Ardern a model of proper behaviour
I have just listened to a live stream of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, updating New Zealand on what the next six months and beyond will look like with respect to dealing with COVID-19.
Such clarity of communication; such absence of political double-speak and buzz words; such real, effective, unequivocal, leadership based on 颅science! If only our federal government could be so 鈥� well 鈥� leader-like.
Instead, we get buck-passing about where federal and provincial responsibilities lie, with each province doing its own thing 鈥� possibly to the great detriment of the country as a whole.
That is coupled with obfuscation about personal freedom versus vaccination requirements, without any clear federal government leadership on that vexed issue.
And then there is the added 颅political nonsense that goes with a federal governing party about to call an unneeded election in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.
As a proud 91原创, and one who recognizes how lucky we are to live here, I just wanted to remind my compatriots that if we look out around the world there are models of political behaviour even we, in our incredibly good fortune, could further aspire to.
Rennie Heel
Saanich
Our Canada includes Chris Coleman
Re: 鈥淭ry quiet patriotism: 鈥楳y Canada includes 鈥�,鈥� 鈥� commentary, Aug. 12.
Please enshrine Chris Coleman鈥檚 fine essay that is so very touching.
Over the past four decades, I have had the pleasure of hearing him speak on many issues, and have always been impressed with what he has to say.
This love letter to inclusion, however, is so necessary in these days of concern and worry, and I just had to say that I am so glad my Canada includes Chris Coleman.
Thanks, Chris.
Gail Simpson
Esquimalt
Double standard on road blockades
Re: 鈥溾�榃ild west鈥�: Tlaoquiaht youth blocks road to troubling tourists,鈥� Aug. 12.
I agree that the hooligans making a mess in this area have to be stopped. It鈥檚 unacceptable.
However, controlling lawbreakers is a job for the police 鈥� not self-appointed guardians. This is replacing one form of lawless behaviour with another. It鈥檚 dangerous, and could 颅easily lead to conflict.
We cannot simply block all access to the area. It鈥檚 a public place 鈥� B.C. Crown land. Camping is allowed. The road is also public, and as such can be freely used by any member of the public. Law-abiding campers have every right to use the road and camp.
Indigenous people have no legal right to block the road. Even though it may be their 鈥渢raditional territory,鈥� it legally belongs to all people of B.C.
Funny how when non-Indigenous people block a road, trying to save the last fragments of old-growth forest at Fairy Creek, they are arrested, led away in handcuffs and charged.
Indigenous people 鈥� doing exactly the same thing 鈥� are applauded while the police look the other way.
Double standard?
Richard Brunt
Victoria
Tim Masso is doing the right thing
Re: 鈥溾�榃ild west鈥�: Tlaoquiaht youth blocks road to troubling tourists,鈥� Aug. 12.
I commend Tim Masso on his effort to bring attention to areas being abused by thoughtless people.
We hiked the Sooke Coastal Trail last week and were surprised by the number of cigarette butts along the way.
We also encountered people smoking while enjoying the views. What are they thinking? Perhaps posting a sign warning of a $500,000 fine or jail would deter them from putting the land and residents at risk.
C. Jan McAmmond
Saanichton
Discarded butts causing big problems
Considering the extreme fire danger at the moment, isn鈥檛 it past time to deal with cigarette butts at bus stops? Who is responsible for it 鈥� B.C. Transit or the various municipalities?
If garbage cans are provided, why not something for butts? Never mind the fact they all wash out to the ocean where they are eaten by sea animals.
At the one closest to me, I see at least 15 or more daily, on the sidewalk, on the grass, on the road and they are picked up by someone in the neighbourhood who volunteers their time to clean them up. I feel it鈥檚 only a matter of time before there is a grass fire by a bus stop.
Who will take charge of this?
Tamara Batory
Victoria
We can ban smokers and the unvaccinated
I see no reason why we should not let the unvaccinated into indoor public spaces. But like smokers, they should be required to do their breathing 颅outside.
Or, stated more seriously, if we can ban smoking in indoor public spaces, we should also ban the unvaccinated.
Tom Currier
Victoria
UPCCs are not helping solve the MD shortage
On Thursday I tried to take my kids to a walk-in clinic to treat a stubborn condition needing to be seen in person.
