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If Eby is concerned, he should call federal NDP

So Premier David Eby is mad at the federal government for all sorts of things: Foreign interference, transfer payments, housing — you name it.

Rather than writing a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to complain, perhaps he could simply make a phone call to his NDP colleagues in Ottawa and ask them to stop keeping the Liberals in power.

Chris M. Healey

Nanaimo

Better approach needed to stop those e-bikes

Re: “VicPD sued after e-biker who ran red light is hit,” June 18.

The June 18 story regarding a VicPD car purposely hitting an e-bike was mind-boggling and disturbing. The rider ­sustained injuries from the deliberate collision by the police car in an effort to stop the e-biker.

Sure the e-biker had gone through a red light and failed to stop for the police car when sirens and lights were ­activated, but that doesn’t call for the police officer to use their car as a battering ram to knock the rider off their bike.

There are safer options the officer could have relied on.

By injuring the rider and damaging the bike, the police officer created the very circumstances I would have thought they were trying to avoid – a road “accident/collision” resulting in injuries, which is the risk a person takes when they run a red light.

While I hope the e-biker will not run red lights again and learn to pull over when any emergency vehicle is near them with sirens and flashing lights on, I also hope the VicPD ensures this approach will not be taken by any officers in the future.

If the e-biker was fleeing from having committed a murder or armed robbery, then sure, do what is necessary to stop them.

But a traffic violation? Manoeuvres like that by police cars are typically only used on other cars or trucks.

And with more and more e-bikes on the road, the police need to change their approach.

Richard Konopasek

Victoria

Remember that our food contains lots of water

Re: “Here’s how much you really need to stay hydrated,” June 18.

About 35 years ago I read an article by a urologist on healthy hydration for the human body. It said on average, adults require about eight cups or up to two litres of fluid a day, and that most of that fluid comes from the food we eat.

All the food we eat, especially fruits and vegetables, contains fluid. I make myself oatmeal porridge in the morning and put one cup of water in to cook it. Then I add some milk to eat it. That is all fluid my body can access.

So, although the article on how much we need to stay hydrated suggests 500 ml of fluid intake per meal (I assume on top of what we are eating), we can be assured that a portion of that fluid will come from the food we ingest.

I’ve always thought, as I watch everyone walking around with water bottles, that if we dehydrated as easily as many people think we do, we wouldn’t have survived as a species.

Lorna Hillman

Victoria

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