Not happy about the return of the NHL
So, let me get this straight. I鈥檓 not allowed to visit with my family but, if I was being paid to chase a piece of frozen rubber on ice, I could closely associate with total strangers?
Hmm!
Robert Heywood
North Saanich
To many, housing is not affordable
I keep seeing the info on all the building projects that are happening or being proposed in and around the Capital Regional District with so-called affordable housing being built in these projects. So, the rest is unaffordable housing?
At $1,000 to $1,500 a month, how is this affordable in our current state of flux with all things you need increasing in price every year?
I鈥檓 sorry to say that in the CRD there is no affordable housing, and they should stop saying there is.
$1,000 to $1,500 per month for one room and a bathroom is not affordable to a single person with a lower wage.
Geoff Baker
Malahat
Stay positive, carry on, and watch Ed and Jeff
The Upside on CHEK News has been a real morale boost during the COVID-19 restrictions. Ed Bain and Jeff King give us moments of levity, and I know I鈥檓 not alone in feeling this way.
Kudos to them and CHEK for giving us something to look forward to at 5 p.m. every day. Way to go. We all must stay positive and carry on the best we can.
Connie Freeman
Langford
Cowichan Tribes are showing leadership
Suniimtunaat asks that we as a predominantly white settler majority be better informed of First Nations issues.
Perhaps, the issue we need to first understand is that all First Nations still live under the oppression of ongoing 颅colonialism, defined as 鈥渢he practice of invading other lands and territories, for聽the purpose of settlement and/or resource exploitation.鈥�
Racism, residential school legacy, cultural genocide, traditional land loss and inter-generational trauma are documented experiences of many First Nation people.
As it pertains to the pandemic, it can be argued that this disease, in many ways, is now 鈥淧andemic of Privilege.鈥� Spread by those who have the means to travel or choose to travel in face of public health restrictions, not unlike a handful of our elected officials.
As this pandemic continues to infiltrate our communities, it inevitably lands in those places that are close-knit and/or marginalized, wreaking havoc on the vulnerable.
Clearly, the Cowichan Tribes leadership is working hard to safeguard the health of its people, and therefore, positively impacting the health of people outside their immediate community.
So, perhaps what we need is to show support for this leadership and ask how we might add more support to this cause as it鈥檚 in the best interest of all people.
In a world fraught with uncertainty, division and isolation, where negative mental-health outcomes are on the rise alongside the xenophobia of our times, it will be our intention to understand each other and give support that will make the difference.
Chris Forester
Esquimalt
Social media? No, that鈥檚 not true
Surely it鈥檚 time to change the moniker to anti-social media.
Bill Carere
Victoria
Stand up to the hatred on social media
There is no doubt that social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, must take some responsibility for the unfettered lies and misinformation dispersed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his followers.
He and his ilk have fomented racism, misogyny and the like to the point that violent demonstrations have descended upon the democratic world.
The most immediate remedy for governments is to rein in the Big Five social media giants and regulate them. National TV and radio are regulated. We have laws against hate speech. So why are the social media outfits not regulated?
Will our elected governments have the courage to put a stop to the unfettered spread of lies and hatred on social media? I believe it is possible when enough citizens demand it. Letters to your local MP have an impact.
We must return to mutual civility and courtesy, and respectfully disagree with those who have different views. We need to stand up to racism, misogyny, homophobia, etc. and call it out when we see it. Only then, will we create a more just and civilized society.
Ria Lewis
Maple Bay
Good to cancel a dental appointment
After a year of this worldwide pandemic, construction workers still refuse to wear masks at the job site and people continue to socialize outside their bubble.
They allow their masks to fall below their nose or insist on masks that are ineffective. Some still are not conscious of the two-metre rule.
For the record, I am appalled at recent offensive and racist internet chatter against the Cowichan peoples.
COVID-19 loves the human respiratory tract. It will breed on 鈥渁ny living tissue that makes itself available.鈥� It does not discriminate.
We all are responsible for protecting not only ourselves, but each other. It is what a caring community does.
So when a dental office calls, I know I will be sitting in the chair for an hour without a mask.
I will be sitting there as one of three types of persons: as an asymptomatic person, as a carrier in early stages of infection, or as a person who is COVID-free. All three present no symptoms! As a consumer of health care, I expect a provider to minimize my exposure as well.
Kudos to the dental office that recently cancelled an appointment!
My stand: I will always defer to 鈥減rotecting.鈥� Respectfully I would have accepted their decision. COVID can make victims of us all, if we let it.
We must educate each other about protective measures. Just as Cowichan Tribes scrutinize entry and exit onto their reserves, so does the community at large.
Catherine Worthingham
Duncan
Vaccine should not be optional
Apparently, only 57 per cent of health-care workers intend to get the vaccine.
Elderly residents of nursing homes are given the vaccine but workers in these same care homes have a choice.
It doesn鈥檛 make sense.
If you wish to work in this environment, then having the vaccine is a 鈥渕ust,鈥� not a 鈥渟uggestion.鈥�
Otherwise, they should be put on unpaid leave until COVID-19 is under control.
Margaret Boardman
Victoria
We need better to fight COVID-19
Surely now that we are in the predicament we are in regarding the pandemic, it is time to admit the national and provincial health system has and is failing us dramatically.
What must be done is to look to any jurisdiction that has had success (national or international).
Leadership, control and direction must be forthright and determined to achieve what must be done.
If any doubt exists as to current management and leadership, just look to the selfish and parochial interests of the bureaucrats and politicians who have been caught breaking basic tenets and rules.
More than 16,000 91原创s have died due to their incompetence, incoherence and inconsistency.
I take no pleasure in announcing this debacle, but I do hope we can and should learn from it.
If there ever was a time for someone, or something to step up, it is now!
Surely one of our so-called elected or appointed leaders will show the courage and foresight we so sadly lack.
J.F. Logan
Courtenay
Have vaccinations around the clock
We have been told that all 91原创s will be vaccinated by September.
I think if they ramped up the process and vaccinated citizens 24/7, we could get through this a lot sooner.
I would gladly get a shot at 3 a.m. if it meant the process would be done months earlier.
Steve Harvey
Saanich
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