A special day to fight antisemitism
Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) takes place this year on April 28. This is an important and solemn historical commemoration that reminds all people to be vigilant against rising bigotry, hatred and antisemitism.
Sadly, antisemitism is growing around the world, including here in Canada. Statistics over the past several years repeatedly state that Jewish people and institutions are among the most common targets of police-reported hate crimes in Canada.
Too often, these incidents are dismissed as a byproduct of international events or otherwise downplayed or even denied. But this surge in hate-motivated crimes is a real, growing problem — and it needs to be confronted.
A new, grassroots movement is mobilizing to encourage (especially non-Jewish) Canadians to stand against hatred of all kinds, but particularly against anti-Jewish words and deeds.
We believe that Jewish people have been forced to confront these incidents by themselves for far too long.
Upstanders Canada (UpstandersCanada.com) is identifying and empowering Canadians across political, religious, cultural, economic and demographic divides to join together to stand with Jewish people and against hatred and violence.
Our statement of unity is simple: We believe that Jewish people have the right to live in peace and free from fear anywhere in the world, including in Canada and in Israel.
Our goal is to ensure that Canada remains a welcoming society for all people. We invite you to become an upstander.
Patrick Johnson
Director
Upstanders Canada
Personal responsibility needs a bit of a nudge
Re: “Single use containers? Try fixing the roads,” letter, April 22.
A recent letter suggested that we should stick with civic issues like roads, trash and recycling instead of having businesses charge for single use containers.
Every year, Victorians throw 14 million single use items into the Hartland landfill. Every day, Victorians throw 75,000 single use items into public garbage cans. That’s a lot of trash.
We’ve done the research and are following the lead of other cities to address this civic issue. Victoria’s three-pronged approach to reducing single-use items (making them available only on request; banning them for in-restaurant dining; and charging a fee to push businesses and customers to reusables) will cut down on waste and recycling, and will save taxpayers money.
We’re open to criticism and debate; that’s what makes a democracy strong. Yet we’re already doing exactly what the letter writer asks.
It would be ideal if everyone took personal responsibility to cut down on the amount of unnecessary garbage we each generate, but it’s not happening fast enough. Sometimes it’s the job of government and the private sector working together to give us all a small nudge in the right direction.
About the roads: Since 2015, council has been investing more in road paving and repair than at any time in the city’s history. And each year in the city’s budget, we continue to ramp up spending on filling potholes and repaving roads. Unfortunately, we’ve got decades of catching up to do.
Lisa Helps
Mayor, City of Victoria
Let’s work together to heal health care
It is time to have a co-ordinated approach to the family practice physician shortage.
More immigrants are coming to Canada without discussions with health authorities on providing medical care to all the new people and adding pressure to the existing resources.
When we bring in immigrants from another country, we should also bring in qualified family practitioners in proportion to number of people immigrating to Canada.
Once they are in Canada the licensing authorities should fast track an intensive six-month training for the new immigrant physicians and allow them to practice in the community.
Those are trained physicians experienced in common diseases prevalent in the countries they come from and the human anatomy doesn’t change with the change of country.
We need a time-limited, action-oriented brainstorming session involving immigration officials, health officials, patients and family practitioners to resolve this crisis. Let’s not look at being territorial to protect turfs for vested interests.
We understand that younger physicians want to have a work/life balance and don’t want to work long hours. We can’t blame them.
However, allowing physicians to immigrate will take pressure off the current system in the short term. Then a long-term strategy should be looked at. Our health-care system is deteriorating.
All related agencies should think of the country and common people in it before thinking of individual interests.
Mano Sandhu
Victoria
Increase transfers to the provinces
Health care is delivered provincially, but some of the funds come from the federal government.
In the recent provincial budget, it’s anticipated that health care in B.C. will cost $25.5 billion in the next year. The health transfer from the federal government will cover just $6.2 billion.
Premier John Horgan is lobbying the federal government to commit to transfer payments that are in keeping with the increased costs of health care.
This is critical not only for health care but for all public services delivered by the province because the remaining $19.3 billion will have to be covered by provincial revenues.
The federal government is now collecting about three out of every four income tax dollars we pay and the fact that the federal government has a much greater ability to run a deficit, the Trudeau government needs to act immediately and commit to health transfers that are in keeping with costs.
The federal government was quick to act when the pandemic began, but the pandemic is not over and the impacts will be felt for years to come.
Prime Minister Trudeau: it’s still time for bold action. Increase health transfers to the provinces.
Kip Wood
Nanaimo
Don’t seize property owned by Russian
Green MP Elizabeth May’s suggestion that the government should seize Yuri Milner’s property in North Saanich is ludicrous and frankly disturbing.
We are still a nation of laws and people are innocent until proven guilty.
I am 100 per cent against Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, but that invasion was not caused by the Russian people, many of whom are protesting the war as well.
The war is the making of Vladimir Putin and a handful of his cronies at the Kremlin. What proof is May offering that Milner is somehow attached to Putin or the Kremlin? None.
I don’t know Milner, but as far as I know he made his money by being an early investor in Facebook and other tech companies.
What are we going to do next, open internment camps for all Russian nationals in Canada?
I did not hear May suggest seizing property owned by rich Americans tied to the Bush family when they destroyed Iraq under the clearly false pretense of weapons of mass destruction.
Let’s take a step back and think before we spout hurtful nonsense, otherwise we are going to end up turning on each other.
Lorenzo G. Oss-Cech
Victoria
Nanaimo safety means expanding government
The recent article about Nanaimo’s $2.5 million downtown safety action plan missed a few critical points. This is about expanding government again.
This program budgets $1.6 million for 12 community safety officers, which amounts to $133,000 per year per job. Downtown cleanup teams will be made permanent — that’s another two or more union jobs. Plus the city will hire a manager/co-ordinator for this whole program. That’s at least 15 new city employees.
In the three years of Nanaimo’s current council, expenses have risen 14 per cent. One city councillor noted that the city already spends as much as $4 million on RCMP bike patrols downtown, plus there are security guards public and private, plus bylaw officers.
I sure hope this new expenditure improves matters appreciably. But I am not looking forward to my future property tax bills!
Les Barclay
Nanaimo
A B.C. leader who commutes from Calgary
To readers who remain unclear why folks get upset when municipal councillors live outside the constituencies they serve, consider a simple analogy:
Imagine if B.C.’s premier lived in Calgary, and our health minister in Saskatoon. Sometimes they visit their own ridings. And of course each attends the legislature to “represent” their constituencies. But how would constituents feel about such arrangements?
Better yet, imagine our prime minister commutes to Ottawa each week from their home in New York or Frankfurt? Would Canadians really believe they’re getting the best representation they can?
Doug Stacey
Esquimalt
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