A different life is still worth living
Re: “Without fossil fuels, our lives would end,” letter, Jan. 30.
The attempt to refute Trevor Hancock’s thoughtful piece (“The fossil fuel industry is the new tobacco”) ends with “fossil fuels = life.” Were the letter to have said “life as we know it,” it might have had a point to make. But the larger point is that it is life as we live it that is in need of dramatic change.
And that change will either be one we make or one that is forced upon us by the circumstance we create in burning fossil fuels.
Some folks can’t imagine that a life different is a life worth living. But, with the help of as many insightful intelligences as we have, we’ll figure this out, so that it is the fossil-fuel companies that go the way of the dinosaurs, and not the rest of us.
Al Rathbone
Victoria
Changes to Land Act are unacceptable
The Land Act governs access to, and use of, some 95 per cent of B.C. Crown lands.
The NDP government is quietly preparing legislation to share decision-making power over such Crown lands and with regard to the Act, with Indigenous groups. Such a decision, giving Indigenous groups such power, is unheard of in Canada and beyond.
For the NDP, this is an extension of their approval of the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples under John Horgan.
Some experts say that to give Indigenous groups a 50 per cent stranglehold of decision making power on B.C. Crown lands, and will give them a legal authority far beyond their current status.
If our government is not accountable in matters before us, the situation can be resolved by way of an election.
In a shared accountability situation, how does a non-Indigenous citizen hold an Indigenous group accountable? There is no way. That is ultimate power.
This amendment will be a radical and extremely significant change to the manner in which we control the use of Crown lands, and many business owners are expressing deep concern.
Indigenous groups will do what is best for their communities.
Regarding the act, the provincial government brought in statutes regarding private and commercial docks and the like, and hundreds of current owners say the rules enacted are unworkable.
What the NDP government is proposing will, as well, be unworkable.
H.J. Rice
Victoria
Centennial Square redesign requires care
Thank you Pamela Madoff and Martin Segger for the informative articles printed recently in the Times Colonist.
Is there not a simple win-win situation?
Redesign the Centennial Square to include all aspects to make the space successfully meet present-day needs while maintaining and restoring the sculpture, existing fountain and tiara seating.
I encourage Victoria council to seek a design that maintains the key art features that have been long recognized and valued.
Don Lovell
Saanich
One more thing to thank Trump for
Donald Trump may have unwittingly coined a new word in the lexicon of English jurisprudence: DELIE.
Jim Glass
Victoria
Recycling our nutrients makes perfect sense
Re: “Stop spreading biosolids at Hartland, tell us about the risks,” commentary, Jan. 30.
My first thought was that the piece was an over-the-top reaction incorporating all the nightmares that anyone could have regarding sewage sludge disposal. But on second thoughts I realized that these are genuine fears that reasonable people have and deserve a considered reply.
My own qualifications are that I am a retired scientist qualified in plant studies and microbiology with wide interests, including in toxins.
Over my lifetime, science went through a remarkable revolution regarding detecting minute amounts of substances. This is good because it is easier to keep an eye on the “forever chemicals” in the environment and our food.
On the other hand, just because something can be detected does not mean it is dangerous. For instance, every cabbage contains a background level of mercury, one of the “forever chemicals,” but this does make your coleslaw dangerous.
Land-based sewage disposal has been used throughout human history, it increases soil fertility by recycling nutrients. I have myself used “Milorganite” and found it an excellent soil booster. The name is from “Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen” and it is the dried, sterilized sewage sludge produced by the good people of that city. I would love to use the similar pelleted sterile product that us citizens of Victoria are producing, but our officials seem determined to avoid that at all cost.
Even using key words such as “natural,” “organic” and “slow release” does not convince my friends. I suspect they were brought up not gardening and the very thought of sewage turns their stomach.
Synthetic nitrogen is the way to go.
So sad.
Joe Harvey
Victoria
Use those biosolids to feed ocean life
The Capital Regional District says it needs uses for Class A biosolids.
Shouldn’t they have thought of this before they began creating Class A biosolids?
Wouldn’t the simplest, cheapest solution be to mix the solids with water and pump the treated mixture out to sea through a very long pipe, where it would provide nutrition for all manner of animal and vegetable sea life?
Alanne Gibson
Victoria
Rising property values don’t help us pay taxes
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto pats herself on the back that this is the first time the city’s police budget has passed without a change. Once again she is disingenuous and sneaky; the police budget was increased 6.86 per cent, but the overall increase was 7.93 per cent.
In other words the police increase was at least one per cent less than the average budget increase. Why was the rest of the budget allowed to exceed 6.86 per cent? Are all those items that much more important than the police?
Then Coun. Dave Thompson says homeowners, especially single family homeowners, have seen their property values increase significantly, and “being asked to contribute a bit more now is entirely reasonable.”
The increase in value in my home does nothing to my financial ability to pay more taxes or more anything else. Many single family homeowners are people, often seniors, with moderate lifetime incomes, and low fixed pensions. Once again this targets and stigmatizes single family homeowners.
Richard Volet
Victoria
Victoria is fortunate to have the symphony
Last weekend we attended a performance of the Victoria Symphony. As season ticket holders for many years, we have always appreciated the array of talent displayed. In this performance, concertmaster Terrence Tam’s violin rendition of the theme from Cinema Paradiso was breathtakingly beautiful.
It was a stark reminder that in these times of bad news coming at us from every direction, there is much to be appreciated in the world.
Victoria is fortunate to have such a talented group of musicians as the Victoria Symphony to bring us beauty and joy in these trying times. They deserve our support. Thank you to the talented musicians and to the sponsors and patrons who support them.
Shirley McBride
Cordova Bay
Bicycle-trail bollards issue made simple
Did it cost money to install all those bollards? Yes.
Does it cost money to maintain those bollards? No.
Will it cost money to remove all those bollards? Yes.
Solution seems simple enough to me!
Allison Stofer
Esquimalt
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