Letters March 3: Don’t put museum in Langford; Tides Canada not funding blockades

Museum in Langford makes no sense

Re: “Langford planning $87M arts centre that includes Maritime Museum," Feb. 28.

Whoever heard of a coastal city hiding its Maritime Museum among a complex of big-box stores some distance inland? Relocation to Langford is nonsensical.

The Maritime Museum was treated shabbily by the provincial government when it was evicted from its premises in Bastion Square with no alternative site available other than storage for its collection.

If the building was so unsafe, why is it now being considered for other uses after lying dormant for some years?

Thus, a financially attractive offer from Langford must have seemed irresistible to the museum’s directors, despite the obvious unsuitability of the proposed location.

Tourists staying downtown or arriving on cruise ships and the MV Coho are not going to battle their way to an out-of-town shopping centre on a clogged highway.

Then there is the go-it-alone policy of Langford Mayor Stew Young who, in the absence of any regional plan or integrated transport agreement, seems intent on grabbing regional facilities for his own neighbourhood.

Although there is much to admire in the improvements to Langford, it remains a difficult place to reach for most capital region residents.

This kind of parochial competition and lack of planning has blighted cities all over North America. Lured by cheap land, developers build on the outskirts of cities leading to urban sprawl, decaying downtown cores, an increased dependence on cars and the eventual need for expensive infrastructure expansion.

Let’s hope Greater Victoria doesn’t follow the same path. Relocating the Maritime Museum is not a good omen.

John Weaver
Victoria

Wear a mask when on an airplane

Clearly, the major spreader of coronavirus around the world is airplanes.

On every flight, there invariably are passengers coughing and sneezing and suffering from respiratory ailments while we all breathe the same recycled airplane air. None of them are ever wearing masks.

After always getting sick following flights, I always wear a mask when I fly and can assure you it only takes about five minutes to get used to wearing the device.

At the end of the day, it goes a long way in assisting to prevent the spread of any airborne disease. Why do you think every healthcare professional always wears one?

If we want to curtail the spread of airborne diseases, every passenger should be issued a mask (with replacement masks doled out on long flights) upon boarding any plane and instructed they must wear it or they won’t be allowed to board.

Hopefully this will become a new regulation, not just during this particular outbreak, but moving forward. It is basic and it is simple and it prevents the spread of airborne diseases.

Joyce Hubert Hodd
Victoria

Birds and the Macdonald statue

Re: “Removal of Sir John A. Macdonald statue focus of reconciliation talk,” March 1.

There is a simple solution to the Macdonald statue conundrum: Allow the statue to remain, but don’t keep it clean of bird droppings. The result would be a fitting illustration of a historical figure with a somewhat sullied reputation.

Jonathan Stoppi
Saanich

Tides Canada is not funding blockades

Re: “Last things First Nations need is foreign groups hijacking our future,” comment, Feb. 27.

Tides Canada shares the serious concern of many Canadians around the suffering being experienced by communities due to the conflict of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territories.

Yes, Tides Canada has made charitable donations over the years to support Wet’suwet’en environmental and cultural stewardship, including fish tagging and cultural programs.

This information has always been publicly available in our online annual reports, and charitable filings.

We are proud of these contributions.

However, we need to correct information in a recent article by Ellis Ross published in the Times Colonist. Tides Canada is not funding the protests or blockades responding to the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

In fact, Tides Canada never funds direct action, we fund only compliant charitable activities, as governed and laid out by the Canada Revenue Agency. And, to avoid contributing to further divisions within the community, we are not funding any side of the current pipeline dispute.

The events of recent weeks are further evidence of our problematic colonial legacy. By pushing forward with development while neglecting to prioritize the deep governance-revitalization work required in reconciliation, an apparent no-win situation has been created.

We must invest the time, space and resources to support self-determined Indigenous governance systems. And to that end, we are supportive of the recent progress that is being made in discussions about Indigenous rights and title.

Joanna Kerr
President and CEO, Tides Canada