Really, you can’t get there from here
Having Shelbourne closed is a huge inconvenience but thank the good government, which has it all planned so you have alternative roads clear of construction.
But wait. You can’t go through Cadboro Bay as it’s closed at Cadboro Bay and Sinclair. Okay, I can do this.
Go to McKenzie to Cedar Hill. Turn around. Closed for construction.
Go McKenzie to Gordon Head (lots of extra traffic past the elementary school, which gets crazy busy at school hours).
Can’t go right down Cedar Hill Cross Road to Shelbourne, it being closed, go left and go to Cadboro Bay Road that way. But wait.
Construction hold up just past Lansdowne. Do what others are resorting to; turn round in a driveway and go back to Lansdowne.
Go down Eastdowne to Cadboro Bay and oops! Big delay with construction just past Foul Bay.
Turn around, go home and call in confused. It’s only for another couple of years. No worries.
Julia Pollard
Victoria
Build those ferries here in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½
As ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Ferries are preparing to replace aging vessels I hope they will ensure that they have explored every avenue to build them in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½
They have gone offshore for the cheapest price but at the cost of millions in employment hours and taxpayer dollars and then come to the federal government for relief of the penalty levied for building offshore.
Ivan Crossett
Victoria
Better transit would help climate fight
Re: “Will we reduce our use of fossil fuels,” letter, Sept. 17.
The writer is correct to remind seniors and the rest of the population that attending rallies against climate change is nowhere near enough.
We all know people who fret and tut about our beleaguered planet and then, for example, drive to the store to buy their “jet-fresh” pineapples and east-coast shrimps. And don’t get me started on all those cruise enthusiasts.
However, it would be useful if governments could help us to do the right thing.
They could start by providing reliable public transit. Negotiating the transit system in Victoria requires commitment, perseverance, and either a sense of humour or a grim fatalism.
Many buses arrive radically late or fall off the map altogether, and would-be passengers can be observed at bus-stops swearing at their dysfunctional transit apps.
While I’m grateful for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Transit’s contribution to my physical fitness (I frequently give up and walk), the situation can be dire for some.
I once persuaded an older friend with mobility problems to leave her car at home, and we ended up waiting 40 minutes at one of the least salubrious downtown bus-stops.
So much for that experiment. She hasn’t taken a bus since.
If governments want us to go green, they should try harder to stop us going red in the face with frustration. And I hope I don’t need to remind anyone that the likes of John Rustad and Pierre Poilievre, should they attain power, will only exacerbate an existential crisis.
Hilary Knight
Victoria
Proper therapy takes time and money
Re: “Involuntary care coming for those with severe mental illness, addiction: Eby,” Sept. 17.
Involuntary care will not work for the following reasons:
1. Any person who submits to involuntary care will be resistant to treatment;
2. The usual methodology for such treatment is medication;
3. Once the person is discharged, fidelity in taking such medications ceases either because of the deleterious and harmful side effects and/or because of the cost for them;
4. Very little follow-up care is provided for such a person once he or she is discharged.
The preferred form of care is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy which takes time and, of course, money. Finding a psychiatrist or psychologist or anyone else qualified to conduct CBT takes years, if one is lucky.
The overarching issue in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ is housing, affordable, secure and with built in social supports.
Most of those who suffer from mental disorders or who take illegal drugs have had previous histories of severe childhood trauma and who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or who have been physically handicapped in later life.
As Canadians, we need to show sympathy and good care of those who are in need.
Locking them up is not the way to go.
Margot Todd
Victoria
Odd timing for the plan, with no way to pay
Re: “Involuntary care coming for severe mental illness, addiction: Eby,” Sept. 17.
While I fully support mandatory treatment for severely mentally ill and addicted people who are a danger to themselves or others, there is a problem.
There simply isn’t enough treatment for those who want and are desperate for it, let alone for those who don’t want it.
Curious that Premier David Eby is jumping on the election bandwagon of involuntary treatment, but with not a clue as to how to pay for it.
Steve Housser
Shawnigan Lake
They need our help, but give them dignity
Are people misconstruing the proposals being put forward for dealing with the health crisis on our streets?
Only Julian Day at Our Place seems to have the same perspective as I do, if I understand him correctly.
One has only to walk downtown or past the Pandora and Quadra intersection, as I do regularly, to see the number of people who are clearly in need of help but who may also not have any idea that they need help.
They’re in their own world which doesn’t seem to include any knowledge of basic hygiene or social norms.
I think they are clearly at risk of harm to themselves by sheer neglect of their health and it seems inhumane to ignore their plight.
