Sorry for offence with ‘colonial’ commentary
On Aug. 26, I published a commentary that editors titled “Tolerate me for what I am — a colonial.”
Many readers, however, found the topic of colonialism or the language of “coming out” too serious to be treated satirically.
I take responsibility for offence caused and say “sorry” to fellow humans whose social and historical challenges are much more difficult than any I have faced, or whose privileges are fewer than those I have enjoyed here in this place and this country.
I apologize to any who felt attacked or trivialized by my piece.
Yeah, I’m an old colonial. But I’m still trying to learn new lessons.
Dennis Danielson
Sidney
Decolonize our minds so we can move ahead
Maybe the actual meaning of the word colonialism needs to be understood. In the Merriam-Webster and the Collins dictionaries it means “domination of a people or area by a foreign state or nation: the practice of extending and maintaining a nation’s political and economic control over another people or area to increase its own power and wealth.”
The definition itself is evidence that it was not of much benefit to the millions of Indigenous peoples who lived here for millennia.
So taking this fact and the logical thinking that flows from it, who actually benefited?
Historical fact and the present-day reality tells us it was the colonial settlers who benefited by stealing the land, exploiting it, generating great wealth for themselves and extending their lifespans, which continues to this day.
In contrast, according to historical fact and present-day reality, the population of Indigenous peoples can only be described as near extermination through starvation, disease and displacement, and the final solution cultural genocide through the residential school system that tore up families and communities, taught self-hate and loathing, the results of which Indigenous peoples are still recovering from to this day.
Colonization is alive and well. We still have an Indian Act, we still control all the land and resources that we continue to benefit from by generating wealth for ourselves at the expense of Indigenous peoples, we still have rampant racism and inequality.
Blaming and shaming are unproductive and solve nothing. Guilt and being defensive solve nothing.
What will bring solutions is acknowledging the facts of history and the reality of the present and seeking to make amends and correct it.
We settlers continue to benefit and Indigenous people are still fighting for their human rights. Colonialism is nothing to be proud of, but it happened and is still happening.
It’s time to own up and take responsibility for a system that needs to be dismantled. We all need to decolonize our minds.
Lorna Hillman
Victoria
No Canadian shipyards bid on the ferry work
Two recent letters blew off steam with no indication that research was done on the topic.
I hate reading fiction in the Times Colonist. I can go to my local library to read fiction.
In January 2020, B.C. Ferries put out bids for a new LNG fuelled ferry.
Sixteen bids were submitted from international shipyards. Not one bid was submitted by a Canadian shipyard.
The winning bid went to Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. of Poland.
Chuck Ko of Allied Shipyards in North Vancouver said that his company cannot compete with overseas shipyards cost-wise, thus it would be a major waste of time to even put a bid in.
Wages in B.C. are just too high.
Joe Sawchuk
Duncan
A reminder about school zone speeding
As I write this we are about 36 hours from the start of another school year.
I have the enviable, or not, view of one of the busier intersections in Chemainus with a school right across the street.
So, all of you scofflaws out there, will you continue to blow through the stop signs and not stop to check before turning onto Pine Street, or will your attitude suddenly change?
This is going to be a very busy intersection come Tuesday morning and like all the schools in the province speed zones will be in effect.
So, take care, drive safe and stay alive.
John Hobbs
Chemainus
Great move, Nanaimo, in cutting emissions
The decision of Nanaimo city council to reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions by speeding up the adoption of regulations to move to cleaner fuels is very welcome.
Nanaimo is not doing well in reaching GHG reduction targets and this will help. Those who say that this will make home heating more expensive are blowing smoke.
Heat pumps are the best alternative and are highly efficient and more than capable of keeping homes warm in our climate. In addition, they add cooling so no need for separate air conditioning.
Our experience is that hundreds of dollars in total energy costs are saved by moving to a heat pump. Better for the individual and better for the planet.
Thank you, Nanaimo council!
Barbara MacLellan
Nanaimo
Heat pump technology has been proven
In the late 1970s, we owned a home in Burlington, Ontario, which had a heat pump. This device warmed us in cold weather and cooled us during warm days. It was highly efficient and a financial blessing.
At the time, there was not the emphasis on climate control that we see today and it was purely by accident that we got to experience this technology.
Now, I wonder why there is not more promotion of, or government incentives for, the use of this existing technology.
Sometimes a solution is right in front of us.
Dawn Devereaux
Victoria
A vow to stay away from the new washrooms
The new washrooms in downtown Victoria probably will only be used by the homeless, as the thought of coming across a needle on the seat or picking up some unwanted germ will be foremost on the minds of the public.
I will have to venture again to the Bay Centre where the toilets are always in a clean and safe state. The outdoor toilets will never be used by many other than the street population.
Valerie Bellefleur
Victoria
Reduce the reliance on all those screens
Re: “Who decides if smartphones support learning?” column, Sept. 3.
With great respect to Geoff Johnson’s opinion on education issues, I’m grateful to any school authority who makes an effort to remove phone distraction in classrooms.
It’s disappointing to see government dither on this obvious problem. As I see it, the technology was thrust upon adults and children all at the same time and we haven’t learned good collective etiquette and efficiency around its use, nor its true health impact.
