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Letters Aug. 3: What to do about the Sir John A. Macdonald statue

Give Macdonald statue a good home I want Sir John A. Macdonald’s statue given a prominent place in our city. I wish to honour the man who had the fortitude to stand up for what is now our country against the Americans, with no help from the British.
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The Sir John A. Macdonald statue was removed from the grounds of Victoria City Hall on Aug. 11, 2018. Mayor Lisa Helps and a city-appointed group called the City Family recommended that the statue be removed because of MacdonaldÕs role in the residential schools system that tore many First Nations people from their families. Victoria councillors, amid complaints that there was a lack of public consultation, approved the recommendation. The statue of CanadaÕs first prime minister is now in storage at an undisclosed location.

Give Macdonald statue a good home

I want Sir John A. Macdonald’s statue given a prominent place in our city. I wish to honour the man who had the fortitude to stand up for what is now our country against the Americans, with no help from the British.

I want to thank him for shaping different colonies into one Canada. Without his strength and persistence, our men and boys would have been required to fight in Vietnam.

Without his perseverance, we would now have a president called Trump.

Anne Bell
Victoria

Re-erect statue with explanation

Re: “Statue a political object, not a historic one,” letter, Aug. 1.

A history professor-emeritus claims that Sir John A. Macdonald’s statue belongs in the museum as “an example of 20th-century political propaganda.” His legalistic and one-sided argument misses the essence of the issue.

Those who are upset about the removal are disturbed by the secretive, pre-determined, self-righteous and underhanded way in which it was done, the lack of respect for the opinion of the public by those elected by the public — indeed the clear fear and flouting of that opinion — and the lack of respect for the man who was responsible for the creation of this country and for B.C. being part of it.

Part of the argument made by Lisa Helps and Ben Isitt was that Macdonald was the instigator of residential schools. Conveniently, it isn’t acknowledged that in his day, they were voluntary, that they were seen as helping Indigenous people to be on an equal footing, and that no one could have foreseen the abuses by churches that eventually took place.

Macdonald was a racist to a degree reflective of almost all of white society at the time, a complex man with deep flaws as well as immense positive talents.

He brought about Canada. Without his vision and determination against huge odds, the railway would not have been built and most or all of the West would probably have become American, as Oregon and Washington did. Does anyone think that Indigenous people here would have been better off?

The statue should be re-erected in a prominent location with a plate explaining both sides of his legacy. It’s the Canadian way.

Rob Garrard
Victoria

Macdonald statue artist did a fine job

Amidst the current furor concerning the placement of the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald, nothing has been said about the artist who created this fine bronze, with its flowing drapery and meticulous detail in the buttoned vest falling short of his nice little tummy. It is a fine likeness, too.

Sir John A. was a man of his times, and even though we deplore his actions concerning the residential schools, his bronze should be returned to public view, if only to remind us of how people thought, so long ago.

Jo Manning
Victoria

Tackle ‘moral patrol’ at ballot box

Re: “Give Macdonald statue a good home,” column, July 31

Hear! Hear! Too bad the author is a former city manager of Victoria.

The disorder at hand, though, is a larger, more pernicious one. It’s the moral patrol and it’s ever on the move.

You know the standards it bears: where to live, what to think, how to commute and get about, how your money is best spent, what cities to emulate, what to prohibit, what to promote. How, in a few words, to be better, more sufficient people — like them.

And who are they? The elected, the appointed and the righteous lobby groups that drive their agenda. That’s the mix of the pathology.

How to get rid of it and where to start? With paper and pencil in hand, at the ballot box, in the next municipal election. This time, be more thorough than last.

Brian Nimeroski
Sooke

Put statue at E&N last-spike site

Re: “Statue a political object, not a historic one,” letter, Aug. 1.

I am a Sir John A. Macdonald fan and believe that his statue should be placed in an accessible and conspicuous location.

I would suggest that thought be given to erecting the statue at the site where on Aug. 13, 1886, Sir John A. drove the last spike for the E&N Railroad — just above Shawnigan Lake, adjacent to the cairn erected to highlight this historic occasion.

I would also advocate that this site be upgraded and made more accessible for public viewing.

Final thought: It’s hard to imagine that our prime minister of the day visited Shawnigan Lake via rail and yet never set foot in Victoria.

Harlin Price
Comox

‘Green-wave’ signals not a magic wand

Re: “The folly of Victoria’s war on the car,” column, July 26.

Steve Wallace and other writers seem to think that traffic delays in the City of Victoria would be dramatically reduced with the adoption of a well-designed traffic-light timing plan.

As an ancient transportation engineer who worked on co-ordinated traffic-signal plans starting more than fifty years ago, I believe that improvement opportunities in Victoria are limited.

Technology has expanded greatly over the years, but the principles and practicalities of traffic flow remain the same.

Progressive “green-wave” traffic signal schemes can be effective on one-way street-grid networks with regular spacing between intersections — which is not the situation in Victoria.

If green-wave timing were introduced southbound on Douglas and Blanshard to improve flows in the morning, the substantial volumes of northbound traffic would suffer additional delays. Dealing with cross traffic and vehicles turning onto the north-south routes, as well as time clearances for pedestrians, creates further design complications.

City staff should continue to monitor the system and improve traffic safety and efficiency wherever possible. There is no magic wand.

David Langley
Saanich

Steve Wallace should run for mayor

Re: “The folly of Victoria’s war on the car,” July 26.

Is there any chance that we can persuade Steve Wallace to run for mayor of Victoria?

Sherry Krieger
Esquimalt

Mayors missed point of police cry for help

Re: “Helps, Desjardins endorse effort to remake VicPD,” Aug. 1.

The mayors’ exuberant response to the VicPD Transformation Report sounded suspiciously like: “This is the “best thing that’s happened to this town and Esquimalt in a long time.”

But the report is basically a police-service cry for help. The mayors are spinning it into “best practices” for police departments across the country. And all thanks to their brilliant challenge to Chief Del Manak to cut services and increase risk to Victoria and Esquimalt residents.

Sorry, but I support the police chief. After the debacle of former Victoria police chief Frank Elsner, where the mayors demonstrated and claimed incompetence to conduct an investigation, it would seem likely that they once again do not know what they are talking about.

James Campbell
Victoria

Walkerton tragedy could happen here

Re: “Province isn’t doing enough to protect our drinking water, says auditor general,” July 31.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says: “There has not been any major waterborne outbreaks in B.C. since 2004.”

The absence of a major waterborne incident since 2004 does not necessarily mean that in future, there will be no waterborne incidents.

Does no one in this province remember Walkerton, Ont.?

In May of 2000, there was a terrible outbreak of gastroenteritis and other serious diseases caused by E. coli contamination of that town’s water supply. The two Koebel brothers in charge of this utility lacked any formal training in water management. Their attitude toward their jobs was cavalier at best.

As a result of their negligence, 2,000 people became sick and six died. Kidney failure resulting from E. coli was the primary source of this illness.

The cause of the outbreak was a cattle farm upstream from Walkerton. The fecal matter from the cattle polluted the water.

If it happened in Walkerton, it could happen here.

Margot Todd
Victoria

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