Canadians will reap what they sow
With debt soaring at all levels of Canadian society, and the federal Liberal party showing a stunning absence of fiscal leadership, one might expect greater pre-election interest in deficit and debt elimination.
Hell, no! Most discussion has been about pandering to vested interests and false narratives and promising more.
Remarkably, it appears that only the Conservatives brought forward a comprehensive plan to balance the budget by 2024-25, passing review by the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy. Well, Canadians, reap what you sow.
Mark Johansson
Victoria
It’s time for electoral reform
In our federal election on Monday, we may well have achieved a short-term government.
This is the inevitable result of many voters insisting on, and some political parties enabling, their right to vote for what is, in essence, a hardly viable political entity at the federal level.
Of the six political parties that ran candidates in this election, only two were clearly on the right side of the political spectrum — and one of those two was very much a fringe element. Three of the parties on the left of the political spectrum certainly reduced votes for the historically largest left-of-spectrum political party.
A corrective voting solution is possible, and might well parallel one of the “majority electoral,” a.k.a. “second ballot,” systems used in other countries. If no party wins a majority, candidates from the party or parties with previously defined low percentages of votes are excluded from the second election round (often within a two-week period).
In the past, we’ve had political gurus promise electoral reform. It might be time to seriously consider a “majority electoral” system or even a more contentious proportional representation system.
Ron Johnson
Saanich
Election not about pipelines
Re: “Trudeau and Liberals limp across the finish line,” Oct. 22.
British Columbians need to get rid of all the “journalists” who lazily let the corruption of the B.C. Liberal Party slide for years.
To wake up to the dishonest headline today about Trudeau is just more of the relentless assaults on the truth we are all living.
This election was not about pipelines. This election was about Canadians being smart enough to resist the horrors and stupidity of white nationalism, anti-immigration and austerity again for the less-fortunate amongst us, and a bit of a break from Stephen Harper’s relentless bid to turn the planet hard right.
Lawless U.K. and U.S. conservative parties would have been emboldened by a Conservative win in Canada.
Mr. Leyne knows this, or he should.
A competent and fair journalist would want his readers to know that.
Cathie Chase
Victoria
Industrial rezoning will hurt air quality
The application to rezone all six Crown leases in Cowichan Bay to heavy industrial has whipped through the Cowichan Valley Regional District and the third reading is today — Oct. 23.
One of the many concerns is air quality. Cowichan suffers excessively from air pollution because of our topography and weather. Locked in by a ring of mountains, on an inside passage blocked by islands, Cowichan Bay experiences inversions every day in cooler months.
It’s also a deep-sea port that can be dredged in a heartbeat, allowing big ships free rein, which means the air quality will deteriorate exponentially.
There is nothing non-toxic about the activity of heavy industrial manufacturing.
What can the CVRD be thinking by giving away one of our most priceless and valuable areas to multinationals for 50 years for no financial gain, to do as they wish?
This mistake will never be forgotten — a glaring eyesore that will just grow, and over which we will have no control.
There needs to be a pause on this, to allow for an environmental assessment. This is a colossal disservice to respectful citizens.
Jennifer Lawson
Duncan
