Nobody really chooses life on the street
Re: “Amid the stench and noise, it’s a miserable life,” commentary, Dec. 7.
Thank you to Willi Beopple. Her message was a great reminder that amongst the homeless there are people there due to unfortunate circumstances. We tend to think that all the homeless are addicted.
I believe Willi’s story is true for a lot of people that find themselves on the street. I have heard many stories over the years that while not the same are similar.
One I will never forget is a man in his late 50s who had worked all his life, had a small home and one day he jumped over a small fence to help an elderly lady who had fallen. He tripped and fell shattering his ankle. Ultimately, he could not return to work and was unable to find anything else due to his age.
He eventually lost his home and lived in a building as described by Willi. Welfare barely covered his rent. That is only one of many I met over the seven years I worked with our church on the program.
I am not naive as I recognize the drug and alcohol problems that are out there.
Let’s try to remember that no one truly chooses that life, whether it is drugs or alcohol or circumstance. I don’t have the answers, but I do try to support causes that endeavour to help.
Les Gabitous
Victoria
Return to pastures will work for everyone
Re: “Amid the stench and noise, it’s a miserable life,” commentary, Dec. 7.
Willi Boepple’s account of life in “supportive housing” was too close to hell on Earth.
A society that spends billions on amusement, pets, lotteries etc. needs to know what respectable working unfortunates like Willi are suffering.
A segregation of the hopelessly damaged from life’s other casualties could surely be better managed.
Willi reminded us of the healthful farming life she once had and still yearns for. We nixed the proposed Woodwynn Farm project and many have now realized the errors of over-stringent bylaws.
They protect institutional monopolies more than community interests. An overall disengagement from central urban locations would benefit many of the misplaced like Willi.
It is not too late to reinstate and crowd fund something similar to Woodwynn. With an abundance of volunteers and donated equipment it would surely prosper.
Maybe Willi’s inspiring words will spark a renewed attempt to return lost souls to the soil and pastures where nature and honest toil can heal best of all.
Russell Thompson
Victoria
Janion was a derelict back in 1994
Re: “As rules change, time’s up for some short-term rentals in B.C.,” Dec. 9.
This article said the Janion Building was “given transient zoning designation ahead of the 1994 Commonwealth Games, when the city was short of space for visitors.” That is incorrect.
In 1994, the Janion was a vacant derelict unable to serve as accommodation for anyone, transient or otherwise. During my term on Victoria council (2008-2011), we backed then Mayor Dean Fortin’s challenge to the owner of the building to put it on the market or face involuntary heritage designation to prevent demolition, which the owner had a permit for.
The building was sold afterwards, restored and the modern addition completed in 2016.
While transient use was supported by subsequent councils, it is historically incorrect, if not misleading, to claim that it was pressed into service for the Commonwealth Games, more than 20 years before its restoration.
John Luton
Victoria
Studio apartments are home for some
Re: “As rules change, time’s up for some short-term rentals in B.C.,” Dec. 9.
Short-term rental operator Nancy Paine was quoted as saying “you are literally opening your bed in the living room.”
They’re called studio apartments, and all some can afford.
Anne Marie Andrews
Victoria
Don’t forget Winnipeg’s university collegiate
Re: “VIU’s independent high school to cease operations after 28 years,” Dec. 10.
The statement that the high school at Vancouver Island University is “one of the only two high schools in Canada directly associated with a university” (the other being the University of Toronto Schools) is false.
The University of Winnipeg Collegiate is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and continues to thrive as a cherished component of that institution.
The U of W Collegiate offers top-quality high school programming from the central historical building on the university’s campus in downtown Winnipeg, its leader is named a dean as part of the University’s administration, and its teachers and students are treated as valued members of the University of Winnipeg community.
As president of the University of Winnipeg long before Vancouver Island University was established, I took great pride in the distinction our Collegiate gave us among Canada’s other higher education institutions.
Robin Farquhar
Victoria
Donated organs bring the gift of life
It’s coming on Christmas and I have someone I want to thank but have no way of doing so.
A year and a half ago, I received a double lung transplant. The donor isn’t here to thank and my letter to the family went unanswered.
I know some things about them — but not their name, nor how old they were or their favourite flavour of ice cream. I know they died young and quite probably of a drug overdose.
Thousands have shared their fate in B.C. over the past seven years. A lot has been written about them. One thing I haven’t seen talked about is how through their deaths, so many others have found life.
So I would like to thank all the persons, whose names I do not know, who have died of overdoses and either they or their families have donated their organs.
Through your giving, so many hundreds have found life and for that I am eternally grateful.
Ken Gordon
Sidney
Difference between science and voodoo
A recent letter said that “science shows natural gas, oil and coal must decrease by 45 per cent, 60 per cent and 100 per cent respectively.”
No, science does not. Voodoo science maybe does.
Real science, objectively and disinterestedly conducted claims nothing of the sort. But the voodoo is embraced.
Why? As Joseph Goebbels affirmed over 85 years ago, tell a big enough lie and keep telling it, and it will be believed.
And that was before the advent of social media, through which lies can be spread with exponentially greater speed than in his day.
