sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½

Safe supply of drugs would help save lives

Re: “Is safer supply safe?” Nov. 19.

I am intrigued that a staff sergeant of the Victoria Police Department, a court certified expert witness on drugs, speaks positively of a safe supply. So does chief coroner Lisa Lapointe. So does the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs.

So do a wide variety of researchers who have spent much of their lives looking at possible solutions. Lastly, so do those poor souls who are most impacted — those addicted.

The need for a safe supply of medication for those afflicted with cancer, diabetes, heart disease and so on is obvious. The idea that any of us who are so affected might have to go down to the corner to purchase what they need is ridiculous and unthinkable.

The only difference is that those struggling with mental health issues and/or addiction are seen differently. Somehow, it’s their fault.

Many of us have lost a loved one or who know someone who has. Age is not a factor. Neither is gender or intelligence or determination or anything else.

If you think that you and your loved ones are immune, think again. At present, all it takes is a war wound (PTSD) or a work site injury (back issue) and legal medication is often prescribed. It is a very short step from there to addiction and in our province, death.

Believe me, I know. Our son died a little over five years ago, and if there had been a safe supply, he would still be with us.

Andy Robertson

Victoria

Susan Kim unjustly attacked for speaking out

I am dismayed to see Victoria Coun. Susan Kim’s attackers call for her resignation. The chorus of voices calling her out for signing a letter condemning genocide are missing the point.

Kim was brave enough to speak up against the killing of 5,000 children and the bombings of neighbourhoods, hospitals and journalists, not to mention a systematic cutting off of access to food, water and electricity by Israel.

Debating the question of rapes by Hamas is a tool, like calling someone an antisemite, to distract from the issue being raised: the fact that a child is being killed in Palestine every 10 minutes.

I stand with Kim and hope more council members will echo her bravery.

Emma Hillian

South Jubilee

Susan Kim’s signature on a horrible letter

One doesn’t need to be Jewish to be offended and embarrassed by this letter, and the woefully inadequate non-responses we’ve received from our municipal representatives.

Being Canadian qualifies.

Or just being human.

Stephen Ison

Victoria

Why Israel is losing the propaganda war

I believe that a large part of the reason Israel is losing the struggle for world public opinion is the general resentment in poor countries, often referred to as the “global South,” against the wealthy North including Japan, Western Europe, and North America (north of the Rio Grande).

The West has mistakenly focused upon antisemitism as the main reason for Israel’s unpopularity, when we should really be focused on the fact that there are at least four countries out there to get us: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. They are more than willing to whip up anti-Western sentiment in the “global South.” It seems the spirit of the age in western/comfortably off countries is to feel guilty for colonization, sexism, racism, slavery, etc. I reject sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½’s national guilt trip.

Naturally one might feel sympathy for the downtrodden but the whole ethos today seems to be a denigration of white, successful, rich, colonial etc. This is why country such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are able to gain ground against us.

Non-Indigenous people in sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ (a.k.a. colonists) and to some extent in other Western countries are made to feel guilt for colonialism, slavery and repression in spite of all our accomplishments.

In this country, the guilt trip seems to be led by our government headed by Justin Trudeau, a man who doesn’t seem to be able to find an issue that he cannot apologize for.

This attitude of guilt in many Western countries only assists the dictatorships of the world in their efforts to defeat us.

This is why I support Israel against Hamas in spite of the casualty figures in the Gaza Strip. We must remember that Israel is our only friend in a part of the world that does not like us very much.

David Pearce

Victoria

Clarification needed on RRIF withdrawals

Re: “Change in RRIF rules could ­encourage doctors,” Nov. 21.

The suggestion might have some merit as far as encouraging doctors to work longer if they wish, but several points were not correct or were overlooked.

It is not correct to say that an eight per cent RRIF withdrawal is required each year.

You are not required to convert your RRSP to a RRIF until the year of your 71st birthday, and the first required minimum withdrawal does not have to be taken until the following calendar year.

The withdrawal amount is based on an ascending scale set by the government, with the age 72 payment currently being 5.4 per cent of the RRIF balance at the end of the previous year. That scale doesn’t crack the eight-per-cent threshold until the year you turn 84.

Additionally, if applicable, you are permitted to base the minimum payment on your spouse’s age rather than your own, giving RRIF holders with a younger partner the ability to further lower the minimum amount required to be withdrawn.

This information is readily available on the CRA website or the website of any financial institution that offers retirement savings accounts.

Arlen Corp

Retired Certified Financial Planner

Colwood

RRIF sliding scale starts at age 64

Re: “Change in RRIF rules could encourage doctors,” Nov. 21.

RRIF payments are taxable when received because there was a tax deduction when contributions were made. These contributions grew tax free within the RRSP and RRIF until withdrawn.

It is not correct to say that eight per cent must be withdrawn. There is a sliding scale minimum: from four per cent at age 65; to 5.4 per cent at age 72 when mandatory withdrawals begin, to 6.82 per cent at age 80, and finally to 20 per cent at age 95 and up. While these minimums may seem harsh, they do not reach eight per cent until the year the annuitant reaches 84.

There have been calls to reduce the rate required to be taken into income. This was done in 2020; it might be on federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s pre-election agenda to lower the minimums again.

Fin MacDonald

Fin Tax Service

James Bay

Let’s not forget the Holodomor

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ and Alberta recently announced the inclusion of education about the Holocaust in school curricula. However, there was another genocide, much less known, that unfolded less than a decade before the Second World War — the deliberate forced starvation in Ukraine in 1932-33, during the reign of terror of Joseph ­Stalin.

This state-sanctioned famine, the Holodomor, claimed between four and six million lives, mainly in Ukraine.

Given the egregious lack of media coverage of the Holodomor, it is not surprising that in a recent Leger poll only one per cent of respondents identified the Holodomor as a genocide they could name.

This is regrettable given that under Vladimir Putin, Russia continues its war to subjugate Ukraine, abducting its children, slaughtering its civilians, destroying its infrastructure and cultural bounty, and cities, towns and villages, in its attempt to Russify a sovereign democratic Ukraine.

The last Saturday in November marks the commemoration of the Holodomor.

Holodomor Memorial Day recalls an unspeakable history, one that must never be forgotten. Fundamentally, however, Holodomor Memorial Day is a commemoration for one and all, irrespective of heritage.

It compels us to learn from the past to be wary of the modern era tyrants amongst us, and their nefarious agenda. Indeed the past is most prescient — as illustrated by the following paraphrase (The Gates of Europe, Serhii Plokhy) attributed to a Ukrainian Cossack leader a few centuries ago:

“Moscow has always been hateful to our nation; in its malicious intentions it has long resolved to drive our nation to perdition.” (Ivan Mazepa, 1708).

Lest we forget such mass extermination as the Holodomor, the Holocaust — all such genocides.

Teaching about such tragedies ensures the victims are not forgotten.

Slava Ukraini!

Gordon Zawaski

Parksville

That lottery winner can afford to be here

How nice that a winning Lotto 6/49 ticket was sold in Victoria. The lucky winner is now one of the few people who can actually afford to live here.

Cheera J. Crow

Brentwood Bay

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