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Letters March 25: Disruptive protesters; true meaning of freedom; who should amalgamate; sounds of pickleball

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A protester stands at the corner of Pandora and Blanshard streets during an anti-vaccine protest in front of the Ministry of Health. A majority of letter-writers are fed up with the long-running protests in Victoria. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST

Disruption for the sake of disruption

Re: “Hey protesters, go honk somewhere else,” column, March 22.

A well-written column by Jack Knox on the protest convoy, though what they are protesting now is beyond my comprehension.

I think Knox spoke for a lot of us who object to the objectionable tactics of the convoy participants who seem more intent on disruption of the sake of disruption rather than any legitimate protest.

And I would like to say a quiet “good on ya” to the Victoria police and their tactics of quiet, respectful insistence the “protesters” obey the norms of respecting the residents.

I am a bit annoyed that I can’t come to Victoria and go about my legitimate business because of the disruption caused by the protesters.

That’s what I think deserves a bit of protesting.

Greg Middleton
Salt Spring Island

They need to find productive activities

Re: “Hey protesters, go honk somewhere else,” column, March 22.

I agree totally with Jack Knox. As far as I can discern, protesters have no idea what they are protesting about.

If their protest is about mandates established to protect the general population from the virus, then in effect they are in an argument with a virus. How stupid is that?

They might as well go out onto the street and pick a telephone pole with which to argue.

As Ebenezer Scrooge famously observed, we will all retire to bedlam.

I long for the day that sanity returns among protesters and that they return to their homes and pursue more productive activities.

R. Lorne Holland
Victoria

Still disrupted, but by different people

The police are now creating more traffic problems in James Bay than the protesters did. The only good part is they aren’t blowing their horns.

Mike Holt
Victoria

The true meaning of ‘freedom’

I was exiting a restaurant only to be accosted, in a very hostile manner, by a woman asking me why I was wearing a mask.

I was not prepared for this moment, but when I saw the button on her sweater, which read “Freedom,” I was not surprised.

Freedom, by my definition, is not simply freedom for one’s self, it is freedom for others too. This is an abuse of the notion of freedom.

We so desperately need to begin healing. Let’s find a way to build bridges, not barriers. Civility over hostility, please.

Vicki Davidoff
Victoria

Mobs haven’t changed much

Here’s how — 182 years ago — Charles Dickens described a mob that had “occupied” London to prevent Roman Catholics from voting:

“Sprinkled doubtless here and there with honest zealots, but composed for the most of the very scum and refuse of London.…”

Some things change. Some things remain the same.

Thomas O. (Tim) Davis
Victoria

Is April 1 coming early this year?

Two lead stories in the March 24 edition left me repeatedly checking both the paper’s masthead date and my phone to make sure it wasn’t April 1.

First, $750,000 will be spent to fund some fine citizens from Victoria and Saanich to discuss amalgamation of their cities. I can tell you the outcome for free: It doesn’t matter what they come up with in the citizens’ assembly, the taxpayers of Saanich will reject it (just ask Esquimalt about its willingness to share its taxes with Victoria for a necessary bump in police services for Victoria and you have your answer).

The second head-scratching story: An otherwise well-meaning couple who are developing a RV park in the middle of nowhere wants B.C. taxpayers to fund their park’s infrastructure, estimated at $2 million, so that Ukrainian refugees can have a place to stay … of course, the actual living accommodations would cost extra.

The refugees would reportedly have nice waterfalls to look at, but little to no access to jobs or shopping, etc.

Anyway, I am going back to bed, please wake me up on April 2.

Howard Brunt
North Saanich

Amalgamate Victoria, Oak Bay, Esquimalt

Regarding the study on amalgamation of Victoria and Saanich, I didn’t see any mention of Oak Bay or Esquimalt.

Are these municipalities to be left on their own to fend for themselves? The reason I have lived in Saanich for more than 30 years is to distance myself from poor decisions from Victoria city council.