Tony Parr
Duncan
Allow foreign doctors to practise here
Canada does not have enough doctors, but we have doctors living in Canada that moved from a foreign country.
Our government will not let them practice medicine in Canada unless they upgrade their medical qualifications in relation to Canadian medical standards.
This is ironic as a lot of us on vacation in a foreign country at one time or another had to see a foreign doctor in regards to a medical problem. They treated us with our medical problem just like our doctors do here.
If that is the case, then our government is wrong that these doctors have to upgrade to Canadian medical standards.
Foreign doctors should be allowed to immediately be employed as doctors in Canada.
Unbelievable!
Joe Sawchuk
Duncan
High praise for treatment in Bellingham
On the TV news and in your paper, there have been recent articles regarding the B.C. Cancer radiation program being offered to patients to travel to Bellingham, Washington, to have their treatment.
My wife was offered treatment for cancer in Bellingham and we took them up on it.
I urge anyone eligible to take advantage of what is being offered to get your treatment sooner and to help reduce the waiting times in B.C. cancer treatment centres.
We went down in early November for five days of treatment. The cancer program pays for ferries, hotel, mileage and $53 Cdn. a day each for the patient and a companion for meals.
The hotel was clean and the staff friendly and was only a 10-minute drive to a modern state-of-the-art clinic. A full breakfast was included in the hotel stay and there was even a free glass of wine or beer with a snack every evening.
The clinic staff were all friendly and professional.
Although being away from your home for the length of your treatment is an inconvenience, it is better than waiting possibly months for the treatment you or your family member needs.
Once again, if eligible, please make use of this program and help free up space and time in our overloaded health-care system.
Don Kirkpatrick
Youbou
A shameful way to reduce the wait list
Re: “With cancer treatment delayed, man opts for medically assisted death,” Dec. 6.
I found this story disturbing on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to start. One of the most unsettling things was Dr. Kim Nguyen Chi’s insistence on painting a rosy picture for cancer care in B.C. within the next 10 years, even as he casually dismissed or denied the facts regarding current delays in access to treatment.
His refusal to fully acknowledge the devastating reality that cancer patients live with makes his statement that he shares their distress because “any wait is too long when [people] are faced with cancer” sound superficial and condescending.
But what was really chilling was the fact that MAID was resorted to by the patient as the more timely and easier-to-get option than treatment for his cancer.
I am a strong supporter of MAID, but it was never intended to be used as a replacement for basic treatment or as a way to whittle down the waitlist.
That we have come to this is both shameful and frightening.
Elizabeth Causton
Victoria
Cancer patients need transparency
I am also a victim of the inadequate cancer care in B.C.
Unlike some featured in the Times Colonist in recent days, I did receive chemotherapy, although outside the recommended window.
The worst aspect of the situation was the Cancer Clinic’s administration who kept promising appointments that did not materialize.
You cannot contact those who make booking decisions directly, nor can your doctor, nor will they give you accurate information about wait times that might allow you to seek care elsewhere in a timely manner.
The result of this is that I, like so many, wind up hearing from their oncologist, “I’m so sorry. This never should have happened.”
While the frontline staff at the clinic are wonderful, unaccountable bureaucrats are making life and death decisions on unknown criteria as to who is treated and when.
More funding is obviously needed, but that will take time to show results. In the meantime, a new policy of honesty and transparency would be a good start.
Mary Anne Waldron
Victoria
Victoria does not need all these towers
I am heartbroken to read that a 25-storey tower has been approved at Harris Green. What next? A 30-storey tower to be able to reach some sunlight?
It’s time there was a cap on the height of these towers in the downtown core. Victoria’s downtown is becoming ugly and is no longer the city people come from around the globe to visit.
And then there is the issue of increased heat from these buildings and less tree canopy which together impacts climate change.
If neighbouring municipalities stepped up to the plate with densification strategies, the spread of the densification would allow the heights of buildings across the region to be reduced.
The only people laughing all the way to the bank at the moment are the developers. And, can I just ask — will these be affordable rentals?
Joanne Wiggins
Victoria
Removing green spaces is not the best idea
I’m always amused by those who would, or those that advocate to, remove large parcels of green space to allow for affordable housing.
Housing is not affordable in most areas of Vancouver Island because, for one thing, there is a charge or tax and cost for bringing everything over from the mainland.
Removing a golf course in the middle of the urban sprawl of Greater Victoria makes about as much sense as developing Pkols, or Gowlland Tod Park. I wonder how much tax is levied on those provincial parks?
How about instead of removing recreational areas that are vital for a city’s health, we fully develop the under-used areas around the capital region.
Take Dallas Road, from Ogden Point to Ross Bay Cemetery, we could build 30-storey towers so that hundreds of people can enjoy the view instead of a privileged few dozen.
Ridiculous, right? Of course.
We all need to understand that wanting to live somewhere, and being able to afford living somewhere, are two separate things.
I don’t live in Beverly Hills, or in the Point Grey area of Vancouver, because I can’t afford to.
I live and earn where I can, now there’s a novel idea.
Dewane Ollech
Victoria
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