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Don’t expect a change in my dog-walking

This whole thing with Saanich council and dogs was spurred by a few unhappy folk and it has become a monster.

I am 78 years old, have two loveable labs who I walk daily, wherever and whenever I want.

Unfortunately, not Cadboro Bay any more, as a few entitled beachfront home owners took care of that.

I have lived in the neighbourhood since the late 1980s and walked all my dogs there without hassle. I pay pretty high taxes to be told where and when to walk my dogs.

Now they want me to get up and walk the dogs in the dark between 6 and 9 a.m., which I find seriously laughable.

In addition, council is telling us what kind of leash is acceptable to them — I would like to see them enforce that one.

Council members snivel about how divisive this has become, and I wonder what they thought was gonna happen.

As far as I know they have never really studied these issues and have been one-sided since the git go.

It makes me crazy so this is the last letter or comment I will make as I go on my merry way being a responsible dog owner going where and when I want.

Carolyn Showler

Saanich

Refusing to buy a new dog leash

I use a retractable dog leash and guess what, it locks at any length, short or long! I will not spend money on a new leash.

Saanich mayor and council, please spend my tax dollars on important things (that’s a very long list without types of dog leashes on it).

Debbie Dykes

Saanich

Saanich, pay us for retractable leashes

Just when you think Saanich council can’t get any worse, they go and prove you wrong. How dare they say what leashes we can walk our dogs with?

Ignorant bunch of demi-gods. Retractable leashes and a potential for environmental damage? Get a grip on reality.

I need a thesaurus to find more words for “morons” when discussing this pathetic, controlling, dog-hating bunch.

Retractable leashes have comfortable hand holds for those of us with arthritic hands and are very user-friendly.

They allow me to get my dog in very close quickly in situations that call for it. Try and do that with a regular leash. Ain’t gonna happen.

Soon Saanich council will say what kind of toilet paper we buy or if we can change the colour of paint in our living area.

On another note, I assume that you will buy back everyone’s retractable leashes? We have many. Get your cheques out, Saanich council.

Julia Pollard

Victoria

Restraining Saanich council after dog debate

After listening to their deliberations Monday evening, I must retract any support I had for Saanich council. Under the circumstances, it is the leash I could do.

Frank Chester

Saanich

They said nice things, so we elected them

When did it transpire that any governmental obligation took precedent over the safety of the citizenry from those who, for whatever reason, desire to do them harm?

When did something supersede that most basic obligation — to keep the law-abiding safe from the lawbreakers?

Yet here we are — a group of citizens finds it necessary to upbraid the government for its failure in this primary area of responsibility.

I racked my brain to figure how it became standard for the wrongdoers to have precedence over the law-abiding in our society. But then it came to me: About 10 years ago Victoria elected a mayor who promised to resolve the homeless crisis. Then we re-elected her.

Then eight years ago we elected federally a nepo baby who promised us “sunny ways,” whatever that is. Then we re-elected him.

A bit later we elected provincially a socialist party that promised to fix all the things that the old capitalists had messed up. Then we re-elected them.

I think I’m beginning to see a pattern here. Electing people who say the things you want to hear just might not be a surefire path to success, no matter how attractive it appears.

But I guess we just have to learn our lessons the hard way.

Michel Murray

Saanich

Downtown businesses deserve our sympathy

After reading about the Save Our Streets coalition calling for government to tackle disorder on our streets, I got a big sign from above that I made the right decision to recently sell my Victoria home and move to North Saanich.

Within 10 minutes on one block of garbage-strewn Douglas Street, I observed two street people hurling abuse at the poor Dollarama cashier, drugs being cooked openly in front of Shoppers Drug Mart and, the piece de resistance, a man squatting in front of the McDonald’s entrance having a bowel movement on the sidewalk.

I feel so very sorry for the businesses that have to deal with declining customers and revenues, yet increasing theft, violence and vandalism.

