Please, government, give us amalgamation
In light of the decision by Esquimalt council to terminate the policing agreement with the City of Victoria, it is time for the provincial government to take action on an overdue issue facing South Vancouver Island.
We have too many municipalities. The NDP government has chosen to ignore the call to consolidate municipalities and spread the burden of responsibility for a vibrant Victoria we all love.
The problem is it also makes the majority of the challenges for current social issues the problem for Victoria.
Esquimalt is absolutely right to dissolve the agreement. They, along with Victoria, bear a disproportionate responsibility for policing Greater Victoria, yet all the adjoining municipalities benefit from a vibrant Victoria.
I do not understand what opposing argument the government could have other than political calculation. It is time for provincial government to get beyond self-serving decisions and to provide real leadership.
Both provincial parties need to step up.
Charron Hamilton
Victoria
Capital region policing needs one department
If the recent horrific incident on Shelbourne Street isn’t enough for local councils and the provincial government to recognize that the municipal boundaries drawn up more than 100 years ago don’t provide the best model for policing, I don’t have much hope that it will happen in my lifetime.
It will take real courage from our leaders to make the change to a Greater Victoria police department.
I worked for 27.5 years in the Saanich PD and two years in the RCMP before that. I have worked in an integrated unit, major crime and fraud sections where the investigations cross municipal borders frequently.
I know this from working on the inside of this issue. We are one city, with different neighbourhoods. Yes, there have been changes in the policing in Esquimalt since the forced amalgamation with the VicPD. There has also been tremendous change in the challenges of policing in that time as well.
The only way forward is to create one police service for Greater Victoria. Going backward in time is not possible, and I think irresponsible. As is often the case, these decisions are being made by those who have never been on the front lines or entered a life- threatening situation.
I ask our provincial police services to show some courage and leadership and force an amalgamation of Greater Victoria police departments.
Steven Irwin, retired sergeant
Saanich Police
Police amalgamation and the search for a pony
Re: “Esquimalt wants out of policing agreement with Victoria,” Aug. 17.
The story certainly highlights the eternal optimism, or perhaps wishful thinking, of the amalgamation side, or at least the optimism of Chief Constable Del Manak, as he himself admits.
The fact that the forced union (i.e. amalgamation) of VicPD and the former Esquimalt police service is seen as a failure by the smaller partner gives the chief hope that the time is right to take the concept to an even greater level.
Talk about optimism.
I am reminded of Ronald Reagan’s story of the kid who thought “there must be a pony in here somewhere.”
Mark Muth
Saanich
Don’t pretend that we can rely on that ferry
It was reported on Monday that B.C. Ferries between Duke Point and Tsawwassen encountered multiple sailing waits. Representatives of B.C. Ferries noted that there are ferry options to get from mid-Island to the mainland, and cited the Departure Bay-Horseshoe Bay ferries as one option.
This, in my opinion, is extremely disingenuous. On a regular basis, I receive emails advising that the Queen of Alberni, on the Departure Bay-Horseshoe Bay route, will cancel at least two sailings because of staffing issues, or could potentially cancel a whole afternoon’s sailings because of staffing issues.
The other Queen-class ferries on that route have maintenance issues, which often result in cancellation of a sailing or two.
Case in point: On Thursday, Aug. 11, B.C. Ferries cancelled four sailings on that route and on Friday, Aug. 12, cancelled two sailings on that same route. Is it any wonder then, that people wishing to go from mid-Island to the mainland have opted to try the Duke Point ferry?
The Coastal Class of ferries seem to be more reliable in terms of staffing and maintenance. B.C. Ferries should be honest about the situation on the Departure Bay-Horseshoe Bay ferry service, rather than pretending that it is one that can be relied upon. It cannot.
Jane Hay
Nanaimo
Family members cannot replace health workers
Re: “Abusing health-care staff is not the answer,” letter, Aug. 17.
