Red tulips to honour heroes of all kinds
Last fall I planted some red tulips hoping they would bloom in time for the commemorative anniversary of the liberation of Holland.
These events were to be taking place in Holland at this time. The tulips are now starting to bloom but alas now there are to be no gatherings.
I have arranged the tulips in front of our doorway with your newspaper’s heart. I am sending this to honour all of our veterans and serving military, but also to celebrate our working heroes — all the health-care workers, store clerks/cashiers, deliverers, food-service staff and our Times Colonist carrier who arrives unseen each morning. And especially to celebrate our democracy, hard won, protected by many. Many thanks.
Ann Wilmut
Oak Bay
Ted Grant was kind, humble and funny
Re: “Ted Grant’s 70-year love affair with the camera,” Jack Knox, April 21.
We were saddened to hear of the passing of Ted Grant, a legend in Canadian photojournalism.
We first met Ted many years ago, when he was a customer at our picture framing shop, and we were privileged to prepare his stunning prints for exhibition.
In later years, as a travel adviser, I made many of his arrangements to attend various events across the country.
Ted was always unfailingly kind and humble, and possessed a grand sense of humour.
His son, Scott, was quoted in the story as saying: “He just wanted to be remembered as a hell of a nice guy.”
And that is exactly how we will always think of him.
Lynn and Paul Arnold
Victoria
Normalizing presence of homeless camps
Re: “In Victoria, a tale of two very different homeless camps,” April 15.
The story highlights the differences between the situation on Pandora Avenue and the camp at Topaz Park, praising the advantages of the latter (hand-washing station, showers, washrooms, security and support workers, meals and harm-reduction and overdose-prevention services) as if it’s some kind of homeless-camp success story.
A week later, we see frequent reports in these pages of terrified residents in the area, property crimes, weapons in the hands of those barred from owning them, and even deaths.
How is this a success story? Stop normalizing the presence of these camps, or they will eventually be seen as a viable long-term solution.
A solution we all know is in nobody’s best interest.
The situation along Pandora is already a scar on the face of our city — let's not pop up more in shared green spaces that will quickly become off-limits to anyone who wishes to feel safe and comfortable.
Alexander Bork
Victoria
Require proof Victoria police are underfunded
There are many ethical, social, and public health-related reasons to oppose the Victoria Police Department’s $52,000 special funding request. However, the issue that has frustrated me the most is Chief Del Manak’s failure to provide any credible evidence to substantiate his claims that VicPD is underfunded and unable to manage their workload.
I can believe Chief Manak’s claims that there has been an increase in property crimes around the Topaz Park area — but increased funding can only be justified if it’s proven that crime has increased in other neighbourhoods, too. With all the bars closed and no recent protests, I can assume that VicPD has freed up some of their officers’ capacity. We’d expect evidence from every other city department, so why not the police?
As a city, we need more funding to be put into health and social services. We cannot police away the root causes of crime.
Two people died at Topaz Park this week. Their causes of death have not been released yet, but they may very likely be overdoses. With media outlets pumping out COVID-19 news, it is easy to forget that we are simultaneously grappling with another public health crisis — the overdose crisis, fuelled by an unsafe drug supply. More funding for police would not have prevented these deaths.
Increasing police funding may reduce property crime, but it will not protect the health of our city’s most vulnerable people. We need to be responding compassionately to complex social issues, not increasing police during a pandemic.
Andrew Kerr
Victoria
Treat overdose crisis as seriously as virus
Re: “Victoria’s homeless need more than harm-reduction help,” Bill Cleverley, April 19.
It was heartbreaking to read the In Memoriam notice in the Times Colonist this week for Elliot Eurchuk, the teenager who died two years ago due to an accidental drug overdose after becoming medically dependent. My heart goes out to his family.
I became angry when I juxtaposed that with the article in the same issue by Bill Cleverley describing our government’s failure to effectively address the current opioid crisis because of its singular focus on funding harm-reduction, to the exclusion of other measures like treatment, education and early intervention.
As Elliot’s family points out, the government declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency four years ago. Despite that, according to the family, in the past two years an average of 82 British Columbians have continued to die every month. They compare that to a total of 75 lives lost in B.C. to date to the COVID-19 pandemic, while acknowledging that every death is a tragedy whatever the cause.
Imagine what could be done to address the opioid crisis, if the government chose to bring to it the same effort, resources and commitment they have brought to the current crisis. A good place to start would be to listen to the families of those whose loved ones have been lost, and to pay attention to recommendations that flow from related investigations. It would also be helpful to look at how other countries that are meeting with more success are dealing with the problem.
One example would be Portugal, where hard drugs have been decriminalized and the emphasis has shifted to providing resources for treatment, education and therapy. According to the United Nations Drug Report, Portugal now has one of the lowest fatal overdose rates in the world.
John Amon
Victoria
Paying back our COVID-19 bailouts
As federal and provincial governments have been shovelling a seeming inexhaustible supply of money to the people who need it, and to business and industries reeling from the shock of shutdowns and loss of income, a heretical thought comes to mind.
When this crisis is over, should not every citizen and corporation and successful industrialist voluntarily demand that a sales tax, wealth tax, income tax, be added in the coming years to pay back these billions loaned to us in this mad time of need?
To come through this pandemic with no expectation of paying back would seem to me to be the height of selfishness and greed.
A national acceptance of the need to pay back would seem to me the height of raising us all to an understanding of what is needed to be a fair and even-handed nation.
Gordon McLaughlin
Campbell River
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