Keep all the Saaniches together and put Victoria, Oak Bay and Esquimalt together. Job done.

Steve Harvey
Saanich

Let Saanich merge with anything but Victoria

I would move out of Saanich before I would live in a municipality that could be touched by the mayor and council of Victoria, and not just this bad joke of a “mayor and council” they are stuck with right now.

Saanich is a different living environment from Victoria overall, and I would guess that future councils in Victoria would try to force their lifestyle on Saanich, including miles and miles of bike lanes and anything that will discourage the use of cars.

I could see some sort of amalgamation with other areas, but not Victoria.

Larry Zilinsky
Saanich

Does pickleball need to be so noisy?

I don’t understand why pickleball is such a problem. I understand that people living near courts don’t like it because it’s noisy, and that people who play it like it because it’s easy to play and provides reasonably good exercise.

What I don’t understand is why it has to be noisy. The original equipment used on Bainbridge Island included table tennis paddles and whiffle balls because that’s what they had, but that was 60 years ago.

Surely it must be possible to make paddles and balls from quieter materials. But if the rationale is that tradition demands loud equipment, or that noise is part of the game, then I know which side of the argument I’m on.

And it isn’t the players.

Ian Cameron
Brentwood Bay

A bit of sound is a small price

For years I played tennis beside two courts of pickleball players. While we could hear them play, it was never loud enough to bother us.

These people who are playing pickleball are normally older who would not be getting regular excersise.

If the pickleball noise never bothered us playing next to them, surely the neighbours who live farther away can accept a small increase in noise level and give these older people a chance to improve their health and have fun doing it.

Please lighten up, neighbours.

Jerry Blumenschein
Victoria

Please spend tax dollars where it matters

It seems as if our municipal government has a hole in its pocket to spend our tax dollars. This might be more tolerable if their spending priorities were in line with common sense and actual need. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

All over Victoria, our roads and intersections are being “revised” in ways that impede traffic and elude common sense, such as roundabouts with islands that take up two-thirds of the intersection, new barriers erected to prevent road access and landscaped medians that are, while pretty, hardly useful or needed.

I won’t mention the new angled parking on Dallas Road that only allows parking if you are driving in the right direction (who thought of that one?) and the many other enhancements around Victoria that seem only to reduce parking, road availability and utility.

What is most perplexing is that all this frivolous road work is being done while many of our roads are full of potholes and are actually dangerous.

Scott Street for example, in Fernwood, is so full of potholes that it’s barely drivable. It’s been this way for a couple of years and there are many just like it.

Can we set some spending priorities that improve our roads instead of just impeding traffic? How about an emphasis on need rather than beautification?

Launa Palset
Victoria

Don’t cut trees to add more pavement

I live near Menzies and Niagara streets, and walk along Menzies nearly every day. The flowering plum trees are beautiful, making the walk very pleasant.

Also on a hot summer day, they offer welcoming shade.

In my opinion there is no need to widen the sidewalk as there is already a sidewalk on the opposite side of Menzies.

To sacrifice trees for more pavement makes no sense.

Judith Branion
James Bay

They are oblivious to the perils of the world

A letter-writer wants to know why Premier John Horgan isn’t being called out for “telling protesters to write letters, go home…”

I believe what the premier actually said was: “People can disagree with the government’s course of action and send letters and protest, but then you need to go home.”

I would guess that he’s fed up with the self-aggrandizing, narcissistic, disruptive, misguided, puerile, flagrantly disrespectful and often criminal behaviour of a very small subset of our population that appears oblivious to the real perils faced by humanity at a time when we all need to pull together to turn away from the precipice.

Climate change, the ugly and sinister global rise of autocracy and threat of nuclear war, the pandemic, civility and common sense on life support — take your pick.

Perhaps Horgan is part of the solution, not part of the problem. Honk if you agree.

David Masini
Victoria

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