Blasts from the past were the sounds of war
The blasts from the past that a letter-writer complained about at Remembrance Day events are the same sounds our courageous veterans endured whilst fighting to keep our country free and safe.
Many of them died hearing that sound.
David Morton
East Sooke
Many veterans suffer with trauma
Re: “Count the veterans who died in every way,” letter, Nov. 15.
The letter-writer wants to recognize all veterans who died in any way while serving in uniform.
We should also recognize and remember those who no longer serve in active duty but long suffered with the emotional and physical trauma of service and who may also have lived a shortened, troubled life as a result.
Mike Wilkinson
Duncan
Two decades to fix deer problem, nothing done
Re: “Long may the deer thrive in our community,” letter, Nov. 15.
Yes indeed! Eating gardens, defecating in our backyards, chomping down on farmer’s produce, causing vehicular accidents (incurring unnecessary ICBC costs), dying on streets in pain after being hit by vehicles, charging citizens during the rut, jumping out in front of cyclists without warning (having caused one fatality) and, finally, incurring substantial costs to homeowners and farmers to keep these wild animals off their properties.
They continue to transform Victoria from the “city of gardens” to the city of deer-proof plants.
What is most annoying about this easily preventable mess is the two-decade reluctance of our elected municipal officials to deal with it.
They should forget about appeasing the minority deer-huggers and get on with a solution for the majority who also pay the bills and taxes and want to enjoy their property and streets without these invaders.
John Stevenson
Victoria
Will doctors ever catch up to veterinarians?
Had to take my dog to the vet yesterday, and the bill for the less-than-15-minute visit was $104. I then went online and found out that an in-person visit to a family physician in California would set me back $104 US.
However the same length of a patient visit in B.C. will net a family physician around $30 Cdn. Will the long-overdue raise that is coming in February even things out, or will the physicians here still be playing catch-up?
Yvonne Andre
Campbell River
World’s population just keeps on growing
At a low rate of “only” 1.05 per cent annually, the human population has reached an all-time high: eight billion and counting.
Note that the birth rate is roughly double the death rate.
Also note that each day we add about 180,000 people, and multiply that number by seven to get the weekly rate to give 1,260,000, and that number by 52 (weeks in the year) to give 65,520,000 more mouths to feed each year.
This growth is despite the mortalities from warfare, genocide, murders and incarcerations; COVID, AIDS, and other diseases; starvation and poverty, etc. And think about the effect of these numbers on the environment.
With the four horsemen galloping at full speed, we’ve got problems. Meanwhile, premier-designate David Eby has given himself the Sisyphean task to build a few more housing units for the homeless people in Victoria.
Have a nice day.
Thor Henrich
Victoria
Adapt to climate change with creative solutions
In his Nov. 13 column, Dr. Trevor Hancock argues that “Canada must stop digging a deeper climate-crisis hole.”
Although he focuses on the why we should address climate change — something the world readily acknowledges — his how we should address climate change is pitifully inadequate.
Killing the fossil-fuel industry in Canada (and as a probable corollary the Canadian banking system) is a non-starter. Fossil fuels are used in everything we do: from heating and cooling, transportation to cement, steel, plastics as well as what we eat in crop productivity through fertilizers to the beef cattle we deliver to McDonald’s.
We have to find new ways of doing everything we do without fossil fuels rather than kill the fossil-fuel industry in Canada. Parenthetically, stopping fossil-fuel production in Canada is naive as the largest greenhouse gas emitters are state-owned entities (Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, Russia’s Gazprom and Rosneft, Iran Petroleum as examples) who will gladly fill any Canadian void.
Hancock would do better to focus on how we will adapt to climate change, by arguing for more research into carbon capture, more commercialization of proven technologies, better government regulation (how can you look at nuclear power when you declare a city a nuclear-free zone?) and massively supporting the type of creative innovation used most recently to adapt to such world problems as COVID.
Gerald Backeland
Sidney
Thanks for the tribute to John Horgan
I wish to express my profound appreciation to Cindy Harnett and the Times Colonist for posting the tribute and reflection regarding Premier John Horgan — “I would like people to think that I stayed true to who I am.”
She has shared some of his remarkable journey from childhood to the present day, after announcing he was stepping down as premier and pursuing his intentions to “get a hobby” and back away from the very demanding role we have evolved in this province for any who would be premier and head of our government.
I find no need to focus on specific paragraphs Harnett has written; merely wanting to express my gratitude for her fulsome article. I believe we have witnessed a remarkable period in our democratic heritage which Horgan has played a pivotal role as premier and MLA. So thank you again for posting and sharing her article.
Dale Perkins
Nanaimo
Don’t build a party base on those anti-vaxxers
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre named Sarah Fischer as his new director of communications last week. This is an interesting choice.
Everyone knows that Poilievre was sympathetic to the so-called Freedom Convoy, but Fischer was more than sympathetic — she took an active part in the demonstrations.
I can be accused of being prejudiced here — I live in Elizabeth May’s riding and I support her wholeheartedly, but as one who has been active in Canadian politics at every level for 60 years (I wrote speeches and press releases for Pat McGeer in his first election campaign) I think I can be analytical about politics, and I think the Conservative Party is going to regret picking Poilievre as its leader.
Anti-vaxxers have had a lot of press, but that doesn’t mean they are a firm political base. They are a tiny minority, and espousing their platform is not a winning bet.
Let me put it this way: Donald Trump has a large and rabid following, but the candidates he supported did very poorly in the U.S. midterms, and the Democrats did far better than the party in power generally does in midterms, largely because of Trump.
If Trump’s followers weren’t enough to give victory to his choices, I’m willing to bet a large sum, and give good odds, that the anti-vaxxers, and the politicians who support them, won’t do any better in Canada.
Ian Cameron
Brentwood Bay
Let climate activists protest for days
There is a solution for climate activists who throw anything on priceless paintings in galleries, then glue their hands to the walls.
Simply remove any paintings within their reach — put a small buffer-zone fence around them and just let them sit there for two or three days without food, water or toilet facilities. I pretty well guarantee they would not do it again.
Paul Baldwin
Victoria
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