Trump is using Canada in trade war
Re: “Huawei exec released on bail in Vancouver,” Dec. 12.
Canada has become the tool of U.S. President Donald Trump’s unsupported international stupidity. The Iran nuclear agreement negotiated by the Obama administration was torpedoed, simply because it was of the Obama administration.
This rash action was not supported by any other NATO or European nation. It was replaced in the U.S. by Iranian trade sanctions put in place by a bullying, vindictive Trump administration. This economic club in international finance was designed to punish any nation or corporation the Americans accuse of doing business in Iran.
Canada has an extradition treaty agreement with the U.S. and was called upon to apprehend Meng Wanzhou, an important Chinese oligarch’s daughter in Vancouver, on criminal accusations, creating an international incident that plays right into the corrupt hands of Trump. Canada gets to be a part of enforcement of Trump’s ill-considered Iranian policies.
Trump has declared a trade war with the Chinese. Canada has been actively seeking increased trade with the Chinese, among other nations, because of the erratic actions that have been battering trade relations under the Trump administration.
The Meng incident is Trump’s wedge between Canada and China. The business oligarchs of the U.S. and China are both battering a trapped Canada — for profit.
Harry Atkinson
Sidney
Columnist spreads propaganda
Les Leyne is allowed to verbally and emotionally attack any politician he chooses (as long as it’s not a conservative), while I and many others are not even allowed to defend the politicians of our choice. Where did our right to freedom of speech disappear to? I think he could easily win an award for being the most negative propaganda spreader since the Second World War.
Why couldn’t he put his talents to a good cause and surprise us all with some good, positive thinking, and become part of the solution instead of part of the problem? How come he criticizes everything and everyone who is trying to solve the mess our present government inherited, but becomes mute when it comes to solutions?
If he thinks Speaker Darryl Plecas is so wrong, why doesn’t he put his money where his mouth is? Plecas at least had the courage to lay his job on the line.
Does Leyne have what it takes to back up his words by also resigning if he is wrong in his accusations and assumptions? Negativity is not a quality, it is an imperfection.
John A. Martin
Nanaimo
The people’s fight to save life on Earth
Re: “Sorry for delays, Victoria,” comment, Dec. 5.
A new bright light has started to burn on Vancouver Island that has the potential to spread like wildfire throughout the people who love their children and all life on this beautiful planet. It will cause them to rise up and unite into an unstoppable force that can halt the burning of fossil fuels that is causing deadly global warming and life-killing climate change.
The Johnson Street Bridge blockade by Rise n Resist and Extinction Rebellion Vancouver Island is the non-violent, people-powered movement that will enable our transition to the new, renewable-energy economy of the future.
To save all life on the planet, this movement needs everyone’s active support.
Francis Blundell
Victoria
Isitt has the courage of his convictions
Re: “City looks to reduce Christmas decorations, broaden diversity,” Dec. 8.
I seldom agree with Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt (he tends to be to the left of Karl Marx and more politically correct than a freshman philosophy student), but I find myself having to come to his defence.
Point 1: If we have a Christmas holiday for Christians, why don’t we have public holidays for Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, etc.?
Point 2: Why have any religious holidays? Religious beliefs are slowly dying out in developed countries because they do not hold up on close examination. (Before you condemn me as a “godless atheist,” consider the implications of the fact that 80 per cent of people belong to the same religion as their parents.)
Another point to ponder: Christmas has in fact become “Giftmas,” thanks to capitalistic propaganda, and has become a combination religious/materialist holiday. Perhaps we need holidays dedicated to helping others, preserving the environment, honouring genuine heroes, etc.
Finally, congratulations to you, Ben, for having the courage of your convictions. But could you now do something about the (rein)deer problem in Victoria?
Edward Feher
Victoria
Neglect of boy is hard to stomach
Re: “Neglect of autistic boy sparks call for overhaul of services,” Dec. 11.
The extreme neglect an emaciated 12-year-old boy with autism suffered for nearly a decade in the care of his overwhelmed mother, as detailed in the Alone and Afraid report, is sickening.
Nearly as hard to stomach is the fact that during four child-protection visits to his home to ascertain his well-being, none of the social workers actually saw “Charlie” until he was removed from his mother’s care. Until then, her explanations, such as the boy was sleeping, seemed to suffice. Thus, more years of neglect for a non-verbal and vulnerable child already the subject of several calls of concern to the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
The B.C. representative for children and youth, whose report documents the boy’s interaction with health and social services, cautions against blaming social workers pressured by large caseloads for what happened. But her report also states the obvious: “Seeing the child is fundamental to any child-protection response.”
Even when police contacted the ministry in 2015 with concerns that Charlie’s mother was delusional, it was 45 days before a social worker showed up.
Let’s hope the province can find a way to make laying eyes on a child at risk a non-negotiable requirement for social workers called to homes to determine whether children require protection, with supervisors not signing off on cases until they do. Or whatever it takes. The system owes at least that much to Charlie — now doing well in foster care — and all children.
Katherine Dedyna
Victoria
Don’t tell landlords how to do business
Re: “B.C. rental task force calls for end to ‘renovictions,’ ” Dec. 13.
Yet more proof that landlords should be left in peace to run their business as they see fit.
This government-appointed rental task force wants an end to “renovictions” by allowing renters to stay during renovations to their suites.
WorkSafe B.C. will undoubtedly have something to say about that.
Before renovating a pre-1990 dwelling, the landlord must pay thousands in testing costs to identify potential asbestos, lead and other hazards. Then thousands more for removal and disposal of those hazards — during which time the unit is taped and plastic-sheeted to prevent contamination of other rooms, ventilation, furnishings, etc.
After they’ve begun demolition, they sometimes make surprise discoveries of a hidden wall or floor — which unexpectedly boosts the cost further. Working around an existing tenant is beyond reason.
To do all this, how can the rent possibly stay the same or be limited to a paltry 2.5 per cent increase in 2019? Yes, the landlord can apply for a higher increase — with no guarantee of getting it — but it costs more to jump through those hoops than any increase it would bring.
We don’t dictate prices to supermarkets, department stores or car dealerships. Why are housing providers treated differently?
As taxpayers, we subsidize food, clothing and transportation for lower-income citizens, so why should subsidizing housing be on the backs of landlords instead of borne by all taxpayers?
Lori Hamilton
Cobble Hill
Attack on rail group was disrespectful
Re: “Successful trails show way for E&N corridor,” comment, Dec. 9.
Wilfrid Worland in his opinion piece concerning the E&N Railway line describes the Island Corridor Foundation as “untouchable.”
Hardly. Worland manages to put his hands all over it fairly effectively.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the ICF is run by volunteers. Is it appropriate for a member of one volunteer group (and a pretty self-serving one, at that) to attack the efforts of another group, because their vision is not exactly the same as his?
After reading this article, twice, carefully, I can only come to three conclusions regarding Worland:
• He likes being disrespectful to volunteer organizations, even though he is a director of one.
• He likes going for long walks along trails.
• He likes seeing more and more big trucks on our highways every year, because, yes, that is the result if we lose this railway line.
Terry Walker
Fanny Bay
