Solving world’s problems, Victoria style
1. Install scorned bollards at random locations on offending pickleball courts.
2. Reroute bicycle trail network through said courts. (Confusing signs mandatory.)
3. Amalgamate said courts into off-leash dog parks and bicycle chop shops.
You’re welcome.
Earl Fowler
View Royal
Have developers provide green space
Some of the responsibility for downtown green spaces should be put on the shoulders of developers.
Not only are developers getting away with architectural nothingness, there seems to be no requirement to incorporate green features either horizontal or vertical.
Nicola Ferdinando
Victoria
Follow best practices in our classrooms
It’s disheartening to read how our teachers who are in charge of educating our youth are so out of touch with how to teach them well.
A recent commentary complained how the province was derelict in its duties to provide adequate funding in schools for Chromebooks, even though we are experiencing the highest levels of funding in education, as well as overwhelming evidence that technology in our schools is providing more harm than good.
From a worldwide study produced eight years ago: “Students who use computers very frequently in school get worse results.”
Instead of bemoaning the current situation of how others are responsible for the poor state of education in today’s schools, perhaps reflect on why those in the teaching profession continue to provide excuses rather than improved results for today’s students.
Acknowledging best practices, and what not to do in the classroom, might be a great starting point.
Tara L. Houle
North Saanich
Watch for grifters gaming the system
In a climate emergency, with the federal government dithering over a strong emissions cap and the provincial government fully supporting fracking and the proliferation of “natural gas,” municipalities are picking up the slack. In accordance with Beyond Gas BC, the municipalities in and around Victoria are pursuing two goals.
The first is the implementation of the Zero Carbon Step Code, which requires that municipalities pass a resolution that all new buildings in that jurisdiction will set a maximum amount of greenhouse gas emissions that these buildings will be allowed to emit annually.
The second is to encourage homeowners and landlords to retrofit and invest in heat pumps, with the support of the provincial government’s rebate program.
The contractors, however, appear to be taking advantage of this urgent situation and are gouging the public, charging inflated prices.
Estimates are provided to customers with a total amount, without clarification of what the materials cost and what the labour charges are.
Activist groups have responded by sending signed petitions to the minister of Low Carbon Innovation requesting that the government stipulate that installation companies must provide transparent estimates that show what each individual charge is for.
So, buyer beware, at a time when goodwill is scarce and disaster capitalism prevails there will always be grifters gaming the system.
Donna Mclellan
Victoria
Smoking will persist, we can’t force quitting
Re: “Vaping products should be subject to the same marketing ban as tobacco,” column, Jan. 22.
Has Trevor Hancock even met smokers? There are militant smokers out there.
I get that he wants to save the world, but forcing health on people in the manner he suggests is just going to absolutely backfire, especially in regards to vaping and smoking.
Some smokers are actively avoiding reaching what comedian Denis Leary referred to as the wheelchair, adult diaper, kidney dialysis years, “you can have ’em, we don’t want ’em!”
Since MAID is a thing, why does it matter the method a person chooses to “end life on their own terms”?
Advocating for the banning of smoking for anyone born in the future is also going to backfire. Do you want a huge tobacco black market? Because that is how you get a massive tobacco black market.
I’m not certain what his stance on “safe supply” is, but it’s curious to me how people like Hancock think abstinence is going to work with one of the most addictive substances known to man, but advocate handing out free “safe supply” and legalization of hard drugs.
Tobacco has been smoked for millennia. It’s not going anywhere any time soon.
By the way, I have never smoked.
April J. Gibson
Duncan
Brentwood bridge would save a park
Recent suggestions for a bridge from Brentwood Bay to circumnavigate the Malahat is sensible.
Destroying Goldstream Park and spending billions on a new Malahat route is fantasy.
A bridge is the most sensible and economic solution. Prince Edward Island proves that.
G.R. Greig
Victoria
Balanced approach helps save money
Re: “We need to plan for future energy needs,” letter, Jan. 19.
The letter compared natural gas to a new heat pump, stating there was no cost benefit.
Yes, there is no cost saving, as natural gas is cheap at current rates. You can also get green “renewable” natural gas for a few more dollars. You can do a comparison on the FortisBC website.
However, our area has no natural gas so we converted from a 50-year-old oil furnace to a heat pump a few years ago and saved $1,200 the first year at $1.30 a litre.
Today, oil is likely over $2 a litre so we could expect $2,000 savings. Plus, no risk of an oil spill.
Our heat pump is good to -20 C and, in the recent cold snap, it got to -10 C. All worked OK.
We have no backup heat. We keep the house warmer, at 22 C rather than 20 C, since we aren’t trying to save oil costs.
We also have a plug-in hybrid car. Over 90 per cent of our 10,000 kilometres a year are electric (the car keeps a record).
With home charging at about $3 per 100 km vs $10-20 per 100 km for gas, that is about $300 a year for electric vs. $2,000 for gasoline, a saving of $1,700 a year.
If we used a big V8, using 20 litres per 100 km, then savings about double. Two of our major needs produce little CO2, heating and transportation.
As the letter writer mentioned, a balanced approach is good; for example, a hybrid car can still provide significant CO2 savings.
Fred Beinhauer
Saanich
More public spaces are needed in Victoria
Re: “Victoria to look at creating more car-free zones and plazas,” Jan. 19.
Public spaces like Fernwood Square and the nearby playground at George Jay Elementary were a great idea when they were created decades ago. We should create a lot more, quickly.
Pocket parks and plazas around schools make it safer for children to walk, roll or ride to school. Whole neighbourhoods become safer, healthier and more pleasant. Parks and plazas can be tested with low-cost temporary materials, and are usually popular once experienced.
Public spaces like these reduce motor vehicle traffic and speeds on bike and roll routes. A prime example of this is the pocket park on the Vancouver bike and roll route at McClure Street.
There are many other good locations for pocket parks on bike and roll routes throughout Greater Victoria. Safer bike and roll routes make life more affordable as car-free commuting becomes more possible.
These benefits are enough to make this a great idea for the whole region. And we are in a climate emergency.
Safer routes for riding bicycles, rolling on wheelchairs and mobility scooters, and walking are essential for meeting our climate targets.
Both the City of Victoria and the province have targets to substantially reduce driving (vehicle kilometres travelled) to reduce climate pollution.
Let’s make our region safer, healthier and more affordable. as well as really striving to hit our climate targets.
Patrick Schreck
Co-Chair, Victoria Local Committee
Capital Bike
Bollards stop motorists, so leave them be
The bollards were originally installed to keep cars off the trails. If they are removed, some motorists will surely find their way back onto the trails.
Hal Kalman
Victoria
Important reminder of our good fortune
We attended Saturday’s heart-wrenching performance of A Dictionary of Emotions in War Time at the Langham Court Theatre.
This outstanding production starring two local Ukrainian refugees describes the plight of a young woman in Kherson enduring Putin’s Russian bombing, hunger and displacement before reluctantly leaving for a future in Ireland.
Her direct question to the Victoria audience was how would we feel and go forward if 250,000 of our population left for safety, leaving only 50,000 in this devastated community?
How fortunate we are in Canada and how well this production reminds us of such good fortune.
Laurel and Robert Worth
Victoria
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