A white elephant in the making
After nearly 40 years in the commercial banking business, I find it hard to understand why Victoria’s mayor and councillors would consider borrowing upwards of $160 million, and deplete their reserves by another $47 million, to invest in an asset that will, in the words of their consultant, “like all other indoor pools in sa国际传媒 operate at a deficit.”
The current Crystal Pool has operated at an annual deficit of about $2.6 million for the past several years and in the absence of a realistic forecast for the new facility I am confident that, if approved, we will be embracing a white elephant for a long time.
Understanding that property tax increases are forecast to rise by over 10% per annum for the next five years, perhaps now is the time for a little financial austerity especially when it is clear that the city hasn’t the financial capacity to enforce its own bylaws governing daytime camping on our streets.
As an alternative, it is my understanding that the downtown YM/YWCA is looking for a new home, and perhaps opportunities exist for a financially viable partnership that would benefit both.
Mark Appleton
Victoria
Find a way to keep Philippine Mars
Driving over the Malahat to Cobble Hill on Sunday, just south of Mill Bay I saw the incredible Philippine Mars flying in all her glory.
It was her final flight that I had read about in the sa国际传媒.
Later, I learned that it had engine trouble and needed to land at Pat Bay.
After getting to experience the Hawaii Mars inclusion into the sa国际传媒 Aviation Museum and climbing aboard, I have a new suggestion:
Why don’t we just keep Philippine Mars here, so she can be displayed next to her sister Hawaii Mars?
Instead of flying and donating her to Arizona, I think we can make a deal with the Americans.
As a show of good faith, our government could slap a large, exorbitant tariff on Philippine Mars.
As a bargaining chip, this could send a clear message to our American friends.
Charles Pazitch
Victoria
Just get on with development
Much has been made recently about Central Saanich council turning down a proposal for affordable housing.
There is a request for a rezoning, which for these properties also requires a change to the Official Community Plan. Both of these processes require examination of the land use, meaning the size and shape of the buildings and the number of units.
Councillors are not supposed to base their decision on the kind of people who might be living there – whether they be high or low income, where they work, or whether they are First Nations, or any of the other groups that have been touted as benefiting from the development.
Another issue that adds frustration is that the spokesperson for Legion Manor has publicly stated that there is room for development on their property.
He admitted that the aging “cottage” buildings will need to be demolished and replaced in the next three or four years. The Legion Manor property is already zoned for this use in the OCP and there will be no requirement (due to Bill 44) for a public hearing if they develop their existing site.
They could save themselves a lot of trouble and just get on with development on their own property.
Pieta VanDyke
Saanichton
Transportation choices make financial sense
Re: “Wishful thinking about transportation,” letter, Dec. 14.
The author of the letter is incredulous at the idea that people will switch away from their car if given viable alternatives.
They claim that not everyone will magically jump on a bike instead. Which is true!
The good news is that you don’t need everyone to switch, and you certainly don’t need to switch to a bike.
Traffic delays increase exponentially with each additional driver past a certain threshold.
So on a congested route, every driver who switches to a different mode causes a disproportionate decrease in traffic delays.
But who are these mysterious drivers who would happily switch?
Well for one, I would.
Driving is at least 50 cents per kilometre when you include all costs – insurance, maintenance, gas, parking, interest, depreciation.
So unlimited travel in the region by bus for $5 a day is an amazing deal by comparison. Cycling can be even cheaper.
Both modes are, in the long run, easier on the public purse as well.
But the service has to be good.
That means frequent, reliable, and fast transit service – ideally on rails. It means protected bike lanes so I’m not taking my life in my hands.
Give me viable alternatives, and I — and many others like me — will enthusiastically get out of the driver’s seat, reducing congestion for those who prefer to drive.
Michael van der Kamp
Victoria
Proportional representation gives parties power
Once again, we have someone wanting to change the way we elect our MLAs and MPs. Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), like the previous proportional representation proposals sa国际传媒 has voted down, all have the same basic flaw.
