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Tuesday letters: Jan. 15

Too little coverage of pipeline protests Re: “Too much coverage of pipeline protests,” letter, Jan. 11.

Too little coverage of pipeline protests

Re: “Too much coverage of pipeline protests,” letter, Jan. 11.

Contrary to the letter-writer’s position, I join many of my friends in wondering why the many protests seemed to us under-reported, not over, in the news media. We have never seen a bigger turnout at the legislature (except on Nov. 11).

We estimated close to 1,000 in Victoria and similar numbers or more in Toronto and Ottawa. Not to leave out the many protests elsewhere in Europe and the Americas. Not only First Nations but many others were present, including young people.

Many people are concerned about what climate change is going to do to our way of life and our grandchildren’s; about the legal rights of the original owners of the land; and about letting “short-term” jobs and so-called “economic progress” cloud our eyes to planning a long-term, sustainable economy with ongoing jobs and a meaningful life for all (or at least most) citizens.

Can energy corporations not work in harmony with this view, but not dictate our future?

Christine Johnston

Victoria

Protesters trying to stop progress

Re: “Too much coverage of pipeline protests,” “We need real-world solutions to issues,” letters, Jan. 11.

Congratulations to the letter-writers — it is most encouraging to read such great comments on the ridiculous amount of space and TV time devoted to protesters who are trying to stop all progress in this wonderful country of ours.

What would be the state of our nation now if they had been active when the railway was being planned?

Elizabeth Petrie

Parksville

Priority is moving people, not vehicles

Re: “All hands on deck for the Nanaimo ferry dream,” column, Jan. 9.

“The government’s transportation obligations are met by B.C. Ferries.” That is how Les Leyne deftly summed it up.

Let us broaden that. The government’s transportation obligations are met by highways. The current B.C. Ferries iteration is just a highway for cars on the water. They carry foot passengers only out of convenience. It is time that focus changed.

With everything we have learned from the 20th century, what will the dominant 21st-century transportation paradigm be? Government knows all too well the financial black hole, direct and indirect, of highway infrastructure. It should also recognize the growing body of people who do not wish to purchase, license, fuel and operate one or more vehicles (be they gasoline or EV).

Given those realities, and other impending challenges, the government’s transportation obligations are not met solely by highways.

All other modes of surface transportation for citizens, be it ferry or rail, public or private, operate at the mercy of taxpayer-subsidized highways. To be able to achieve a truly efficient and equal future, it is time the government takes a much more direct interest in moving people, rather than only vehicles.

Chris Alemany

Former city councillor

Port Alberni

Climate-change lawsuit is ludicrous

Re: “Municipalities asked to explore climate suit,” Jan. 11.

It is evident that the wacky left coast is alive and well. The decision by Victoria council to ask petroleum companies to pay for costs associated with climate change is ludicrous.

Why not send notices to every person in the city to pay, since I suspect everyone has used a car or a bus for transport. Homeowners and landlords would obviously have to pay more for heating residences with gas or oil.

Society as a whole adopted petroleum, otherwise, we would still be using horses and buggies and using coal or wood for heating.

If that logic is applied, we should sue salt companies for contributing to high blood pressure or kidney issues. The list is never-ending.

We need common sense, not feel-good public posing. The council should work on issues that directly affect the city such as sewage, infrastructure and transportation, and not pander to political pipe dreamers.

Chris Sheldon

Victoria

Oil consumer is the guilty party

Re: “Victoria, others bill oilpatch for climate-change costs,” Dec. 22.

What an appalling display of ignorance to think that Canada’s oilpatch is responsible for climate change-related damage in Victoria and should be made to pay the repair costs.

The fact is that Canada’s total carbon emissions in 2015 (latest year available) accounted for 1.5 per cent of global emissions. Even if Canada had no oilpatch, I suspect we’d see the same degree of climate-change-related damage (e.g. sea level rise).

Furthermore, oil is produced because there is demand for it. If Canada had no oilpatch, we would still be driving the same distances and contributing the same amount of carbon from imported oil. The guilty party is the oil consumer, who in most cases is a payer of municipal taxes. So what’s the problem?

Gary Robinson

Oak Bay

U.S. arguing over tiny fraction of budget

Re: “Trump closer to justifying wall as an emergency,” Jan. 11.

While the U.S. president’s wall is a highly contentious issue, the value of the funding request is an incredibly small fraction of the U.S. government’s annual budget.

The reported sum represents about 1/900th of the annual operating budget of the U.S. federal government. The president and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are allowing the government to come to a standstill even when they agree on 99.9 per cent of the budget.

Brought home to a more personal level, this is like a family stopping all spending while they argue about whether a pair of shoes is needed or not. Breathtaking.

Mark Brown

Victoria

Trump forgets victims of some crimes

U.S. President Donald Trump and his band of merry men seem to enjoy telling the public about the number of persons killed in the States by so-called illegal immigrants.

If I am not mistaken, the persons involved in the Sandy Hook children’s killings and those of the revellers in Orlando and Las Vegas were not illegals. It’s interesting how he seems to forget these victims when he needs to.

It’s also interesting to note that the news media at the press conferences never mention this fact. Nor do the Democrats. To me, it’s one big reality show with King Donald holding court.

William Jesse

Victoria

A surfeit of belated birthday wishes

Last Jan. 11, I celebrated my 80th birthday.

In mid-November, I received a certificate from Premier John Horgan’s office (with the correct birthdate). About three days later, I received another certificate from MLA Mitzi Dean (also correctly dated).

Then, in early December, I received yet another certificate, this time from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (dated Ottawa 2019). Finally (?) last Friday, Jan. 4, I got a pleasant letter from Andrew Wilkinson, B.C. Opposition leader, dated Jan. 11, 2019, wishing me a happy 80th.

I am agog.

Can I expect to hear from Andrew Scheer, Jagmeet Singh and Elizabeth May, or would that be too much?

John Stonehouse

Victoria

Bikes should move to Blanshard

Wow! After all that work and money spent designing and installing bus lanes on Douglas Street, we find that the speed of a bus is actually determined not by the driver but by any cyclist in front of it in the bus lane.

Who’da thunk it?

Isn’t the solution obvious to anyone who travels downtown? Ban bikes on Douglas and make them use the existing bike lanes on Blanshard. That’s what I always did, even before the bus lanes were created, if on those streets.

Now, I won’t use the bus lanes because doing so is, let’s face it, selfish when one might be unnecessarily holding up transit traffic.

Roger Love

Victoria