As the tech took hold, I was sure there would at least be a cautious approach in the school setting, but it hasn’t gone that way.
We hear of a brave few jurisdictions heeding the advice of UNESCO, by putting students’ health ahead of technological convenience.
Now, here comes artificial intelligence to again roll over caution in the name of the profit motive. Ottawa and other governments aren’t in a hurry to regulate this, and now there’s talk of Big Tech getting a seat at the table beside world governments.
Johnson is resigned to phones in classrooms, the horse being “out of the barn” on this unfortunate ripple effect. The stakes are too high for world governments to knuckle under in the same way on AI, which is saying something against the health of children.
We should be howling about this, but I look in every direction to see heads bowed at screens.
Steve Ireland
Denman Island
Blame all those taxes rather than interest rates
While Premier David Eby is right about interest rates, it is not the primary reason people in B.C. are hurting.
We are taxed to death. Housing tax, PST, gas tax, carbon tax, liquor tax. I am sure Eby has tried to think of what we are not taxed on, primarily so he could add a tax on it.
If you want to see the people and businesses in B.C. thrive, cut our taxes!
Greg Mathews
Duncan
Health care in B.C.? Abject failure
Yet another nail in the coffin of B.C.’s health care. Operating capacity in Victoria has to be reduced. Insufficient staff.
Who controls staffing recruitment numbers? Our government. Who is supposed to forward plan to ensure adequate health care delivery as per the Canada Health act? Our government. Who has sufficient data to predict oncoming staff shortages in each and every section of our health system? Our government. Who doesn’t openly admit to its own shortcomings? Our government.
Who has failed to hear the years-long warnings of impending critical staffing numbers? Our government.
Extrapolating from England’s recent numbers, about 12,000 B.C. patients will die while on surgical waiting lists. Although only some of these deaths can be attributed to waiting for surgery, one can conclude that thousands of patients’ last months of life have been marred by suffering because of unavailable but necessary surgery.
Once again, those patients can thank our government.
On a recent media phone interview, I was asked how did I compare this NDP government with previous governments.
My reply was that both of their performances can only be described as pathetic.
Reducing operating capacity, closing emergency rooms, critical reductions in hospitalist numbers in Nanaimo and many other measures too numerous to itemize confirm my verdict.
I would add “abject failure” to my description.
Dr. Adrian Fine, MD, FRCP
Retired medical specialist
Director of B.C. Health Care Matters
Victoria
Higher density does not mean more crime
Re: “Difficult measures needed as Greater Victoria densifies,” editorial, Sept. 1.
Difficult measures indeed are needed to improve our city, but this editorial missed the mark.
Unsustainable housing prices are not unique to Victoria, as even small Interior towns are facing an extreme rise in rental costs. This is not simply the result of geography.
Low interest rates allowed those with capital to hoard real estate while restrictive zoning prevents construction of new mixed-use developments. Look no further than Oak Bay, where only a single large build has occurred in the last decade.
The editorial uses a handwaving correlation to suggest density leads to higher crime. I find this hypothesis preposterous; obviously increasing poverty due to higher cost of living is a much more likely cause.
Suggesting that we ramp up law enforcement budgets struck me as wildly tone deaf. Dense urban centres exist around the world without militarized police forces.
We don’t need to mimic our neighbours to the south when our friends across the pond in either direction have safe, affordable metropolitan streets we could aspire to share.
Worried about farmland? Then build on golf courses.
R.L. Nixon
Oak Bay
Are there optimists about our future?
I think it is an established fact that nobody knows what the future will bring. Yet in the news, we are constantly bombarded by gurus, seers, oracles and know-alls, trying to indoctrinate, even brainwash us into believing their opinions of the future.
Why are all these people such pessimists ? Much changes during times longer than the human lifespan, as history shows, even climate. Think mystery, not disaster, and be grateful for carbon dioxide.
G.R. Greig
Victoria
Victoria should look after those already here
Re: “Difficult measures needed as Greater Victoria densifies,” editorial, Sept. 1.
The editorial says increasing densification will ease housing prices in Victoria. It won’t.
Look to Vancouver: it has the highest density in Canada but also the highest prices, with Victoria only a little behind in both density and price.
Squeezing in more housing here will make bad traffic worse, medical care harder to find, will replace tree- and garden-lined streets with cookie-cutter townhouses, but it will not make the city more affordable.
Just in 2022, enough new people moved to B.C. to create another Saanich, and nothing little Victoria does will have any effect on meeting the demand. It’s time Victoria did what’s good for the citizens of Victoria instead of doing what’s good for the developers who profit from newcomers.
Raymond Fischer
Victoria
Which ‘honorific’? Why do we need any of them?
Regarding the recent story about a school near Montreal sending a letter to parents about the Mx. honorific to be used by a gender-neutral teacher.
In this day and age, and given the evolution of our society to acceptance of all gender identities, why is any honorific (Mr., Mrs., Ms. or the newest Mx.) needed?
Why can’t we all just be identified by our names, first and last, or including a middle initial if one prefers that? Seems like a very simple change to adopt to show that we truly don’t have to know or care what gender identity anyone has!
Laurie Crozier
Ucluelet
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