Omission of women’s titles shows no class
I must admit to being in total disbelief when looking at the photo of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame inductees and reading the names captioned below, to realize that of the eight people inducted, only the names of the three male individuals included references to the sport/position/accomplishment they were involved in.
Having attempted for 40 years to encourage my daughter(s) in sports or whatever life activity they pursue, telling them their endeavours and success are of equal importance to those of any male counterpart, I am proven wrong again.
Without a doubt, the caption on the photo is legitimate (“Nothing but class … ”), but the way it ran in the Times Colonist shows anything but class.
Barry Atchison
Brentwood Bay
Hall of Fame photo caption sexist
The details underneath the picture of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame winners are sexist. Each man listed has adjectives describing his accomplishment. But the women just have their names listed — implying that their accomplishments do not matter.
Elizabeth Monk
Victoria
Use expansion funds for shore power
Kudos to our mayor for making a stand about the cruise ships’ greenhouse-gas emissions.
Cruise ships have been fouling our air for years. People in James Bay have complained continuously about medical symptoms that have occurred over the years, caused by those emissions.
Ian Robertson, chief executive of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, has spelled out how expensive changing over to shore power would be. Well, I have a solution for that. Why not use the funds that have been put aside for a planned expansion of the pier to facilitate larger cruise ships with many more passengers and crew?
Of course, as another writer to the editor suggested, cruise-ship companies could add $5 extra to the $2,000 or more every tourist pays for a cruise.
The extra cost would not even be noticed. Robertson also suggested that because Mayor Lisa Helps demanded to change over to shore power, the cruise-ship companies feel rejected and no longer welcome in Victoria. How sensitive those companies are. Imagine, feeling rejected by our fine city. Not! They just don’t want to pay more.
Ada Serson
James Bay
Cruise ships bring life to James Bay
We all know that having shore power for cruise ships is the best way to go, but having a motion to cap the number of ships and refrain from signing long-term contracts is ludicrous.
Only 16 ports out of 1,000 have shore power right now. This is not something the mayor and council should be trying to push through before their term ends.
In the past eight years, the cruise-ship industry has reduced its pollutants by 41 per cent while increasing the number of ships. They have been working with us and will continue to do so. Our mayor obviously has not done her homework on how much it will cost and how long it will realistically take to change to shore power.
We live in James Bay. We love the life that happens when the cruise-ship season starts. We love meeting and talking to people from all over the world. We see them walking by our home to downtown Victoria empty-handed and then returning with several purchases they have made.
We moved into James Bay in 1995, and oddly enough, I have not talked to one person who doesn’t appreciate what the cruise-ship industry brings into our city.
Why is it that all we ever hear in the news is how upset James Bay residents are about the cruise ships?
Mark Carlow
James Bay
Cruise ships should pay for power
Re: “Island has plenty of power to plug in cruise ships: Hydro,” Oct. 18.
The story quotes the head of the harbour authority as saying they will need to develop a business plan and approach the cruise-ship industry and governments of all levels for funding.
Why? The cost, even if it’s $25 million, is chump change compared with what B.C. Hydro already owes, somewhere south of $50 billion. So Hydro installs the power and sells it to the cruise ships, which no longer have to burn expensive fuel to generate electricity, at enough cost to make a profit.
Why should “all levels of government,” all of which are me, the taxpayer, pay for any part of this?
Ian Cameron
Brentwood Bay
Liberal’s gift bodes well for Parliament
Re: “Grégoire dress has designs on Island,” opinion, Oct. 23.
Thanks to Jack Knox for describing the moment of goodwill when the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke Liberal candidate gave a meaningful gift to his political opponent, New Democrat Randall Garrison, upon the latter’s victory.
In this time of polarized positions, it is a breath of fresh air to hear politicians of different political stripes treating each other with respect and kindness.
May it be a beacon of things to come in the new parliament!
Anke van Leeuwen
Victoria
Election increased voter’s alcohol intake
It seems that many party leaders think that this government will not last the full term, as no party has a majority of the seats. Two years perhaps, they guess.
Elections are messy, expensive things, yet some of those same leaders want a proportional system that would almost guarantee minority governments and more elections.
I recognize that proportional rep is probably a fairer system (mind you, there seem to be an awful lot of very different ways to do proportional rep), but I’m not sure I can take more election campaigns, which seem to result in more animosity among our elected representatives.
They are fatiguing to watch and leave one disheartened and less hopeful. I blame the recent election campaign for increasing my alcohol intake, so they are clearly unhealthy for Canadians as well, though they might be good for the beer and wine industries.
Jon Gage
Victoria
Progressive parties won popular vote
Re: “After the vote, all parties face real uncertainty,” editorial, Oct. 23.
The second sentence of your Oct. 23 editorial states: “Under Andrew Scheer, the Conservatives won the popular vote. … ”
I was shocked to read your sentence, since Scheer only won more than the Liberals.
The combined vote of Greens, NDP, Liberals and BQ was 63 per cent. This continues the previous election’s theme of anyone but Harper.
Please do not continue the misuse of the phrase “the popular vote.” The centre and progressive voters will continue to increase, since young voters do not generally support the Conservatives.
Ronald Schlosberg
Victoria
Election results bad for climate
It’s taken me a couple of days to get over my grief at the results of the federal election.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announced this year that we have 12 years to reverse our destructive impact on the environment and our atmosphere to avoid a point of no return on human-accelerated climate change.
If this federal election was a referendum on Canadians’ willingness to take serious action on climate change, we failed our children’s future miserably.
Whether it’s Mr. Delay (Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau), Mr. Deny (Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer), or Mr. Deluded (NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh), we elected a majority of MPs from parties that do not have the courage to do what it takes for our children’s future.
The big strike for the climate on Sept. 27 saw hundreds of thousands of Canadians come out and show their support for a different future, yet too many people voted for parties with climate-change platforms that barley make a dent in our collective carbon emissions. So, what now?
Lorna Hillman
Victoria
