Give Macdonald statue a good home
I want Sir John A. Macdonald鈥檚 statue given a prominent place in our city. I聽wish to honour the man who had the fortitude to stand up for what is now our country against the Americans, with no help from the British.
I want to thank him for shaping different colonies into one sa国际传媒. Without his strength and persistence, our men and boys would have been required to fight in Vietnam.
Without his perseverance, we would now have a president called Trump.
Anne Bell
Victoria
Re-erect statue with explanation
Re: 鈥淪tatue a political object, not a historic one,鈥� letter, Aug. 1.
A history professor-emeritus claims that Sir John A. Macdonald鈥檚 statue belongs in the museum as 鈥渁n example of 20th-century political propaganda.鈥� His legalistic and one-sided argument misses the essence of the issue.
Those who are upset about the removal are disturbed by the secretive, pre-determined, self-righteous and underhanded way in which it was done, the lack of respect for the opinion of the public by those elected by the public 鈥� indeed the clear fear and flouting of that opinion 鈥� and the lack of respect for the man who was responsible for the creation of this country and for sa国际传媒 being part of it.
Part of the argument made by Lisa Helps and Ben Isitt was that Macdonald was the instigator of residential schools. Conveniently, it isn鈥檛 acknowledged that in his day, they were voluntary, that they were seen as helping Indigenous people to be on an equal footing, and that no one could have foreseen the abuses by churches that eventually took place.
Macdonald was a racist to a degree reflective of almost all of white society at the time, a complex man with deep flaws as well as immense positive talents.
He brought about sa国际传媒. Without his vision and determination against huge odds, the railway would not have been built and most or all of the West would probably have become American, as Oregon and Washington did. Does anyone think that Indigenous people here would have been better off?
The statue should be re-erected in a prominent location with a plate explaining both sides of his legacy. It鈥檚 the Canadian way.
Rob Garrard
Victoria
Macdonald statue artist did a fine job
Amidst the current furor concerning the placement of the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald, nothing has been said about the artist who created this fine bronze, with its flowing drapery and meticulous detail in the buttoned vest falling short of his nice little tummy. It is a fine likeness, too.
Sir John A. was a man of his times, and even though we deplore his actions concerning the residential schools, his bronze should be returned to public view, if only to remind us of how people thought, so long ago.
Jo Manning
Victoria
Tackle 鈥榤oral patrol鈥� at ballot box
Re: 鈥淕ive Macdonald statue a good home,鈥� column, July 31
Hear! Hear! Too bad the author is a former city manager of Victoria.
The disorder at hand, though, is a larger, more pernicious one. It鈥檚 the moral patrol and it鈥檚 ever on the move.
You know the standards it bears: where to live, what to think, how to commute and get about, how your money is best spent, what cities to emulate, what to prohibit, what to promote. How, in a few words, to be better, more sufficient people 鈥� like them.
And who are they? The elected, the appointed and the righteous lobby groups that drive their agenda. That鈥檚 the mix of the pathology.
How to get rid of it and where to start? With paper and pencil in hand, at the ballot box, in the next municipal election. This time, be more thorough than last.
Brian Nimeroski
Sooke
Put statue at E&N聽last-spike site
Re: 鈥淪tatue a political object, not a historic one,鈥� letter, Aug. 1.
I am a Sir John A. Macdonald fan and believe that his statue should be placed in an accessible and conspicuous location.
I would suggest that thought be given to erecting the statue at the site where on Aug. 13, 1886, Sir John A. drove the last spike for the E&N Railroad 鈥� just above Shawnigan Lake, adjacent to the cairn erected to highlight this historic occasion.
I would also advocate that this site be upgraded and made more accessible for public viewing.
Final thought: It鈥檚 hard to imagine that our prime minister of the day visited Shawnigan Lake via rail and yet never set foot in Victoria.
Harlin Price
Comox
鈥楪reen-wave鈥� signals not a magic wand
Re: 鈥淭he folly of Victoria鈥檚 war on the car,鈥� column, July 26.
Steve Wallace and other writers seem to think that traffic delays in the City of Victoria would be dramatically reduced with the adoption of a well-designed traffic-light timing plan.
As an ancient transportation engineer who worked on co-ordinated traffic-signal plans starting more than fifty years ago, I believe that improvement opportunities in Victoria are limited.
Technology has expanded greatly over the years, but the principles and practicalities of traffic flow remain the same.
Progressive 鈥済reen-wave鈥� traffic signal schemes can be effective on one-way street-grid networks with regular spacing between intersections 鈥� which is not the situation in Victoria.
If green-wave timing were introduced southbound on Douglas and Blanshard to improve flows in the morning, the substantial volumes of northbound traffic would suffer additional delays. Dealing with cross traffic and vehicles turning onto the north-south routes, as well as time clearances for pedestrians, creates further design complications.
City staff should continue to monitor the system and improve traffic safety and efficiency wherever possible. There is no magic wand.
David Langley
Saanich
Steve Wallace should run for mayor
Re: 鈥淭he folly of Victoria鈥檚 war on the car,鈥� July 26.
Is there any chance that we can persuade Steve Wallace to run for mayor of Victoria?
Sherry Krieger
Esquimalt
Mayors missed point of police cry for help
Re: 鈥淗elps, Desjardins endorse effort to remake VicPD,鈥� Aug. 1.
The mayors鈥� exuberant response to the VicPD Transformation Report sounded suspiciously like: 鈥淭his is the 鈥渂est thing that鈥檚 happened to this town and Esquimalt in a long time.鈥�
But the report is basically a police-service cry for help. The mayors are spinning it into 鈥渂est practices鈥� for police departments across the country. And all thanks to their brilliant challenge to Chief Del Manak to cut services and increase risk to Victoria and Esquimalt residents.
Sorry, but I support the police chief. After the debacle of former Victoria police chief Frank Elsner, where the mayors demonstrated and claimed incompetence to conduct an investigation, it would seem likely that they once again do not know what they are talking about.
James Campbell
Victoria
Walkerton tragedy could happen here
Re: 鈥淧rovince isn鈥檛 doing enough to protect our drinking water, says auditor general,鈥� July 31.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says: 鈥淭here has not been any major waterborne outbreaks in sa国际传媒 since 2004.鈥�
The absence of a major waterborne incident since 2004 does not necessarily mean that in future, there will be no waterborne incidents.
Does no one in this province remember Walkerton, Ont.?
In May of 2000, there was a terrible outbreak of gastroenteritis and other serious diseases caused by E. coli contamination of that town鈥檚 water supply. The two Koebel brothers in charge of this utility lacked any formal training in water management. Their attitude toward their jobs was cavalier at best.
As a result of their negligence, 2,000 people became sick and six died. Kidney failure resulting from E. coli was the primary source of this illness.
The cause of the outbreak was a cattle farm upstream from Walkerton. The fecal matter from the cattle polluted the water.
If it happened in Walkerton, it could happen here.
Margot Todd
Victoria
Send us your letters
鈥� Email: [email protected]
鈥� Mail: Letters to the editor, sa国际传媒, 2621聽Douglas St., Victoria, sa国际传媒 V8T 4M2.