I believe it’s these people, as well as those who are obviously behaving erratically and possibly of danger to others, who are the ones meant to be affected by the involuntary care proposals.
Surely we can find the resources in this city for them to be treated with dignity while their physical health is restored and their mental health issues addressed.
Are we no longer a caring society?
Lorna Rennie
Victoria
There is no choice in paying carbon tax
Re: “You are choosing to pay carbon tax,” letter, Sept. 17.
Sure, the letter-writer doesn’t pay a lot of direct carbon tax, but if they’re buying groceries or really anything at all, they’re still paying plenty of carbon tax, because the trucks, trains and ferries that deliver their goods are paying carbon tax on the fuels they require to transport the goods, and this cost is passed on to consumers.
On top of that, the government in its infinite wisdom has seen fit to charge GST on carbon tax instead of calculating the amount separately in the cost of goods. In this there is no choice on whether to pay.
Also, what rebate?! I have trouble believing someone who can afford a plug-in hybrid qualifies for the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ carbon pittance — errr, I mean Climate Action Tax Credit — let alone gets very much of it if they do qualify.
April J. Gibson
Duncan
Our hypocrisy on coal exports
Why did federal and provincial governments allow thermal coal (the worst fossil fuel polluter) to be exported through our province after Washington and Oregon banned shipments from their ports in 2014 and 2017?
Our forests are burning, our snow cap is down, permafrost is melting, temperatures are at record heights, oceans are warming, and rivers and streams are drying up. ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ and ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ meanwhile, brag about our climate programs.
After annual increases, last year 19.5 million tons of thermal coal mined in Montana and Wyoming were shipped out of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.
Our governments claim to be climate leaders yet we continue to export the dirtiest fossil fuel through these ports. Neither care.
When this topic was up for debate, West Shore Terminals lobbied for approvals by stating: “A ban will have no impact on global consumption, coal will be sourced elsewhere, and ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ will lose the benefits of the export trade.”
Our federal government used this argument to approve the deal. Our provincial government has sat on its hands on this issue while waxing poetic about its climate leadership.
After graduating from high school, a friend began selling drugs. When I asked him how he could do that he said: “Hey! If I don’t sell it somebody else will.”
It appears that our governments feel the same way about thermal coal.
Leadership is about doing the right thing. How can MPs and MLAs hide behind this hypocritical charade?
Ken Shields
Victoria
Severances a sample of actions to come
The presumptive free enterprise coalition of the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ United/ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Conservative parties has lost all credibility when they are okay with dipping into taxpayer’s money to pay severance compensation to 25 ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ United legislative workers.
These employees rightfully are owed compensation and would have been left high and dry if not for the public purse.
Anyone who cares to see this for the illuminating microcosm that it is, will know that the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Conservatives, having subsumed ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ United, will have no qualms of leaving other regular folks high and dry too, at the expense of their corporate friends who they favour.
Mark Fornataro
Victoria
No prerequisite for bicycle training
Re: “Educate cyclists, enforce rules,” letter, Sept.
This rambling, nonsensical letter is the epitome of misinformed “anti-cyclist” opinion.
It is also factually incorrect – there is not, and never has been, a prerequisite in England (or anywhere in the U.K.) to complete any sort of training to be allowed to ride a bicycle.
Twenty years ago, there was a primary-school “course” for youngsters, offered but not mandatory. As far as “sanity” on the roads, take a look at drivers and driving habits.
I don’t know of any instance where a cyclist has caused “insanity” on a roadway.
The writer has used the usual “dog-whistle” phrases, such as “Spandex warrior,” “licence bikes,” “thinks he owns the road,” etc.
No cyclist would “blow on through the intersection” (mentioned twice in the letter) if there was cross traffic, and saying that this happens is nonsense.
Kenneth Alan
Colwood
The bike lanes are there, so please use them
Re: “Municipalities working together to connect bike lanes,” Sept. 15.
The photograph with the story features the great new bike lanes at Myrtle and Shelbourne Street, with a cyclist appearing to be avoiding the new bike lane, and driving up the centre of the road.
Why do so many cyclists avoid using the new bike lanes everywhere, especially when they’re heading downtown?
Why do so many pedestrians, runners, and cyclists refuse to activate the “Walk Button” at all the newly installed pedestrian crosswalks along Shelbourne, Richmond, Fort and Cook Street so the flashing lights can alert drivers to “STOP”…safely? Imagine!
Sorry, we just don’t understand it, and unfortunately we see it happen every day.
Brian and Patti Shaughnessy
Victoria
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