Overpass funding won鈥檛聽buy my vote
Re. 鈥�Feds pledge $16M to overpass at Keating, Pat Bay Highway,鈥� Aug. 27
So Justin Trudeau thinks he can buy a few votes in B.C. with $16 million? He could pledge $16 billion and I still won鈥檛 vote for him until he opens up the SNC Lavalin inquiry and stops hiding behind cabinet confidence.
Helen Schmidt
Victoria
Hope that Trudeau brought has disappeared
Re: 鈥�Liberals block hearings into scathing ethics report on SNC-Lavalin affair,鈥� Aug.聽21.
I had a lot of hope when Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister after years of Stephen Harper鈥檚 tight rein.
The abundance of photo ops were starting to grate on my nerves, but when the India fiasco happened I was starting to lose faith. Then it hit the fan with SNC-Lavalin scandal. Now, I shake my head in disappointment. What a shame.
I no longer have faith in Trudeau and the openness he promised, nor in his Liberal Party after the voting down of the Ethics Committee chairman鈥檚 appearance in the investigation. His puppets have circled the wagons to save the PM鈥檚 hide. He is no different than the rest of them.
What a shame, what a shame.
Michael Becevel
Langford
Not seeing our forests for聽Amazon鈥檚 trees?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressing concerns about Brazil at the G7, while arguably enabling and in ways promoting comparable havoc here, seems hypocritical.
Genocidal actions against Brazilian Indigenous peoples, and Amazon rainforest destruction, certainly call for international action, but the persistence of such destructive patterns is partially attributable to our tendency to focus on 鈥渇ar-flung鈥� events 鈥� allowing these to overshadow and delay addressing related patterns close to home.
To wit, from Global Forest Watch鈥檚 interactive site (globalforestwatch.org): In 2010, Canada had 43 per cent (421 megahectares) natural forest cover, constituting 10 per cent of the global total. In 2018, it lost 2.14 Mha or .5 per cent. In 2010, Brazil had 59 per cent natural forest cover (492 Mha), constituting 13 per cent of the global total. In 2018, Brazil lost 2.83 Mha, or .57 per cent.
From 2001-2018, Canada lost only 0.3 per cent less forest cover than Brazil 鈥� i.e. 9.7聽per cent (40.7 Mha), equal to 11 per cent of total global loss, with Brazil losing 10 per cent (53.8 Mha), equal to 15 per cent of global loss.
From 2013-2018, 100 per cent of the 91原创 loss occurred within natural forest, in Brazil 96 per cent. As of 2016, 41 per cent of 91原创 cover was intact forest, while in Brazil, it was 45 per cent. From 2001 to 2012, Canada gained 9.11 Mha through forest recovery/tree farming, while Brazil gained 7.59 Mha.
To help stop patterns of atrocity such as in Brazil and strengthen global environmental efforts, 91原创s can increase their awareness, challenge electorally and legally, and act locally toward honouring both our own stewardship of a significant portion of the Earth鈥檚 respiratory/biodiversity systems, and First Nations rights and ecological expertise.
Bat-Ami Hensen
Victoria
Why do we have to deal with cruise-ship garbage?
Along with almost a million cruise visitors to Victoria comes the realization of what they leave behind: their garbage and recyclables.
According to Tymac, the company that handles the waste coming off the cruise ships, 150 tons of garbage is going into Hartland landfill a month just from the cruise ships.
The Island can鈥檛 handle all the recyclables coming off the ships. Most is barged to the mainland to be processed.
Why is Victoria unloading this foreign garbage in the first place? Who is benefiting from this? Is Canada the dumping grounds for foreign trash? Why did Victoria issue a business licence to do this?
Our landfill is nearing capacity and we citizens will be paying much more for this in future.
While thousands of tourists depart from the ships to walk downtown, trucks are hauling trash across the busy pier and parking lot to a garbage and recycling depot at the north end of Ogden Point.
Buses, taxis, bicycles, and horses are all trying to pick up passengers alongside huge trucks hauling garbage. This is a recipe for disaster. Someone is going to be hurt or killed in this mayhem.
The first and last thing tourists see leaving Ogden Point is garbage and recyclables piled up.
Instead of seeing the city of gardens, they see the city of garbage.
Welcome to Victoria.
L.M. Klein
Victoria
Chinese government-agent theory has merit
Re: 鈥�Pro-Hong Kong, pro-China protesters vent on 91原创 street,鈥� Aug. 18.
The explanation to letter-writers regarding people who are pro-China: they are likely agents of the Chinese government.
Lest anyone think this is a crazy conspiracy, please read Jonathan Manthorpe鈥檚 book Claws of the Panda. It is thoroughly researched and every fact is documented. The subtitle is: 鈥淏eijing鈥檚 Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada.鈥�
Jon Ackroyd
Campbell River
Word choices can聽be聽painful
Re: 鈥淐an opiates get addicts off opiates?鈥� Aug. 11.
I appreciate that the Times 91原创 regularly prints information and updates around the 鈥渙pioid crisis,鈥� also known in the community as the poisoned drug supply.
I do, however, ask that we try and move away from the term 鈥渁ddicts鈥� in particular when used as a title of an article. It is painfully outdated and stigmatizing language, and is inappropriate unless used as a聽direct quote from someone who self-identifies as such.
Lorna Mace
Oak Bay
Let鈥檚 talk mass transit, not just about bikes
If you drive a private vehicle when not absolutely necessary 鈥� surely this is the overwhelming number of cases 鈥� you鈥檙e saying that your immediate comfort and convenience are more important than the health and survival of our species and others.
If we were on a war footing, which we should have been since scientists in the 1960s warned us of the consequences of our greed and waste, we鈥檇 be forced to behave more responsibly.
However, bicycles aren鈥檛 the best option for everyone, and the various governments have not provided adequate public transit infrastructure.
I鈥檝e lived in European cities where clean, affordable buses arrive every 10聽minutes because the authorities know that excellent public transit is necessary to persuade people out of their cars.
B.C. Transit helps keep me fit by making me walk when the aptly-named No. 2 falls off the face of the Earth yet again, but I would at least like the option of a warm bus on a cold, windy, rainy night in November.
We are at war 鈥� with our own stupidity 鈥� and we seem to be losing. Instead of whining about bike lanes, maybe we could acknowledge that bikes are one option of many and agitate for affordable, reliable mass transit.
Hilary Knight
Oak Bay
New riders need to be vigilant on bike lanes
Re: 鈥�Lanes on Wharf Street put cyclists at risk,鈥� opinion, Aug. 21
I am both a cyclist and a motorist. I agree with Michel Murray鈥檚 comments on the bike-lane situation on Wharf Street. My experience with the bike lanes has not been positive.
Cars can pull across the 鈥済reen zones鈥� at various places. Drivers at these zones have to now watch for bikes in both directions, pedestrians and, finally, cars.
I personally do not use the bike lane when riding, as I find it restrictive and dangerous being surrounded on two sides by curbs. Fortunately, I can ride at a clip that keeps me abreast of vehicle traffic along that stretch and I don鈥檛 have to deal (too much) with disappointed drivers behind me.
There might be a rise in the number of cyclists since the lanes were introduced, but I have to wonder if there is complacency with regard to safety by new riders using the lanes. They should realize that they are not any safer than they were on the street, but now have no place to manoeuvre in an emergency situation.
I wish the best of experiences for my fellow cyclists using the lanes. Please be both vigilant and careful.
I have to add that I see a lot more vehicles idling in much longer lineups than prior to the lanes going in. That is nonsensical in these times.
R.A. McArthur
James Bay
