Don’t try to erase history — explain it
Re: “Forget Ogden Point, it’s Breakwater District,” Aug. 28.
A representative of the harbour authority says on CFAX that Victoria residents “cannot identify Ogden Point, but all have a story about the breakwater.” Cruise-ship visitors “know the breakwater, but do not identify with Ogden Point.”
Point 1 is not true in my circle, and point 2 is also probably not true. Cruisers usually research their ports of call. They are cruising to see and learn.
No one can or should homogenize history. Anyone of wealth or power here, in that time frame, was white and ruthless.
Put a plaque, or many, on the walkway. Explain why the name was chosen in the first place as well as his sordid past. That’s really important to anyone with an interest in history, the people who travel.
Stop hiding behind pandering to tourists.
Yes, they infuse our area with a ton of money, they gain a lot here, and so do we. I work in the service industry in Victoria and enjoy my interactions with our visitors.
But please stop trying to erase our history. Most of it was so wrong, in our current way of thinking, but we try to move forward. If you erase it, we would have no measurement to move forward.
Tes Taylor
Saanich
Ogden played important role in opening West
I would like to strongly recommend that the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority reconsider the renaming of Ogden Point to the Breakwater District. A breakwater is just that, but Ogden Point has a name of historical importance.
Peter Skene Ogden, a Canadian born in Quebec City in 1794, commands much respect elsewhere for his historical exploits in opening up the West, including B.C., for the Hudson Bay Co. in its early days.
Ogden, Utah, named after him, has a three-quarter life-size statue of him on his horse in the city centre. It is cast in bronze and is a work of art.
He died in Oregon City, Oregon, where his grave site is well marked and indicated on road signs. The large middle school there is named after him. Parks in the American Northwest are also so named. The high school in 100 Mile House bears his name.
An internet search shows just how much he accomplished, and his respect for First Nations people he met outshines his few rough encounters.
His Snake River Journals document his daily travels in this uncharted wilderness and give us a glimpse of how rough it was for early explorers.
Please retain this Canadian’s name, as he is part of our history. Also, please allow residents of the capital region and historians to have an opportunity to be part of the final decision.
Dave Caddell
Saanich
A new name, and a lot of ship garbage
It is quite remarkable to read of the anticipated changes planned for Ogden Point.
One of the most remarkable is that the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority says they are going to make Ogden Point “more accommodating and inviting.”
This year, they allowed the location of a garbage-handling and recycling business, for all the trash and debris from the cruise ships, at the north end of Ogden Point.
Very unpleasant for visitors and neighbours of Ogden Point, and changing the name to Breakwater District does not alter that.
J.F. Purdy
Victoria
Hard to feel sorry for luxury-condo owners
Re: “Vacancy, speculation taxes prompt sales of posh Vancouver condos,” Aug. 23.
Wealthy people are selling posh Vancouver condos because of the vacancy and speculation tax. According to a real estate consultant, many of these homes are second or third homes.
It is hard to feel sorry for people who have two or three homes when my children, born in Vancouver, earn reasonable money but cannot afford to buy a first house in Vancouver or Victoria.
No doubt some of these owners are from other provinces or from abroad. Perhaps we are building too many high-end condos and not enough affordable accommodations for those who cannot afford posh?
Well done, B.C. government, for trying to help out my children.
Eric Jones
Victoria
Easy fixes would make Wharf Street bike lanes safer
The new cycling lanes on Wharf at Johnson Street will save lives.
On Sept. 3, 2016, I was riding my bike from Esquimalt to the Inner Harbour. I turned right off the then Blue Bridge onto Wharf Street and was struck by a recreational vehicle.
I sustained multiple injuries, including bilateral fractured arms, facial fractures, soft-tissue injuries and a concussion. I was wearing my helmet, which I believe saved my life.
I, for one, wish the new cycling lanes had been in place three years ago.
Cycling lanes are a step forward, although bike lanes that provide for both directions of travel on one lane separated by a line on the pavement are not. Bike lanes going in the same direction of travel would make more sense — eastbound on Fort Street, westbound on Pandora, for example.
The newly opened cycling lanes on Wharf, although a welcome addition to the biking corridors in the city, are a crash waiting to happen. There are too many opportunities in the stretch of roadway on Wharf Street from Johnson Street to the visitors centre at the north end of the Inner Harbour for cyclists, pedestrians and vehicle drivers to get themselves into hazardous situations.
Cyclists are frustrated with pedestrians walking onto the cycling lane, or just not realizing that it is designated for cyclists only. Signage is a problem — too much or little, depending on whether you’re riding your bike, driving or walking.
Considering the amount of money that has already been spent on these biking corridors, relatively easy fixes would make for a much safer commute in this area for cyclists, pedestrians (tourists) and vehicle drivers.
Maureen Wint
Retired coroner and recreational cyclist
Esquimalt
Victoria bike lanes tiny by European standards
I am a resident of Victoria travelling through northern Germany and Scandinavia. I am a senior citizen who loves cycling, walks extensively in urban areas including Victoria, is a proud owner of a motorcycle and a new car, and frequently takes public transit in Victoria.
I have been reading the letters to the editor to the Times Colonist online regarding the new cycle lanes.
It amazes me how certain segments of the population in Victoria get their knickers in a knot regarding any changes in the city, especially transportation-related.
I have no direct involvement of the cycle-lane designs in Victoria, but it is clear they are modelled after the extensive cycling networks in Northern European cities. The lanes in Victoria are minuscule in length compared to the vast, comprehensive systems in Hamburg, Copenhagen and Stockholm.
And no, the transportation network in these metropolises has not collapsed with the introduction of cycling lanes. Rather, the melding of bicycles, buses, cars and pedestrians in their designated travelling lanes works efficiently and amazingly well.
Yes, pedestrians should look where they are going, and bicyclists must be aware of the traffic, as do cars and buses. If the Europeans have figured this out, are Victorians genetically predisposed to common-sense urban transportation?
The people who complain about bicycle lanes would, in a previous generation, probably also complain about the introduction of motor vehicles on Victoria’s dirt roads, and the dangerous interactions with horses and pedestrians.
One can imagine the letters to the papers back at the turn of the early 1900s about “those dangerous left-wingers at city hall. Next thing you know they will be proposing to pave the city streets!”
Now, if city hall could only figure out how to synchronize the traffic lights on Douglas and Blanshard streets.
Peter Davis (writing from Stockholm, Sweden)
James Bay
Send us your letters
• Email: letters@timescolonist.com
• Mail: Letters to the editor, Times Colonist, 2621 Douglas St., Victoria, B.C. V8T 4M2
Include your full name, address and telephone number.
