of the global population who appreciate the magnitude and urgency of the climate crisis and are now “willingly” working toward positive change.
In the history of change and forward progress of the human condition, nihilism has never been a driving force.
Tim Watson
Seniors for Climate Victoria
Include psychologists in medical coverage
It’s lovely that governments are finding extra funding to pay for dental care and in vitro fertilization in the midst of a public health emergency centred on mental health, while not actually coming up with new ideas to include psychologists in the medical services plan?
Psychological services are proven to work as well as medication and improve the efficacy of medications when they are done in combination.
Psychologist are doctors of mental health and a great value add to the system, but only for those who can afford it. No one dies because of a lack of access to IVF or dental care, but thousands of people are dying of overdose and suicide.
Where are the governments’ priorities?
Kelly Price, PhD
registered psychologist
Victoria
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