Richard Lucas

North Saanich

Room for housing at Government House

To judge from the myriad of letters highlighting the need for land suitable for housing developments in Greater Victoria, here’s one small suggestion. One that actually does not involve digging up golf courses.

The lieutenant governor might, as a noble gesture of support to her community, consider severing — with government approval — a 100-foot swath on the lower part of her property that borders Richardson Avenue.

It seems to me that the severance would provide a sizeable chunk for townhouses. Of course, the lieutenant governor might invoke the NIMBY clause, but then again she might not. At least, it’s worth a try.

After all, Noblesse Oblige.

Sandy Cotton

Victoria

Make sure the homeless have a place to go

Re: “24/7 bathroom needed for ­Pandora homeless encampment, Victoria ­councillors say,” Oct. 24.

Whenever I talk to people about the need for 24/7 access to a bathroom on Pandora Avenue the response is inevitably “duh,” “no kidding,” “yeah, well of course we all have to go to the bathroom.” Why is this no-brainer so difficult for the people we fund and elect?

I was very pleased to read Victoria councillors Krista Loughton and Dave Thompson speaking out about this basic human need. They are not alone, but neither are they fully supported in their efforts.

It is highly disturbing to know that Our Place Society thinks that providing a bathroom will further entrench people in homelessness.

No, it is not bathrooms that entrench homelessness. Rather, it is a profound lack of appropriate and affordable housing and the right supports needed to maintain housing stability.

Thompson correctly references the provincial government document, Belonging in sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½, which clearly states that one of its actions is to provide funding for encampment “access to washrooms and showers.”

The federal housing advocate, in reviewing encampments across sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½, including the one on Pandora, recommends the following: “Address the conditions within encampments and provision of basic services: A rights-based approach requires access to basic services, such as clean water, sanitation facilities, electricity, and heat.”

Housing is years away for many of the people living on Pandora; in the interim let us ensure that they have somewhere to go while they await somewhere to go.

Heather Murphy

Victoria

If fairness is a concern, Eby should start at home

I read with some amusement how Premier David Eby bleats about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to allow the Atlantic provinces to have carbon tax relief and he wants the same for sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½

Perhaps getting rid of the entirely unfair two-tier step system at sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Hydro would be a good start. Us rural folks on Vancouver Island who do not have an option for heating fuel other than electricity would greatly appreciate it.

It would have been nice to get gas to where I live but apparently all we can do with that in sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ is to use our shiny new dam to power the LNG plants to export it, as it will soon be outlawed for home use here.

Despite LED lights and whatever other things I can do there is no way to get my 1,200 square foot home powered and heated inside Step 1. Oh well, I have lots of wood and a good woodstove…

David Badior

Nanaimo

He is from England, he knows the language

So an English doctor came to Sidney, was given the “wrong” English language test when applying for permanent resident status, and therefore disqualified.

What a sorry tale of bureaucratic incompetence all round. And, why would an immigrant from England have to take an English language test in the first place (I didn’t)?

If he has a medical degree, can’t we assume that he has a basic command of the English language?

Does the bureaucracy not use any judgment or is it too hidebound by rules that it can’t think?

A good issue for Premier David Eby to fight over with Ottawa. Quebec would never accept this.

Roger Love

Saanich

Grand plan announced, but nothing done

I have osteonecrosis, the ball of my hip joint died leaving bone spikes pushing into the cartilage of the cup of the joint.

The pain is unbearable, any slight movement causes the bone spurs to dig into the joint socket. I suffered on the wait list for surgery.

To fix the wait list, the provincial government has announced five specialized hip-and-knee replacement programs in sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Since the announcement was made on March 21, 2018, nothing has happened.

The Orthopedic Surgeons of sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ have written open letters to the government to discuss solutions. These have been ignored, and the wait list has continued to grow.

My second hip is now painful. I know what to expect.

Charles Ludgate MD, OBC

Saanich

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