There is a tide in the聽affairs of museums
Re: 鈥淗alifax museum has a better location,鈥� letter, Feb. 7.
The letter cites the excellent Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. It is owned and operated by the Nova Scotia government as the jewel in the crown of a web of provincial museums. It鈥檚 worth noting that it resulted from creative teamwork among the federal, Nova Scotia and two levels of local government.
Unbuilt waterfront properties in Victoria are enmeshed in complex tenancy issues and thus not available for a museum. The proposal to create a new national museum by expanding a derelict historic structure in Bastion Square is imaginative and doable.
For sure, it鈥檚 going to need public support and co-operation among governments. The Songhees First Nation is on side.
The rest of us need to 鈥渂rush up on our Shakespeare,鈥� who advised: 鈥淭here is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken in the flood, leads on to fortune 鈥� we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.鈥�
Jan Drent
Victoria
Facility would need ongoing subsidies
Re: 鈥淢useum will be tough sell,鈥� editorial, Feb. 5.
A new home for the Maritime Museum is a noble idea, but I suspect it will need ongoing subsidies and/or a lot of animating ideas to survive. As a cautionary, consider Barcelona鈥檚 gorgeous museum. The day I was there in September, they could have fired broadsides through it without hitting anyone.
Andrew Lee
Victoria
Water not essential for聽maritime museum
Re: 鈥淢useum will be tough sell,鈥� editorial, Feb. 5.
The Mus茅e national de la Marine, Paris, is far from any form of water. The National Maritime Museum in London is at least eight blocks from the Thames. The Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia, is blocks away from Lake Maury. And the Naval Museum of Madrid is smack in the middle of Spain 鈥� not a drop of water in sight.
This is why the sa国际传媒 editorial stating that a Canadian Maritime Museum should be on the water is disingenuous.
It might have been nice to find a shore-side location for the Maritime Museum. But that would require the province and the City of Victoria to support such a venture, which they have decidedly not.
Rehousing the museum at 28 Bastion Square is a smart idea that offers many benefits. It renovates a building that needs upgrading and earthquake-proofing. It revitalizes a square that鈥檚 languishing. It allows the museum to display its massive collection of maritime artifacts instead of their being hidden away. It promotes educational programs, reconciliation with the long First Nations鈥� maritime history. It adds a first-class tourist attraction.
A Canadian Maritime Museum a block away and above the harbour might be a great advantage in the coming years. As sea levels rise ever faster, the proposers of this national museum concept might have been prophetic: All those maritime museums now on the waters鈥� edge could well be flooded, while the Canadian Maritime Museum will keep its feet dry.
Marianne Scott
Victoria
Museum could get anniversary funding
Re: 鈥淗alifax museum has a better location,鈥� letter, Feb. 7.
The letter-writer comparing the Maritime Museum of sa国际传媒鈥檚 proposed move with Halifax鈥檚 Pier 21 might not be aware that the Maritime Museum of sa国际传媒 is a non-profit society, whereas the Canadian Museum of Immigration Pier 21 is a Crown corporation, owned by the federal government, and receives its financing from that level of government.
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is provincially owned. It receives annual funding from the provincial government.
That is why the Maritime Museum of sa国际传媒 is proposing using the National Heritage Site of 28 Bastion Square as the site for a new national Canadian Maritime Museum, to honour the 150th anniversary in 2021 of sa国际传媒 joining Confederation. Both levels of government offer some funding for the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Richard F. Chudley
Victoria
President Trump鈥檚 address was fatuous
Re: 鈥淧resident Trump鈥檚 address was excellent,鈥� letter, Feb. 8.
U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 speech was stultifying banality delivered in the most ineloquent, fatuous manner.
Don Peterson
Victoria
Trump has never been a 鈥榗onciliator鈥�
Re: 鈥淧resident Trump鈥檚 address was excellent,鈥� letter, Feb. 8.
The letter-writer rated U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 State of the Union Address as 鈥渆xcellent鈥� based on the applause it received. It鈥檚 surprising he used such a clearly pre-orchestrated phenomenon for rating purposes. Frequent applause based on milking patriotic, heroic, political and other 鈥渕otherhood鈥� sentiments are always pre-sown into the address, with knee-jerk standing ovations being part of the show.
I found Trump鈥檚 teleprompter reading wooden and unconvincing, while his frequent attempts at emphasis through repetition were annoying.
A better rating tool than phony applause might be to compare his speech with those of his predecessor. There, in my view, on a scale of one to 10, Barack Obama鈥檚 customary logic, clarity, syntax, impeccable timing and delivery always earned him a rating of eight or nine, while Trump rarely rates above three in the same categories.
I also take issue with the writer鈥檚 categorization of Trump as a 鈥渃onciliator.鈥� His 鈥渓ock her up鈥� 鈥済entility鈥� to his opponent during the campaign, his rancorous name-calling and threats against his critics, and his constant insults to and firings of his own senior officials and staff mean that his legacy will probably be that of the most divisive American national leader since King George III was forced to step down from that role.
Terry Milne
Victoria
Extra tenants burden on neighbourhoods
Re: 鈥淪aanich mayor eyes easing rental restrictions,鈥� Feb. 5.
It is unreasonable to expect neighbourhoods to accept increases in the number of unrelated individuals who live in a home. Already, we have speculatively purchased homes that, when rented to four individuals, place demands upon the infrastructure that neighbours have to tolerate.
Such homes often have four or more vehicles competing for limited on-street parking, and the inevitable increase in traffic and unwelcome noise. In our neighbourhood, most suites are unapproved and owners ignore their responsibility to provide at least one parking stall on the property.
Because suites are not approved nor licensed, it is likely the appropriate rates are not being levied nor applicable taxes paid. Why must owner-occupants of family homes have to bear the costs and inconvenience of changing the character of a neighbourhood to accommodate higher densities?
Saanich should start enforcing current standards and codes and apply appropriate taxation and fees before opening the doors to greater abuse. This would generate funds that could be applied directly to supporting specific and appropriate accommodation.
Chris Drake
Victoria
Better not to ship bitumen at all
Re: 鈥淎lberta is increasing oil shipments by rail,鈥� letter, Feb. 7.
In response to the writer of this letter, it would be preferred that Alberta did not ship bitumen through British Columbia by any means, due to its nature and the harm it causes to humans and nature during the mining process, as well as when it is burned. Aside from that, if it must be shipped by rail, send it in solid form wrapped in polymer instead of liquid, making a derailment less of an issue.
The reality is that there is no safe way to move bitumen, as numerous leaks and spills in the Trans Mountain pipeline have proven over the years. Remember the Nexen spill south of Fort McMurray in 2015 and all the damage it caused when it saturated 16,000 square metres with five million litres of a highly toxic form of fossil fuel?
That occurred in spite of new pipes and state-of-the-art sensors that did not respond in time. Neither rail nor pipes are immune from these spills and hazards.
In any case, it is sad that some people supporting further exploitation of the oilsands and the shipment of bitumen to our coast would resort to using this tragedy in an attempt to further their agenda.
John Callas
Salt Spring Island