They give seats to “The Party” without the newly minted member representing any specific riding. This severely restricts the ability of independents to even run, much less win a seat.
It would seem the goal of all these systems is to have parties dictate to us, rather than have voters elect representatives to direct the government to do as they are told.
Kim Morton
Qualicum Beach
sa国际传媒 should retaliate over trade issues
As the federal government dithers away, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is well aligned with the “drill baby, drill” rhetoric of Donald Trump, we in sa国际传媒 should be positioning ourselves, like Premier Doug Ford in Ontario, for some retaliatory reductions.
We export a variety of goods to the United States, including natural resources, agricultural products, and manufactured goods. If we were to halt or reduce the export of certain items, it would significantly impact U.S. consumers in specific sectors and cause havoc with their supply chains.
They could be facing a cold and dark New Year winter in some parts of their country!
These include softwood lumber, fruits and vegetables, fish and seafood, energy products (sa国际传媒 exports electricity and natural gas to Washington and California; reductions could strain their energy grids, especially during peak seasons), metals and minerals, pulp and paper, and wine.
Aside from limiting availability, reductions would result in increased costs for those U.S. industries relying on sa国际传媒 resources.
Trump and his cronies like to play hardball with other countries with total disregard for the toll it will take on their citizens let alone their so-called friends and allies around the world. We can only hope, that, unlike his buddy Vladimir Putin, he doesn’t consider a “special operation” for us here in sa国际传媒.
He has certainly mentioned “statehood” as a solution for the problems he has created for us!
John Stevenson
Victoria
Too costly to park, not enough spaces
It is the Christmas season and people are downtown doing their shopping. I was a few minutes late to my car on two recent occasions and was flabbergasted to get a parking fine for $30 on the first one (could be $60 if not paid in two weeks!) and $40 on the second one (doubling to $80 if also not paid in two weeks).
This is highway robbery. These rates have skyrocketed lately! Our city hall administrators are making it very difficult for shoppers to get their shopping done and with these high rates are discouraging shoppers from even going downtown.
That and the minimal spaces to park due to too many unused bike lanes must be making it extremely difficult for retailers to survive.
I would like to see a whole lot more efficiency in the management of city hall and a more friendly attitude towards shoppers and cars.
Nick Gudewill
Victoria
House still stands after tree testing
My dear wife, who died two years ago (De mortuis nihil, nisi bene), did not want to kill a Douglas fir seedling that “volunteered” at our patio. After a half-century, the small seedling grew up into a large tree. The tree is upheaving patio slabs, it’s too close to the house, and its roots are growing into the basement.
Never mind, Saanich ordered digging a hole next to the house to see that the roots belonged to the Douglas fir.
I found it strange, but we must be lucky they did not want to tear down the house.
Adolf 膶eška
Victoria
Fire school board over role of police
It is high time that Premier David Eby fired the Greater Victoria school board members over their obstinacy to reinstate the police liaison program in area schools.
Either that, or bring in legislation to enshrine this program in schools and prevent any school board from ever having the right to eliminate it. Better still, do both.
Chris Foord
Oak Bay
Soap, body lotions can contain harmful chemicals
The Dec. 6 story on leaded gasoline mentioned “the long list of neurotoxic chemicals that continue to appear in consumer products today,” including phthalates.
Phthalates are used as stabilizers in soft plastics, including those for wrapping food. They are also used as scent stabilizers in many scented products, including beauty products for hair and skin, detergents, cleaning products and air fresheners.
It is not the government regulated per-product limit that is necessarily significant, but the cumulative effect of all of these products.
Phthalates are endocrine disruptors and can also cause respiratory problems. They are likely an extra irritant for people with scent sensitivity, who have to try to avoid whole aisles in supermarkets, drug stores and airport duty free shops.
My home is, as far as possible, chemical and scent free.
Most public spaces such as theatres and gyms now have polite requests about perfume, but many people do not realize that this can include their soap, body lotions and hair products also.
Andrea Ashton
Victoria
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