Pay for your own transportation choice
Re: 鈥淧ublic transit should be free, Victoria council says,鈥� April 26.
Here we go again with another hare-brained proposal from Victoria city council 鈥� free public transit for the entire capital region.
No suggestion of what this will cost: Just expand the bus system, buy more buses, hire more drivers, and it鈥檚 鈥渉op on the bus, take a ride with us,鈥� all at the expense of the taxpayer. Taxpayers are already subsidizing the transit system through gas taxes.
We can鈥檛 afford to have our taxes be ever-increasing through new provincial subsidies, property taxes or increased gas taxes. Whatever mode of transportation that people choose to use, be it bicycle, car or bus, they should have to pay for their choice and not expect that taxpayers will provide a free ride.
David Waldie
Saanich
There is no such thing as 鈥榝ree鈥� transit
Re: 鈥淧ublic transit should be free, Victoria council says,鈥� April 26.
The attack on the taxpayers is now in full bloom with Victoria council鈥檚 campaign for free bus service. Someone with half a brain knows there is nothing free. It is taxpayer-funded, and as a taxpayer there is nothing left in the account.
We need total amalgamation of the Capital Regional District and we can eliminate the mayor and council of Victoria.
The push by Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps that if we don鈥檛 do all this environmental nonsense the world will disappear because of us is just a scam. Yes, the world is changing, but here we are just a flea on the butt of an elephant.
The real problems are China, the U.S. and India. That鈥檚 where the effort should be.
Dennis Bourne
Saanich
Street changes could hurt businesses
Re: 鈥淣o need to disrupt Vancouver Street,鈥� letter, April 20; 鈥淰ancouver Street already good for bikes,鈥� letter, April 23.
I couldn鈥檛 agree more with the letter-writers. It is such a shame that what initially seemed like a plan to finally have a pleasant and functional shared roadway for all road users looks set to be yet another project that unnecessarily thwarts drivers.
Vancouver Street has been a pleasant and not heavily trafficked route by which to drive from the downtown core to the Cook Street Village and area. Although many of the Cook Street Village businesses provide services for which one can find equivalents downtown, the ambience is such that it鈥檚 often worth driving the extra distance to have a more enjoyable shopping/banking/etc. experience.
Quadra and Cook are already less pleasant to drive on, even without funnelling an extra 5,000 to 6,000 cars onto them daily. Unfortunately, the traffic proposals that excite Victoria鈥檚 mayor and council seem to place emphasis on the experience of those who live in the immediate area, ignoring the fact that businesses are frequented by thousands of people who live out of downtown and commute by car.
Until there is a time- and cost-efficient public-transportation alternative to driving, these commuters will continue to travel by car. If through traffic is ceased on Vancouver and the alternative routes are a more frustrating and traffic-congested driving experience, will it affect the Cook Street businesses?
Can they thrive if their clientele is predominantly those who live locally? If the answer is no, do Victoria鈥檚 mayor and council care?
Kiiri Michelsen
Saanichton
Do not let terrorists divide us
Re: 鈥淪ri Lankan bombs deserve front page,鈥� letter, April 24.
I agree that the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka deserved to be front-page news. However, speculations that attacks on Muslims are prioritized over attacks on Christians are unwelcome, as well as dangerous for Muslim communities at a time when Islamophobic rhetoric is high.
These attacks were particularly devastating given Sri Lanka鈥檚 history of civil war and targeted attacks on ethnic and religious minorities, including the Muslim community.
Support for Sri Lanka at this time is welcome, but not comments that might lead to further polarization or backlash.
The victims of these attacks included Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. We must reject any attempts by terrorists to divide us.
Tharani Balachandran
Victoria
We must celebrate love聽and joy
Re: 鈥淕reen Party Leader Elizabeth May marries at Christ Church Cathedral,鈥� April 23.
What a pleasant surprise when I viewed the sa国际传媒 front page last Tuesday.
I was absolutely delighted to see a picture of happiness, joy and spring colours splashed across the page.
I enjoyed not being bombarded by all the horrific acts that are going on in the world.
Yes, I realize we must be informed of them, deal with/discuss them and learn from these tragedies. However, just as important (maybe more so) is the human ability to relish the good things that also happen in the world, especially love and joy in our own community.
Maybe then we can be stronger to take in the next sad news incident.
Thank you, sa国际传媒, for making my whole day brighter 鈥� and congratulations, Elizabeth and John, on many years of love and laughter.
Margo Allen
Victoria
Federal NDP鈥檚 retrofit plan a winner
Re: 鈥淟eader says NDP wants to see homes retrofitted by 2050,鈥� April 19.
I was pleased to read about the first plank of the NDP鈥檚 platform to address climate change. Following the approach outlined by Van Jones in his 2008 book The Green Collar Economy, the NDP鈥檚 plan fuses social and ecological solutions.
The beauty of the NDP鈥檚 plan is that in addition to retrofitting our homes to be more energy-efficient, it could employ many of the low- and middle-skilled workers who have borne the brunt of outsourcing and automation. Creating well-paid, meaningful employment for those workers would be a truly social-democratic approach to addressing climate change.
I am looking forward to seeing what else Jagmeet Singh and the NDP have planned as they roll out their version of a 鈥淕reen New Deal鈥� for sa国际传媒.
Freya Keddie
Victoria
Save old-growth forests next to park
Re: 鈥淒on鈥檛 log near Juan de Fuca park,鈥� letter, April 25.
It is hard to believe that our forests continue to be logged at the same rate under our current NDP government as they were under previous sa国际传媒 Liberal governments.
And now old-growth forests next to the beautiful Juan de Fuca Park are threatened. Only 5.5 per cent of our original ancient trees on Vancouver island have been protected. How can we allow more of these mighty trees to be logged? This is public land; it belongs to us all.
People come from all over the world to visit the Juan de Fuca park, and it is much used by school groups wanting to have a wilderness experience in these beautiful forests beside the ocean, not beside clearcuts.
We must take a stand and not let these rare and ancient trees be logged.
Mary Lynch
Victoria
NDP misses chance for a new vision
Re: 鈥�$85 million in upgrades for Sooke Road, Trans-sa国际传媒,鈥� April 24.
The last Liberal government spent $85聽million of taxpayers鈥� money to build the McKenzie interchange. This has caused construction headaches for three years when everyone knows it will only move congestion to another bottleneck. Now the NDP are spending $85 million on road-widening.
Collectively, these are $170-million Band-Aid commuter solutions when compared with developer Ken Mariash鈥檚 suggestion to spend $15 million to upgrade the existing, dormant E&N line for commuter rail from the Johnson Street Bridge to Langford.
When you consider the reduction of cars on the road as people switch to the more comfortable commuter-rail option, we will see a reduced carbon footprint and savings to ICBC, the police services and the health-care system from reduced car accidents.
I had hoped for some vision from the NDP, but it鈥檚 business as usual.
Jim Pine
Saanich
