Now is not the time to have an election
Re: “If premier asks for Legislature to be dissolved, send him away to think about it,” commentary, Sept. 16.
What a brilliant, knowledgeable and appropriate letter to the lieutenant-governor from Norman Spector. Surely there must be many British Columbia voters who will agree with the sage advice presented to the lieutenant-governor, with the hope that the premier will cease his relentless and obvious move for an early election.
Of primary importance, with pandemic infections increasing in both the province and the country, now is not the time to have an election in B.C.
HJ Rice
Saanich
I would welcome an election now
I hope the lieutenant-governor pays more attention to the wishes of Premier John Horgan whose minority government has served this province so well at a very difficult time.
We in Oak Bay have a retiring MLA and I would welcome an election now.
Eric Jones
Victoria
I saw my husband being assaulted
Tuesday evening, my husband was taking our small dog for a walk. I went out on the deck of our condo and watched a man talking aggressively then shove him hard against the wall of the Rexall drug store. Under extreme stress I immediately called 911.
When I spoke with my husband, he told me he was walking on the sidewalk and nearly tripped over an extension cord that was plugged into Rexall with about 100 feet of it across the parking lot. It did not look like it was plugged into anything so at the time my husband unplugged it so it would not be a trip hazard.
That is when a street person moved very quicky towards him with life-threatening remarks saying he would gouge his eyes out and kill him.
We do not feel safe in our once homey and friendly Cook Street Village any more. I grew up in this neighbourhood and came back nine years ago.
These people are not our neighbours!
Linda Skalenda
Victoria
We need end-of- school-zone signs
Re: “Install signs showing end of school zones,” letter, Sept. 15.
I agree with letter-writer about the lack of end-of-school-zone signs.
We used to have them in all school zones up until the 1980s, and then they disappeared.
I called the Saanich public works office and several other departments to find out why they were taken down and the answer I got was, they were trying to save money by removing them. I was told maintenance of the signs (repainting, taking them down to do maintenance, etc.) was too costly and I should just watch the other side of the road for a sign that starts the zone.
The thing I have noticed most about the signs not being in position, is that a lot of people pick up speed just after passing the actual school or playground, not knowing they are still in the speed zone of 30 km/h.
If we can afford to spend millions of dollars on bike lanes, I think we can afford to put proper signage up for the safety of our children.
Alex Badiuk
Saanich
Lack of French books at public library
I am a francophone (from France) and moved from Ottawa to Victoria four years ago.
I was impressed by how popular French was with most people in Victoria.
The James Bay public library had a very small section of books in French; however, when they reopened recently, that section had disappeared.
I was told and I quote, “We have no room for French books.”
I was disappointed, shocked, angry and sad.
A helpful staff member went to a store room to retrieve a book for me, but I am expecting the same treatment such as is available for the books in the other official language of Canada.
Colette Hodge
James Bay
Thrilled about the Joni Mitchell tapes
Re: “Victoria man’s find of a lifetime: Joni Mitchell’s first recordings,” Sept. 15.
The article about the lost Joni Mitchell tapes is the best news this year, if not this century! Wow!
Bennett Guinn
Victoria
Don’t mix up the spending
I believe we pay taxes in the understanding that they will be divvied up appropriately for certain essential things.
Two of these are parks and shelter for the poor.
What we don’t expect is that disparate items will be rolled into one, such as, shelter for the poor rolled into the parks. These are two separate budgets.
This is like citizens expecting to pay for and receive hospitals and education, only to find that emergency beds are now being put into schools, or that overflow classes are being conducted in operating rooms.
Or perhaps you could combine transit with public works: carry passengers on garbage trucks, or pick up refuse in city buses. What has happened is that one priority has been ignored (and haven’t we been calling for attention to the homeless issue for years now!) and is now being solved at the expense of another.
Sorry, no: If I’m paying taxes, council’s job is to divide those taxes fairly, not by weird combinations of necessities. I expect a park, and I expect housing for the needy.
If the city feels the only solution is a homeless camp, construct the campground, with proper washrooms, shower facilities, and security. Surely council can find a vacant lot somewhere.
And if council is that desperate for funding, tax the churches and make them cough up the cash! Ordinary middle class people need parks for mental and emotional health as much as we need religion.
Martha Jones
Courtenay
Let’s not be like Marie Antoinette
We cannot regard the tents in Beacon Hill as merely illegal protest.
It is not likely many of the folks there would prefer to be there than in proper homes.
If people have more than one abode they should acknowledge that they are part of the problem of a housing shortage and a ridiculous price for land and housing.
We must be careful not to be like Marie Antoinette, unaware of the realities of life for others, and giving insufficient thought or caring for those without the same luck or advantages as ourselves.
Glynne Evans
Saanich
We’ll need the lung scanning
Isn’t it coincidental that around the same time as the province announces improvements in scanners to detect lung cancer, a good portion of our province is blanketed in smoke from fires burning on the American West Coast?
Going by what I smell there is who knows what fumes from burning man-made substances mixed in with wood particulate.
The increased lung scanning capacity might be needed more than was planned.
Kevin Norman
View Royal
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