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Horgan’s leadership earned him respect

Sorry to hear of the passing of former premier and ambassador John Horgan of cancer at just 65. He bravely fought and beat it twice before and sadly the third time was not the charm.

I ran as a Conservative once federally in 2000, but I could truly respect the premier even though he was a New Democrat.

He earned my respect because he was a good leader — an attribute sadly missing from many politicians nowadays.

Rory J. Koopmans

Edmonton, Alta.

Thanks to Horgan for serving the province

Like countless others, I was extremely saddened to hear of John Horgan’s passing.

I was fortunate to have made John’s acquaintance many years ago when we were both employed by the province. I contacted him on a number of occasions seeking his assistance and expertise on work-related issues.

No surprise, he was always friendly and happy to help, providing great input. He was upbeat, smart, extremely personable and very funny, just the way he is being remembered by so many today.

I always found it odd that he was tagged as being an angry man during his time in opposition. It was not how I recalled John at all.

I finally came to the conclusion that if John was angry, it was because he had good reason to be, and his righteous anger was on behalf of the people of British Columbia. Thank you, John, for your service and your anger.

Pat Jackson

Victoria

International students will be missed

The federal government’s plan of reducing international students has affected our local community college negatively, and has affected colleges across the country negatively.

There was not enough thought from the federal government. It didn’t think it through properly when it said we should reduce the number of international students … students who bring a large revenue stream, which is now gone, and now we’ve got layoffs and jobs lost, and local and national economies direly affected.

It will be hard to get those students back, and this makes me sad.

Francelyn Bey

Saanich

That evaporating housing demand

Some letter writers have suggested that by reducing roadway capacity, traffic will shrink.

By this logic, instead of imposing mandatory housing targets for municipalities, why not halt all residential construction?

It should follow that population growth will halt. This would lead to less pressure on current facilities/services and infrastructure and reduce costs for current residents.

You’re welcome.

Katrina Mace

Saanich

More buses, better routes for commuters

When offered more buses and diverse bus routes, more people will decide that buses are more convenient than cars for their personal travel needs.

Traffic and traffic congestion will decrease until the convenience of the two modes of transportation is perceived as about equal by more people.

Then, if roads are left unchanged, we have a dynamic equilibrium that maximizes convenience for everyone. “Dynamic” because the equilibrium can be moved in a virtuous direction by adding more buses as money to do so becomes available.

Roger Doyle

Saanich

Busing is not better for everyone

Some letter writers and “professional urban planners” are suggesting we all leave our cars at home and take the bus everywhere.

Do they not realize that most people do not have bus stops outside their front door and that many destinations do not have bus stops nearby either?

Consider a couple, elderly or otherwise, living on McAnally Road in Ten Mile Point.

They need to get to Victoria General Hospital for diagnostic tests. By car, this trip, from home, up Sinclair hill, through UVic, on to McKenzie and the Trans-sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Highway would take about 30 minutes or less.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Transit’s trip planner describes their recommended bus route as follows:

Walk from McAnally Road to the bus stop at Telegraph Bay and Arbutus Road, distance 1.8 km, 26 minutes.

Take bus 11 to the UVic Exchange, six minutes, nine stops.

Transfer to bus 26 which runs from the exchange to Uptown, 19 minutes, 20 stops.

Transfer to bus 95 at Uptown which will take you to the highway ramp at Helmcken Road, seven minutes, three stops.

Walk 300 metres to the hospital, four minutes.

Total time: one hour and 22 minutes. Sure hope it doesn’t rain.

D.S. Sinclair

Saanich

Transit staff shortages cannot be ignored

The proposed changes to McKenzie Avenue would need much consultation with sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Transit.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Transit has been advertising for bus drivers for years, they now are advertising for mechanics. Many of these mechanics work evenings to ensure the buses are ready for the morning buses.

Many bus drivers are required to work weekends, evenings and holidays which make these jobs difficult to fill.

Just because city planners want these changes doesn’t necessarily mean this will happen in the near future.

Eileen Cannon

Victoria

Many ways to reduce burden on our roads

In all the discussion of converting McKenzie and Quadra to one lane each way, little has been said about a high-occupancy vehicle lane as opposed to a bus lane. This would provide some drivers access to a faster mode of transportation.

On the topic of traffic evaporation, do we not remember the Olympics in 2010? Many downtown Vancouver streets had lanes dedicated to Olympic vehicles only.

This worked because of proper communication and encouragement to take transit. There was a 51% increase in transit use in February 2010.

And lastly do we not remember the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco which saw the collapse of a major freeway? This sudden removal of infrastructure resulted in a drastic reduction in car travel and 80% of this traffic “disappeared.”

We can do it.

