Who do we protect with confidentiality?
Just who are we protecting by refusing to reveal the whereabouts of any confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the Island or, indeed, in the whole of B.C. with the exception of Lynn Valley on the mainland? Are we protecting certain commercial venues in certain areas of the Island?
In this day and age of over-regulated privacy laws is this not endangering the lives of us all by not giving us the options of affected locations we should be avoiding?
It is incumbent upon Dr. Bonnie Henry to make herself aware of the successful solution in China and how they there have been able to combat the spread of this virus. It is called tracking and testing, and unless we follow their example, woe to us all.
Kate Hanley
Victoria
Unwise to exclude corporations
Re: “Taxpayers should not bail out corporations,” letter, March 20.
A letter writer states “it is an insult to most Canadians that our government is discussing bailing out the stock market and major corporations.” Where does he think working people’s pension funds are invested? For whom does he think most people in our community work? Why do Canadians have one of the best standards of living in the world? Our government is under tremendous pressure and are doing the best they can. Let’s do our part and support them and each other as best we can.
Natexa Verbrugge
Saanich
Buying stocks is not gambling
The writer describes everyone in the stock market as gamblers. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We were told by our government to work hard and save our money. For the most part we did exactly that and used our savings to supplement our retirement.
In the 2007-2008 crash, banks, financial institutions, auto industry and their union pension funds got bailed out.
To help stimulate the economy government instituted a low-interest policy that became the biggest transfer of wealth in history from savers to borrowers.
With income from savings near zero, many seniors were forced into the markets for income. Reckless gamblers? Hardly.
Arthur Duhame
Campbell River
When buying produce, do this
When buying produce (particularly) I use a technique all dog owners are familiar with. Take a plastic bag, (found in the produce area), and put your hand inside it. Then pick up the item with the plastic covered hand. Reverse the bag over the item. No accidental hand contact with adjacent avocados, etc. Unless otherwise needed, keep the other hand in a pocket, assuming your buggy handle has been sanitized. If not, then it is a clean hand/dirty hand technique, one on the buggy, one in the bag.
Brian Kendrick
Victoria
Slow down and help fight COVID-19
Our incredible health care workers and researchers are doing everything they can to protect us from COVID-19. We know that everyone needs to do everything they can do to assist in this fight, such as social distancing and self-isolating when needed. How about slowing down on the roads? We all know that collisions are caused or made much worse by driving at faster speeds.
We know that vulnerable road users have greater injuries the higher the speed.
There are more people out there walking, cycling, rolling as part of their social distancing. Leave a little earlier, drive slower and more carefully, and let’s free up our health care heroes to fight this terrible virus and save lives.
Alison Crone
Langford
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• Email: [email protected]
• Mail: Letters to the editor, Times Colonist, 2621 Douglas St., Victoria, B.C. V8T 4M2.
Letters should be no longer than 250 words and may be edited for length, legality or clarity.
