In Victoria itself, the cycling rate is even higher
Re: “Victoria tops Canadian cities for people walking, cycling to work,” Dec. 29.
The article noted that, according to the 2021 census, Victoria had the highest share of people who walk (10.0 per cent) and cycle (5.3 per cent) to work among all 41 metropolitan areas in Canada.
This is a comparison of metropolitan areas, which in Victoria’s case includes everything from Sidney to Sooke. If you look at just the city of Victoria, the numbers are even more impressive, with 23 per cent of residents walking to work and 10 per cent of residents cycling to work. Only 48.8 per cent of City of Victoria residents drove to work, compared with the national average of 73.3 per cent.
Also keep in mind that these numbers were measured in 2021, when many office workers were working from home and were not included in the commuting numbers. Downtown office workers are among the most likely to commute by walking or cycling, so these numbers are likely lower than they would have been if not for COVID.
While Statistics Canada attributes Victoria’s high share of active transportation to “compact urban environment, relatively flat topography and mild winters,” research has found that the most important factor, along with compact urban form, is the provision of high quality facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, including sidewalks and protected bike lanes.
There are many cities in the U.S. that are both flatter and have better weather than Victoria, but have much lower active transportation, because they are low density and lack facilities.
While Todd Litman notes in the article that some small U.S. college towns rate higher for commuting by bicycle, the Victoria metro area’s 5.3 per cent cycling share is higher than for all 246 U.S. metro areas recently measured by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Rob Maxwell
Victoria
Find ways to retain health-care workers
Re: “Looking at what lies ahead for Island Health,” commentary, Dec. 29.
Leah Hollins’ statements rightly identify that our priorities include timely access to surgery and improved mental-health and substance-use services as well as the need for urgent and primary care centres. However, there’s likely much more to this conversation.
Health authorities are mandated to identify our population’s health needs, plan appropriate programs and services, and ensure these are properly managed and meet performance objectives.
The Island Health Authority is one of five regional authorities that help manage health-care systems, and each health authority may have a management team of 10 to 15 administrators.
Alberta has one health authority and management team. With the large number of well-paid administrators in each of our authorities, they surely could provide clear leadership for meaningful initiatives and inform the public more thoroughly. Are taxpayers receiving value for this seemingly top-heavy management structure?
Is it possible to receive a clear analysis of our issues in health care instead of superficial, self-congratulatory comments that gloss over the challenges that remain for people needing health care?
A case in point: Rather than settle on the longer-term solution identified as part of the provincial government’s expansion of educational programs within colleges and universities to train health care professionals, why are we not addressing the actual and immediate concerns to retain health care workers before they leave their jobs?
Would better human resource management and retention strategies halt the depletion of nurses and other health-care workers? Those much-needed services for surgical procedures, mental health services or the primary care centres can only function when adequately staffed.
Renate MacKenzie
Saanich
Next year, tell us about better elder care
Re: “Looking at what lies ahead for Island Health,” commentary, Dec. 29.
After reading the commentary by Leah Hollins, board chair of Island Health, I shake my head in disappointment.
Indeed, 2022 was another challenging year with some steps taken toward rebuilding our collapsed health-care system. But it seems the leadership still doesn’t see the storm on the horizon: A rapidly aging population.
Why are we patting ourselves on the back for building more long-term care facilities?
Why are we not talking about other forms of elder care, such as home care, community care, including small co-operative housing?
Our hospitals are jammed with people who do not need to be there, who do not need that level of care. The lack of an alternative level of care continues to cripple our health-care system. And our focus is still on building more long-term care facilities. Stop warehousing seniors.
Long-term care facilities will always be needed for the most severely ill, but they are not the only way to alleviate pressure on hospitals. Stop focusing on institutional care, and start focusing on preventive care.
The data is clear: Providing people with the care they need in their homes or in their communities results in better health outcomes.
Let’s hope next year’s letter offers pats on the back for better elder care.
Bill Currie
Victoria
Gorge Waterway could get more use
Recreational opportunities directly impact quality of life in a city. Before the Second World War, early Victorians used the Gorge Waterway extensively for leisure and recreation. Fast forward to the present and limited opportunities exist, plagued by a lack of access to the waterway.
The Gorge Waterway is a jewel in the city of Victoria — a natural asset that many cities would be envious to possess with a serene body of water right in the heart of the city centre that is readily accessible to residents.
From the 1890s to the 1930s, the Gorge was considered Victoria’s swimming resort. Beyond swimming, a range of opportunities exist from floating cinema and concerts to paddle-boat rentals and kayaking circuits.
In order to facilitate better use of the Gorge Waterway, better access is required from various public parks, including Arm Street Park in Vic West and Arbutus Park in Burnside Gorge.
The city needs to allocate more funding in its budget for the development and animation of existing city parks that are underused. Such funding can go into a master plan to develop better water access.
Providing access to the Gorge Waterway would reduce our environmental footprint and reduce the need for residents to travel to outlying lakes.
Furthermore, past testing of the water quality in the Gorge Waterway revealed that it is one of the cleanest bodies of water in the region — ahead of even Thetis Lake. Give the Gorge Waterway a chance to live up to its potential.
Darryl Wilson
Victoria
Amalgamation might not make things better
All this talk about amalgamation for some or all of the Greater Victoria municipalities includes one huge assumption: that amalgamation will make things better.
For every study you can show me that shows amalgamation of municipalities has been positive, I can produce one that shows the opposite.
In most real-world cases in Canada, amalgamation has resulted in increased costs and reduced services for taxpayers. It is NOT a panacea.
So please, let’s have a clear-eyed, fact-based, impartial debate about amalgamation, and stop assuming it is the answer to all of Greater Victoria’s problems.
Doug Taylor Lee
Victoria
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