Ferries should stop non-essential travel
I am extremely concerned over an apparent conflict in enforcement of last week鈥檚 restrictions and the double standard that is causing.
The current restrictions state 鈥淣o social gatherings of any size at your residence with anyone other than your household or core bubble鈥� plus 鈥渁t this time, all non-essential travel should be avoided. This includes travel into and out of sa国际传媒 and between regions of the province鈥�.
My wife and I were planning to spend Christmas in Victoria with her sister and husband. There would be just the four of us. We all wear masks, social distance and take precautions when outside our homes. We feel we are safe and had no qualms about being together.
When the current restrictions were announced, we did as instructed and cancelled our plans. However, it seems 颅others either did not get the message or have chosen to ignore the rules.
So please tell me why sa国际传媒 Ferries should allow non-essential travellers to openly flout the rules and travel, when others of us have had our plans cancelled to help reduce the case counts.
The increase in cases following Thanksgiving holiday will be nothing compared to what could happen at Christmas. You just have took at the U.S. to see what large number of travellers portend.
sa国际传媒 Ferries should have the authority to refuse boarding of anyone not showing proof that their travel is absolutely essential. They already refuse boarding of individuals who do not follow the mask mandate. This is no different.
If people are allowed to travel on sa国际传媒 Ferries to attend non-essential gatherings elsewhere, then I feel the current provincial guidelines and restrictions are worthless and will degrade the public鈥檚 confidence and compliance.
Barry Kimble
Crofton
Virus is arriving from the mainland
Island residences over the holidays must adhere to strict rules regarding having friends and family gatherings.
The sa国际传媒 Ferries reservation bookings are full and they are putting extra sailings on for the holidays.
Seems strange that mask-wearing non-residents, some of them carrying the virus, are allowed to come here and spread their Christmas joy.
What curve are we trying to flatten?
Bill MacDonald
Parksville
Can鈥檛 decide on vaccine? Go with Dr. Bonnie
There have been a couple of letters from seniors saying oldies should selflessly stand aside and allow young folk to get the first crack at available COVID-19 vaccines.
I鈥檓 guessing the emphasis on 颅vaccinating the over-70s is because, if they get the disease, they鈥檙e much more likely than infected young people to end up in hospitals and ICUs. And that鈥檚 hugely expensive.
I鈥檒l take it as given that Dr. Bonnie Henry and her team, who have spent years studying and working with all aspects of public health, know what they鈥檙e doing. If Dr. Bonnie says you should be vaccinated, just go for it.
Liz Pogue
West Shore
Seniors should be at the top of the list
Re: 鈥淰accinate seniors after everyone else,鈥� letter, Dec. 11.
Ageism is a savage form of discrimination because it unfairly degrades and dishonours human beings simply because they have a few more years under their belts.
As an older person, it is hard enough to live within a culture that judges me more by my white hair than my grey matter. But that indignity pales in comparison to the humiliation of having my worth 颅belittled by a fellow senior.
The letter writer does not speak for me. 鈥淲e seniors鈥� are not better or worse than anyone else, but we are definitely equal to any of them.
To suggest that we get vaccinated 鈥渁t the very last,鈥� simply because we are older, is repugnant and offensive. Her comments are no less egregious than recommending that Indigenous people or homosexuals 鈥渘ot be vaccinated until everyone else has been.鈥�
This is not a case of seniors getting special treatment. Chronically ill seniors should be one of the first groups to get the vaccine because they are dying from COVID-19 at rates far higher than any other group.
Dr. Bonnie Henry made this decision in the interests of sound science.
The pandemic has exposed the ugly underbelly of age discrimination, where even the health and survival of older people has been compromised by ageist attitudes.
The disturbing letter is an unfortunate example of this injustice.
Doreen Marion Gee
Victoria
Weak arguments for natural gas
Re: 鈥淟NG expansion vital to fighting 颅climate change,鈥� Dec. 12.
The prominent position that the sa国际传媒 gives to Gwyn Morgan鈥檚 views on how sa国际传媒 should act on climate change suggests the power of the oil and gas industry in controlling the media鈥檚 coverage of this debate.
This prominence seems out of proportion to the weak arguments Morgan presents. He refers to his October column, in which he dismissed wind and solar power as being against the laws of physics. This in spite of their obvious and increasing commercial success.
In fact, the laws of physics link burning of coal, oil and gas to climate change, sea level rise, forest fires and other problems, possibly including pandemics, and seem firmly on the side of carbon-free alternative energy.
The present article argues for expanding sa国际传媒鈥檚 exports of lower-carbon-emitting fossil fuels in the hope that these might reduce the use of higher-carbon-emitting fuels in other countries.
Such a replacement seems a pious hope, over which sa国际传媒 has no control. At the same time, the global expansion of wind and solar energy seems on track to replace fossil fuels completely.
Diverting resources to develop natural gas seems a poor and half-hearted alternative, one that will also cause sa国际传媒 to miss our targets under the 2016 Paris climate agreement.
Jim Gower
North Saanich
The minority can govern the rest
The latest form of government appears to be the Democra-me, a system of rule where a majority of the minority expect their wants and needs to supersede those of the actual majority.
Bill Carere
Victoria
A winter home for the homeless
Oak Bay Lodge was home to many seniors for years before they were moved to the Summit, so why is it not suitable to house some homeless people in the meantime?
Surely whatever plans Oak Bay has for the Lodge could be postponed for a few months to give tenters a solid roof over their heads during these cold, wet days and nights!
Cindy Alger
Victoria
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