Having worked as a social worker in health care for many years, I totally agree that abuse of health-care workers is unacceptable. However, having spent much of my time with family members whose loved ones were in hospital or hospice, I can also say that expecting them to take over the tasks of paid hospital staff is also unacceptable for two reasons.
Family caregivers, especially given the aging population the writer mentions, are often exhausted themselves on top of struggling with the stress and grief of having a loved one who is ill or dying.
When they see a vulnerable loved one left unwashed, in pain, or having suffered the indignity of incontinence because of a lack of toileting, they have a right to be upset, but not abusive to frontline staff.
However, the problem with family members taking over personal care of their loved ones is that they risk becoming an untrained and unpaid “shadow workforce” in the health-care system.
Their actions, while helpful in the short run, can make it look like the staffing numbers are actually OK, giving health authorities another reason to kick the can down the road.
The sad reality is that by allowing the system to collapse, health authorities have created a terrible situation in which staff, patients and families are left to act out their frustrations and disappointments on each other.
It might be true that we are well past having easy answers to the health-care crisis, but leaving staff and families to sort it out on their own is disgraceful.
Elizabeth Causton
Victoria
A bit of foreshadowing on Canada’s health care
I can’t shake the feeling that our government seems paralyzed in the face of our public health-care crisis.
It makes me worry that they may be seeking a solution that will only seem palatable to Canadians once we have hit rock bottom and are desperate.
Mark my words: Private solutions will emerge, and the worst part is that we will feel grateful for them.
Stand strong. Hold the government accountable. There are solutions out there, and it is their job to research and implement them.
No private health care in Canada.
Brianna Day
Victoria
Lawbreakers complain about enforcement?
Re: “Activists ask for public investigation into RCMP enforcement at Fairy Creek old-growth logging protests,” Aug. 17.
Some clarity is required here. A group of nihilists, claiming that their objections to old-growth logging give them an excuse to break the law, are now asking for an investigation into the police who enforced the laws they broke.
These nihilists have defied legal injunctions, assaulted police, committed mischief, trespass, and vandalism, endangered themselves and others, and threatened and harassed logging company workers.
Now, in a stunning statement of hypocrisy, the person who filed the compaint with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, Keith Cherry, states: “No one is above the law, including police officers.”
The Fairy Creek nihilists have shown time after time they think that they are above the law and that committing various crimes is a legitimate form of protest, and that the ends justify the means.
Not only are some of the activities of the Fairy Creek nihilists criminal in nature, they are also highly organized, well-funded and strategic to the point that one has to question whether this is actually about protecting old growth at all.
This request for a public investigation, into police doing what we as a society task them to do, fits into that pattern, intentionally sowing chaos and doubt.
We give police a lot of power and there is, rightly, much concern in general about police accountability.
But a group of nihilists who can’t hold themselves accountable by respecting the rule of law are morally disqualfied from accusing the police who arrest them of “improper and unlawful actions.”
Paul Walton
Nanaimo
Surgical nurse has to leave country to get work
A fine young woman from South Korea is staying with us, wanting a nursing job. But despite four years as a surgical nurse back home, her credentials aren’t good enough for B.C. She would have to take the entire nursing program all over again.
So she’s moving on to nurse in New Zealand, though she could get into Australia too, neither of which one would call backward medically. She needs only to pass an English test.
Does anyone really think their standards are insufficient?
Steve Weatherbe
Victoria
Let’s take action on endangered species
Another day and another endless flow of activist actions, journalist articles and political proclamations regarding greenhouse gases and emissions.
Yes, climate change is a crisis, but B.C.’s contribution to world greenhouse gases is around 0.2 per cent.
At the same time B.C. has about 1,800 endangered species, more than any other province, many unique to B.C.
Can anyone remember reading anything about this crisis that we alone can solve? Perhaps we should ask if we are truly green or perhaps merely a trendy chartreuse.
Scott Clark
View Royal
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