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Temporary road not needed at PKOLS

Re: “Saanich chooses same spot for replacement PKOLS cell tower, despite higher cost and staff advice,” May 29.

The article incorrectly states the summit location for the replacement tower “will requires removal of five or six mature trees, including arbutus and Garry oaks, and require a temporary road to be built for construction.”

At Monday’s council meeting, a representative from the construction company awarded the tower contract clearly stated the tower could be built on the summit using cranes without needing a temporary road.

Cranes have been used to access that summit in the past without tree loss. It’s time to change the discussion and start celebrating Saanich council’s decision to locate the new tower on the summit near the existing tower as a win-win.

Saanich gets a necessary upgraded communications tower and the park is saved!

Darrell Wick

President

PKOLS-Mount Douglas Conservancy

Victoria

Victoria picks temporary tenant

Re: “CFL game shuts HarbourCats out of home field if they make playoffs,” May 29.

Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto is quoted as saying, “we wanted to make sure that in an effort to showcase Royal Athletic Park, to show what its potential might be in the long term, that we did as much as we could to accommodate both the games.”

And what they did was shut down a long-time tenant in favour of a flash in the pan. What a great message that is: “You can rely on us not to be reliable when you need us.”

Let me offer a better solution. If the HarbourCats make the playoffs, the CFL game can take place at Starlight Stadium. With 6,000 seats, good field, lots of parking, what could go wrong?

Oh, right, it doesn’t demonstrate the potential of Royal Athletic park in the long term.

Big deal. At the moment, I’m not impressed by that potential.

Ian Cameron

Brentwood Bay

They have right to query military spending

Re: “American senators should leave us alone,” letter, May 29.

Equating Chinese government interference in our voting system with critical advice on our lack of defence spending from our best ally is a head shaker.

Following the Second World War and because of the Soviet threat to western Europe and to North America, a number of like-minded nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to provide a viable deterrence to an attack on any one nation.

The success of this alliance depends on each nation paying their fair share of the cost. In 2014, the alliance members all agreed to spend at least two per cent of GDP a year and reach this amount by 2024.

Well, 2024 is here and sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ is still at only 1.3 per cent. Our American ally is spending 3.5 per cent and increasing as the world turns into a much more dangerous place.

As well, the alliance has noted sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ as the only member that has not reached 2% and does not have a plan to get there.

Three days of ammunition to fight a war and no anti-missile defence systems to protect our territory just doesn’t cut it.

The Americans and our allies have every right to criticize this nation for its abject failure. Starving our military of adequate funding for over four decades has been a failure of all federal governments over this period.

If sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ does not get on with it, our main trading partners will put the screws to us and we as a nation will suffer.

Robin Allen

Victoria

Time to act against after-market mufflers

I read with interest about the concerns residents raise regarding pickleball noise.

I, too, have a concern regarding noise which emanates from after-market mufflers.

We have several such vehicles in our little neighbourhood; a neighbourhood that used to be quiet.

These vehicles roar up and down our little street day and night that cause unwanted and unappreciated noise.

I have spoken to offenders to no avail. A response has been turning off their car as they coast past our home.

These aftermarket mufflers are heard well in advance of their destination — often 300 to 400 metres — away from our home.

Saanich council has considered noise cameras which have been successfully used in cities such as Edmonton (this is a common problem); however, such cameras fall under the jurisdiction of the province.

I would be delighted if the province saw fit to attend to this before after-market mufflers become commonplace, which would make eradicating them more difficult.

Doug Thompson

Saanich

Blame NDP for mess in Victoria

When you consider the approach and capacity of a regional government in Greater Victoria to tackle spiralling core area problems, it really is an absolute shame to see the damage the NDP has brought upon the region.

They killed regionalism, they threw away social equity for area citizens and they took it upon themselves to forfeit basic provincial responsibility over municipalities.

Everybody standing around watching the disgrace that is Victoria’s core slip further and further into the ground and heads are in the sand.

The complete and utter failure of the NDP to tackle governance is why Victoria is in the shape that is.

And spare me the governance talks between Victoria and Saanich while the NDP took it upon themselves to kill free speech and rights of all other local democracies who voted for a governance review just like the one that elected NDP representatives.

Victoria’s increasingly harrowing fall from grace rests entirely with the NDP.

Through inaction, never has a provincial political party perpetrated so much harm upon a community on the Island.

John Vickers

Miramichi, N.B.

Idaho rule for cyclists could help save lives

With regard to bicycles, speeding, stop signs, licensing and the need for policing, here’s my two cents.

There are few cyclists that exceed 32 km/h, the legal limit. I ride an e-bike almost every day, at 25 to 30 km/h, and am rarely passed by other bicycles.

When passing pedestrians on the trails, ringing a warning bell and slowing down is clearly appreciated by them. As to complaints about bicycles running stop signs, consider the Idaho Stop Law which was enacted in 1982.

It allows bicyclists to treat stop signs as a yield sign, proceeding only when it is safe to do so. This law improved safety and traffic flow, reducing bicyclist injuries from traffic crashes by 14 per cent the following year.

Since then, several other states have followed suit and implemented similar laws. And about licensing, do we really want to create more bureaucracy?

And don’t the police have enough enforcement duties already without this additional unnecessary burden?

Walter Dale

Sidney

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