We have lived in Victoria since 2017 and have been unable to find a family doctor, like many others here.
After checking the Medimap website at 9:30 a.m., I found every clinic listed was either closed today (except two with multi-hour waits for a virtual visit) or at capacity for the entire day 鈥� including all of the new Island Health urgent and primary care centres, which have been touted as the solution for the family doctor shortage.
All the receptionists at the UPCCs I聽phoned suggested we wait at the door before they open tomorrow, or call back then to try our luck booking an appointment.
A brief perusal of Medimap鈥檚 listings for Calgary walk-in clinics showed dozens with wait times ranging from zero minutes to one hour.
While these new UPCCs are great in theory, they are unable to deliver on their mandate of same-day treatment for problems not severe enough for the emergency departments. Most are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and all reached capacity today by 9:30 a.m.
When will the provincial government take concrete steps to increase reimbursement and support to 颅existing family doctors and nurse practitioners, and create incentives for new ones to open practices here, so kids like mine can actually have a hope of seeing a doctor?
Leanne Parrott
Victoria
Infant and child mortality 100 years ago
First, I wish to state categorically that I do not condone, and in fact condemn, what went on in residential schools and the way First Nations children were treated. It is a national shame.
However, things were quite 颅different 100 years ago in Canada, and we get into trouble judging our past by present standards.
In Canada in 1921, we were just coming out of the Spanish Flu pandemic. Average life expectancy was 58.2 years for women (now 84 years) and 56.0 years for men (now 79.5 years).
One in 10 infants died at birth, and the mortality rate for children under five years old was 24 per cent. A lot of 91原创 babies and children were dying before they reached adulthood, not just in the residential schools.
We didn鈥檛 have penicillin, antibiotics, X-ray diagnostics, and all the modern health-care technology we take for granted. We didn鈥檛 know that smoking causes lung cancer, and very little about heart disease.
We certainly know now that it was a terrible idea to take these First Nations children away from their parents, and house them in residential school barracks where the Spanish flu, tuberculosis, diphtheria and smallpox could sweep through and infect many.
But medical knowledge was primitive 100 years ago, and we didn鈥檛 have modern vaccines. The federal government wasn鈥檛 actively evil, just marginally competent. Warnings by prominent health professionals were ignored.
Lets acknowledge the failures of the past, and try to do things 颅better from here on. Then maybe those 颅innocent children did not die in vain.
Doug Taylor Lee
Oak Bay
Hey, grocery stores, turn down the cooling
With another heat wave upon us,
I颅聽literally shudder at the thought of going grocery shopping!
The large stores are so cold inside I have to hurry through them and miss half of what i went in for. I know we need them certainly cooler than 颅outside, but when it is so cold the staff are bundled up in sweaters and 颅jackets and sometimes gloves 鈥� and customers have to dig out winter 颅jackets to shop 鈥� it is just too cold!
The wasted energy is awful. Please turn the air conditioning down a bit.
Pat Rose
Esquimalt
Vax process could be more encouraging
I鈥檇 like to point out a problem that may contribute to number of unvaccinated people.
A friend relayed that staff at the convention centre said that anyone could walk in to get their first dose or second dose after 28 days.
I told my son, who needed his second dose. He phoned and was told he had to make an appointment online.
Fortunately, he ignored this and was accepted for his second dose in the noticeably underused facility. Obviously, being more encouraging to those who want to get vaccinated is of benefit to us all.
Robert St. Clair
Oak Bay
To the Lady Rose: Thanks for the memories
I read with sadness about the end of another piece of our rich maritime history in B.C.
As a teen I remember voyaging on the Lady Rose, returning from Bamfield with a group of my friends who had hiked part of the West Coast Trail (before it became a national park).
We were heading for Port Alberni when the captain came to ask all of the passengers if we were in a hurry to get there. None of us were.
So for no additional expense we got a wonderful tour of one of our long fjords, at which we picked up some logging truck tires to be taken to Port Alberni.
The Lady Rose may be gone, but it made a 颅lasting impression on those of us lucky to be on that trip.
Brian Collier
Victoria
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