Plenty of land for the unhoused
There may be a perfect location to establish an acceptable campsite for Victoria’s unhoused population that is within easy walking distance to the Mustard Seed and Our Place.
There are 4.5 acres of fenced vacant land adjoining Pembroke and Government streets for lease by a company owned by the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations.
Camping platforms would need to be provided for people to secure their tents. Other services needed would be port-a-potties, shower trailers, water tanks and garbage bins.
Yes, this proposal would require significant funding, but in the long run would likely save money while providing a “tent city” that could be acceptable to both the camping residents and the public.
Phil Dauphinee
Victoria
We need a U-turn on transportation funding
Re: “$95 million for bus lanes to cut transit time between Victoria and West Shore,” July 30.
This is great news, and we hope it signals a new direction for transportation investments in our region and province.
Until now B.C. Transit’s RapidBus network has been built out slowly and incrementally, with small projects approved infrequently.
Other bus services have also suffered from under-investment, and overcrowding is a chronic problem.
In the past, instead of prioritizing public transit, the provincial government favoured highway expansion projects that make traffic worse and increase greenhouse gas pollution.
This continued even after 2021, when the Capital Regional District unanimously approved its policy prioritizing public transit, walking, rolling and cycling over highway expansion.
Better transit means improved livability, safety and health — especially with electric buses. It also makes life more affordable by allowing families to live well with fewer cars.
The provincial climate plan targets 25% less traffic (vehicle kilometres travelled) by 2030. We need much more investment in bus lanes, a new transit maintenance centre, many more buses, and much more to meet this ambitious climate target.
Given the increasing prevalence of disastrous fires and floods on our overheating planet, Jasper being a recent example, we must meet or beat every one of our climate targets.
And that can’t happen without a U-turn on transportation funding.
Eric Doherty, Marion Pape and Jane Welton
Climate Justice Team Co-leads
Greater Victoria Acting Together
Mountain pine beetle linked to climate change
Re: “Blame mismanagement for wildfires,” letter, July 30.
The letter blames federal government “mismanagement” of forests, particularly prohibiting controlled burns at the request of the “environmental movement,” for the disaster at Jasper.
The letter also claims that citing climate change as a root cause of wildfires is “obfuscation,” as the problem is dead trees, victims of the real culprit, the mountain pine beetle.
The cause of the mountain pine beetle outbreak was climate change. Warming temperatures allowed the beetles to survive our winters, hence the destruction.
Also, is there any proof that the “environmentalist movement” refused to allow controlled burns? Or is this just more disinformation?
Leslie Myers
Saanich
A health-care solution that is out of this world
Our Gang in Ottawa has failed to do much about the health-care crisis in Canada. What are their plans for the future of medicare? Haven’t seen any!
If Tommy Douglas knew that Canadians were suffering and even dying for lack of timely medical treatment, he would be shocked.
It might be time to recruit experienced doctors and nurses from other parts of the galaxy. This would no doubt be expensive, but the high level of expertise demonstrated by extraterrestrial medical professionals would make it ultimately worthwhile.
Treatment such as surgery would be quick, pain-free and bloodless. Hospital stays could be reduced or eliminated altogether. Taxpayers would love that!
Newly arrived health-care workers need not be affected by our serious housing shortage. Elon Musk could put them up in his SpaceX Hotel.
Sew me up, Scotty!
Cheera Crow
Brentwood Bay
Seagull-splattered sidewalks need cleaning
Victoria boasts of being a tourist destination, promotes itself as The City of Gardens, encourages several thousand cruise ship passengers to wander the streets of downtown, and annually spends considerable funds to attract visitors from all over the world.
It’s surprising, then, that those in charge of promoting our city would allow the condition of our downtown sidewalks to deteriorate to their present deplorable condition.
If you’ve been downtown recently, you’ll know I’m referring to the considerable accumulations of seagull poop everywhere. Walking along any sidewalk in downtown Victoria at this time of year is a precarious endeavour because of seagull rear-ends letting go from the roofs of buildings.
Why doesn’t our city, like so many other cities of the world, have a regular labour force whose job it is to keep our sidewalks clean and presentable, especially during the season when seagulls use the sidewalks as their toilet?
If there’s a bylaw that requires property and/or shop owners to shovel snow from the sidewalk in front of their establishments, why isn’t there a bylaw requiring them to hose down their sidewalks when they are awash with stinky seagull splatter?
If there is a bylaw, why isn’t it being enforced?
If we want tourists to continue visiting our city and local residents to consider downtown as an option when choosing a place to live, then let’s not give them another reason to stay away.
Steve Murphy
Victoria
Looming stone age? No, be more positive
Re: “A hint of the stone age if we don’t change,” letter, July 27.
The letter certainly creatively outlined a dystopian apocalyptic future futile scenario.
Yes we have a serious climate crisis, but not in the ultra-extreme negative outlined. I wonder if this writer even finds it worthwhile getting up in the morning.
Suggestion: See the positive aspects that are taking place; sprinkle your breakfast with a dose of hope and optimism. It’ll taste much better!
John Vanden Heuvel
Victoria
Buses on the E&N might make more sense
The announcement of $95 million for a 3.6-kilometre widening of the Trans-Canada Highway between the McKenzie Avenue interchange and the highway off-ramp to Colwood for dedicated bus lanes may well cut some of the transit time between Victoria and the West Shore, but is it truly the “transformative” win-win solution of the infamous Colwood Crawl as the local and provincial politicians purportedly believe?
Call me a skeptic, since two considerations not mentioned in their effusive endorsement of this “solution” warrant mention.
First, the estimated cost is very likely to grow by multiple millions before tenders are called in the fall, and this may well increase again during early 2025 construction when site conditions, change orders and other factors become the reality.
Second, since the transportation minister and his officials have been aware of the Crawl problem for many years, and have access to numerous reports directly relevant to the issue, taxpayers are entitled to an explanation as to why they believe this 3.6-kilometre widening will improve commute times in a more cost-effective manner when compared to other options.
One such option would involve repurposing 16 kilometres of the old E&N rail corridor between Langford and Victoria to a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service.
Additional study could well deem this corridor feasible for a paved single lane to support a BRT service running at peak times, south in the morning, and north in the evening.
Speaking to the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce in May 2018, then-premier John Horgan supported “thinking about tearing up the tracks in favour of buses.”
Would it reduce commute times more than the proposed 3.6-km solution? Would it cost $95 million? It deserves investigation and taxpayers deserve answers.
Bob Beazley
Victoria
Give the health workers their back pay
The end of the provincial health emergency is great news, but much too late.
How many medical professionals were able to keep their credentials up to date while being denied work for years? Everyone who was forced to give up their careers because of these mandates should be compensated.
We should also talk about an apology for all British Columbians who were unable to access health care over this duration. Restricting the supply of health care workers harmed all of us.
Scott Newson
Nanaimo
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