Route to Port Alberni should go from Comox
I am dumbfounded in the vision of Port Alberni, the province, and other groups suggesting having an alternative route via Horne Lake.
So many say to go with the Horne Lake trail as an alternate, our mayor, our elders, and our spoken advocates. I have to say all are wrong.
We have a wonderful route with great economic benefits. We could have a win-win for all parties involved, residents, voters, municipalities and so on.
From Sproat Lake Provincal Park travel toward Great Central Lake and follow through on Ash Main to Comox Main. The route comes out at Comox Lake and enters the Cumberland area which leads to the inland highway, Courtenay and Comox.
I am sure the kilometres involved are minor and a much more enjoyable route than the suggested Horne Lake route.
If the government wants to focus on tourism as the saviour, they need to be focusing on putting through a road from Cumberland to Sproat Lake. This could be the greatest and newest route to opening up the mid Island and West Coast.
Comox has airport facilities, and the region offers so much for Port Alberni residents in services from hospital, to Home Depot to Costco.
A route from Comox to Port Alberni and on to the west oast, Tofino and Ucluelet, even access to Bamfield, only makes sense. At the moment the politicians are looking for a short term fix for an alternate route.
If we, the public are to be smart we should be looking to the future and the alternative route to help increase the economic impact and provide benefits to all communities involved.
If our powers-to-be could actually make a proactive decision that works today and for the future, this is it!
Darren Johnston
Port Alberni
More shade trees, not more parking lots
The decision by Saanich council to not require underground parking for a proposed large development in Gordon Head demonstrates a lack of understanding of the climate crisis.
This summer’s heat wave shows that we must mitigate rising temperatures for our safety and health.
Besides a parking lot being ugly, asphalt absorbs sunlight during the day and radiates heat during the night, amplifying the heat island effect which can make urban areas intolerable during the summer.
Whatever space is not occupied by building should be devoted to vegetation such as shade trees, bushes, flower gardens. And how about thinking of green roofs?
Kenneth Mintz
Victoria
A positive experience with the health system
We unexpectedly had to call 911 on Friday. We were transported to the emergency department at Victoria General Hospital.
From the operator who took the 911 call (and stayed on the phone until the ambulance arrived), to the paramedics who assessed the situation and transported us to hospital, to the attending nurse and doctor, the CT scan technician and other support staff who cared for us, we would like to say a sincere thank you for the thorough and compassionate care received.
We hear so often what is wrong with our health-care system. We would like to say that we have experienced where the system is still working and we are incredibly grateful.
Sandi and Roger Patterson
Victoria
Great to see brown lawns, what about condos?
I’ve been pleased to see homeowners in Sidney letting their lawns go brown to save our precious drinking water. The green will come back with the rain.
But most stratas and condos are still watering as usual. The companies who set up the watering systems need to make sure watering is being done only where needed — almost nowhere in the typical condo landscape of shrubs and trees.
And please don’t water the sidewalks.
Jennifer Bennett
Sidney
Rather than Canada, go to Uzbekistan
It’s sad that Canada is off the list of approved countries Chinese citizens can travel to and even sadder that Chinese passport holders can only travel to countries designated by their Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Canada is not approved because of the “rampant and discriminatory anti-Asian acts” here.
Travel is such a great opportunity to educate oneself about how the rest of the world lives it is a shame that the Chinese citizenry will miss out on witnessing rampant discrimination in Canada and how much better off they are living in China than here.
At least they will be able to learn from their visits to Russia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Serbia, Brunei, Belarus, Haiti, among other countries more enlightened than Canada.
Gary Henkelmann
Victoria
At least we don’t have Washington’s ferries
Quick to complain about B.C. Ferries? Just take a look at the woeful Washington state ferry system for a reality check.
As for the cheap political hay the official opposition will no doubt attempt, the problem-plagued “Coastal” ships were commissioned under their governance.
Dave Nonen
Victoria
Double standard and the environment
In B.C. and all of Canada we have a double standard when it comes to the environment.
We sound very righteous when we condemn the oil extraction in Alberta and how it harms the environment — but we happily mine vast amounts of coal destined for China to burn for electricity production.
As well, we allow rivers flowing into the United States to be polluted with selenium from the coal mines in B.C.
91原创 politicians are hypocrites and so are we all if we actually believe in our “green” efforts.
Robert Brown
North Saanich
Get those fish farms out of the ocean
Fish farms like to claim there are thousands of jobs in the sector. The commonly used figure is 7,000.
The B.C. government’s own figure 1,700, or only 24 per cent of the industry’s estimate.
Industry’s estimate for the 19 Discovery Island farms is 1,500 jobs. If you use the government’s figures and base jobs on tons of farmed fish, it comes out to 212 jobs.
That is how few the jobs are that politicians fall flat on their faces courting, while ignoring the problems with wild salmon and the environment. Fish farm sewage, as a free rider, meaning we pay for it, at its lowest value costs us $10.4 billion.
A recent poll shows 80 per cent of British Columbians are against in-ocean fish farms.
The other big factor is that Norway, where fish farms are from and the same companies here, produces ten times the farmed salmon with 10 per cent of the staff.
The obvious conclusion here is that once they bring the methods to B.C., jobs will fall 90 per cent.
So, let’s stop believing fish farm estimates and get them out of the water. Retrain workers to work on land and give the farms preferential licence fees along with some Crown land, and the industry begins to catch up to the world’s number of on-land farms.
My list now exceeds 400 on-land sites. So, let’s join them, and stop believing the inflated fish farm figures.
D.C. Reid
Victoria
A better community relies on taxation
Re: “We get the system we are willing to pay for,” letter, Aug. 17.
We must change the basic 91原创 mindset that tells us that taxes are bad.
No! Taxes are the system we have to collectively pay for the world (think province/country) we want to live in.
None of us want to see our health system collapse; no one of us want to see Dickensian type poverty on our streets; no one is comfortable with the drug addicted or the mentally ill left uncared for on the sidewalks.
Surely we can see that individual acts of charity, however generous, will not solve these problems. We must act as a community and pay higher taxes and get these calamitous issues fixed.
I will not vote for the politician that promises to lower taxes.
Maureen Koch
Victoria
Co-op wants everyone to be very merry
How nice Peninsula Co-op is buying seven liquor stores. Clearly, they want us to eat, drink and be merry. Very merry!
Cheera J. Crow
Brentwood Bay
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