Douglas Anderson

Victoria

Keep in mind who uses McKenzie

In discussions about narrowing ­McKenzie Avenue to two lanes for ­private vehicles, two for transit, and two small bike lanes, many argue that four private ­vehicle lanes are necessary due to the schools and university along the corridor.

However, students and school staff are some of the most likely members of our community to switch to transit or active transportation.

Many students are too young to drive, and those who can would benefit financially from not owning a car, and you don’t usually see teachers bringing heavy machinery to teach.

Additionally, students (and physical education teachers) are generally fit, making cycling a viable option.

Many haven’t made the switch yet because traffic deters people from using transit or cycling; buses stuck in traffic are unreliable, and heavy traffic makes cycling or walking unsafe.

I support the McKenzie plan because it encourages the community to use new transportation options. Some concessions, like slightly widening the street and adding park-and-ride facilities at McKenzie/Admirals and Pat Bay Highway, could be beneficial.

However, maintaining separate bike and transit lanes is essential.

Will Owen

Victoria

The first step with roads is to listen

Re: “Listen to the experts on planning roads,” letter, Nov. 14.

There is useful detailed information on roadway planning in this letter. No doubt a knowledgeable commentator in the field.

However, there is a glaring mistake on the perception of who is the best source from which to glean information to make policy decisions regarding local traffic.

The writer states: “There has been a real shift in thinking among transportation planners and engineers in the past few decades.” I agree.

A few decades ago, these geniuses were “the experts” that built us into this mess.

Let’s not make the same mistake with plans for change this time. Let’s balance the views of the experts with local knowledge, history and opinions of those affected by this work. The main point is “listen.”

Max Miller

Saanich

Headlights can make it harder to drive

I would like to add a couple things to John Ducker’s recent column about driving.

I live in a rural area with dark and winding roads and those insanely bright blue/white headlights are absolutely blinding. They should be banned.

Also, car designers are putting turn signal lights right next to the headlights. The headlights overwhelm the signal lights and you cannot see the signals.

Kerry Butler

Salt Spring Island

Financial strength thanks to AI, LNG

Re: “Artificial intelligence will drive demand for fossil fuels,” commentary, Nov. 13.

The column by Gwyn Morgan makes you wonder how much all governments miss by not having a good mix of business brains.

Imagine how we would all benefit by having someone like Morgan as our government leader. Today’s politicians know how to do one thing only — spend money we ain’t got.

Perhaps by no surprise, sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ could be sitting in a financial position of strength with our vast resources of natural gas. I believe it was Christy Clark and her sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Liberals who were in power heading up the effort to develop our LNG sources, which put us in a fabulous export position to fuel the AI world as explained in Morgan’s piece.

AI is driven by electricity and, like it or not, that requires gigantic sources of fossil fuel. sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ has immense amounts for use and sale.

With a $9-billion deficit due to NDP thoughtless spending, ironically it looks like “Liberals to the rescue” when this AI gold rush hits full stride.

Anyone wondering how the Greens might vote on this billion-dollar question?

Funny how life works sometimes.

Jim Laing

Saanich

We don’t need to keep burning fossil fuels

Re: “Artificial intelligence will drive demand for fossil fuels,” commentary, Nov. 13.

I find it interesting in Gwyn Morgan’s piece that the answer to everything is natural gas while he dismisses renew­ables out of hand as being unreliable.

Has he not heard of battery or gravity storage? Either one makes renewables as effective as natural gas.

Yes, there is additional cost, but it is an alternative solution that does not involve the burning of fossil fuels.

Douglas Anderson

Victoria

Jack is back, and this reader rejoices

Welcome back Jack Knox, if even for a few weeks. You are sorely missed for your intelligent, witty banter on subjects local and far.

My Visa card is ready for the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Christmas Fund!

S.P. Cummins

Sidney

Del Manak understands need to think regionally

The unwelcome announcement by West Shore RCMP that they will pull out of three regional policing arrangements is just one more dangerous stage in the disintegration of local policing.

The tragic case of the murder of Oak Bay resident Sunny Park and four members of her family, highlighted in your report, appears to have been sadly forgotten or cast aside as irrelevant.

This story gets worse.

As I recall, on the night when the family was killed, officers from Oak Bay, Saanich and VicPD attended a 911 call from inside the home of the victims.

At the coroner’s inquest, police officers testified they could not agree on how to proceed, so they delayed entry from their arrival at 3 a.m. until 8 a.m. to enter the home. (Reportedly officers from three police forces could not decide among themselves which was “the police force of jurisdiction.”)

There were no survivors.

Is the minister of public safety and solicitor general of British Columbia accountable for public safety in the province or not?

This may be an opportunity to take some tough decisions on behalf of all 450,000 residents of the Capital Regional District. VicPD Chief Del Manak appears to be the only public official here who cares at all about this issue. He and we residents evidently need help.

John Treleaven

Sidney

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