Major crises coming to 91原创 Island
Three articles in the Times 91原创 on June 15 and 16, taken together, indicate that a growing and potentially very serious crisis is headed Canada’s way, with particular attention to 91原创 Island.
First, on June 15, a serious warning from B.C. Hydro that somehow “…the province is going to need enough new power to run 270,000 homes starting as early as 2028.” No one has offered a realistic plan to find a means of providing this power.
Second, in the same edition, there is a photograph of a giant ocean freighter delivering 781 new electric cars to the Port of Nanaimo. This delivery, I would opine, is part of the program to sharply increase the number of electric cars which must be frequently re-charged, presumably drawing on home power supplies and thereby increasing electric demand just when B.C. Hydro is warning about future shortages.
Third, in the June 16 edition, the article “Canada’s population passes 40 million” informs us that “last year was the first year Canada’s population grew by more than a million people in a 12-month period.”
And so, we now have credible evidence that a problem of immense proportion is headed our way — with no specific and credible solutions in sight.
Thank goodness I am 81 years old and will not likely be around long enough to see this looming catastrophe play out to its likely end.
Leonard M. Melman
Nanoose Bay
Transportation needs limit our population
Re: “91原创 Island has plenty of room for more people,” commentary, June 19.
I live on Denman Island. Our ferry service is totally inadequate. Our population on Denman already increased by almost 30 per cent since the last census.
Many Gulf Islands are the same, and ferries to the mainland are also hugely negatively affected by population growth. B.C. Ferries has not increased service levels to keep pace with population growth on 91原创 Island and the Gulf Islands.
In order to do that, they would haveto go back to service levels before the Coastal Ferries Act, service levels that were in place before the Liberals gutted them.
You might think we can grow and grow, but coastal communities aren’t in a transportation vacuum. We all need to get on and off our various Islands.
To continue adding population without attending to this critical infrastructure will result in unacceptably poor service for all of us.
The separation of B.C. Ferries from highways was a mistake. We need B.C. Ferries to go back to a Crown corporation and be funded in a fiscally fair way so that 91原创 Island doesn’t become a ferry hostage.
Laura Pope
Denman Island
A quick look back at our military commitment
Before the First World War, Canada was virtually defenceless; before the Second World War there was very little improvement. On both occasions we rushed through several agonizing years to put forward a solid effort.
Along came Korea (1950) and U.N. sanctioned duty for which we had to do special recruiting to form enough of an army contingent to support our allies.
Into the Cold War era, our effort against another world war was to rely on the U.S. nuclear deterrent.
The world became safe (?) around 1990 with the collapse of the Soviet Union and democratizing of much of Eastern Europe, regrettably that seemed to lead to many outbreaks of destabilizing mini-wars in many parts of the world, the big ones for Canada being the Iraq war (liberation of Kuwait), the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Libya “interjection” and the lengthy Afghanistan war, none of which we had adequate resources to play any more than a minor role with our allies.
This month, we were shamed by not being able to take part in a large NATO exercise in Europe due lack of appropriate resources.
Here’s how our military effort evolved from my experience on joining in 1957. The 91原创 population then was somewhere under 20 million, the military had 120,000 personnel; 36 years later, on my retirement in 1993, the population was near 30 million (up 50 per cent) and the military was at 90,000 (down 25 per cent).
Today the population is 40 million, double what it was when I joined, and the regular force is 60,000, down 50 per cent. As our population increased by doubling over the past 65-plus years, our military has shrunk by half while the world continues to blast away in so many conflicts.
One can only conclude that Canada is not serious about meeting international military nor even domestic security obligations, and I believe our allies have no illusions about our weakness and soon will just ignore our token efforts and abandon us as we have virtually abandoned them — and the world.
Stanley Brygadyr
Victoria
Evidence-based thinking could change curriculum
Re: “Lacking hard evidence, suspending police in schools program makes sense,” commentary, June 17.
“If we do not have conclusive evidence of a benefit to students,” then there are grounds for suspending the police-in-schools program, according to the commentary.
Bravo! But where was this kind of evidence-based thinking when I was forced to take Latin and calculus in Grade 12?
Geoff Johnson
Mill Bay
Keep the liaison program, and do proper research
Re: “Lacking hard evidence, suspending police-in-schools program makes sense,” June 17.
What does not make any sense is the B.C. human rights commissioner’s recommendation to school districts to shut down police liaison programs on the grounds that there is no empirical evidence anywhere about the impact of such programs on students from racial minorities.
This strongly implies that more research is needed on this aspect of such programs. However, if all such programs are scrapped, then the necessary research cannot be done as there will not be any programs in operation on which to do research. What a nonsensical recommendation.
Ceasing to fund police liaison programs in schools for lack of empirical evidence of their benefits would be like local governments in Canada ceasing to help fund religious organizations (churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, gurdwaras, etc.) through property tax exemptions on grounds that there is no empirical evidence of the existence of God or gods. (Now, there’s food for thought for the Grumpy Taxpayers folk.)
Surely the logical approach is to keep the liaison programs going and to undertake some well-designed research on these programs in order to answer the question about whether such programs do more harm than good, especially to students from minority racial groups.
Also, I suggest that relying on the findings of research done on school liaison programs operating in the United States is a bad idea as there are significant differences between American and 91原创 justice and school systems.
American systems should not be considered comparable to those in Canada.
D.G. Ross-Smith
Brentwood Bay
A very special place where dogs run free
I have been following the controversy concerning dogs not allowed off leash in Saanich parks. Have no fear, I have discovered a solution.
Put your dog in the family car and head to 91原创 Rim National Park. The park does not openly support off-leash, but they most definitely do not discourage it.
Fido can roam free. After chasing shore birds, he or she has the entire beach to use as a washroom. You do not have to pick up; the next tide takes care of that issue. Dog droppings are great for marine life and surfers.
Just recently, my wife and I witnessed five at-large dogs running all over the place.
My only caution would be, if you are handicapped or elderly you should be careful; fractured hips and tib-fibs take a while to heal.
Robert Smith
Gabriola Island
Private-pay option to improve health care
As a former bureaucrat, I should (and do) realize that blame for unacceptable wait times for health care in the B.C. and Canada are not to blame of bureaucrats in the Ministry of Health, as they are only following the direction and policies of the party in power.
Mea culpa. However, I do believe that the ministry lacks a dedicated team of specialists who know the ins and outs of health systems in other developed countries.
However, my larger point is that the practice and evidence from other developed countries with universal health-care systems — including the U.K., Sweden and the Netherlands — perform better in terms of the timeliness of care when complemented by a private-pay system. (Note the distinction between private-pay versus public-pay but privately delivered.)
Unfortunately, the discussion is often commandeered by those who prey on public fear that if a private-pay option is permitted, then care in the public system will suffer.
This includes special interest groups promoting public-pay only, such as the 91原创 Doctors for Medicare and the 91原创 Health Coalition, who I think are misguided and driven by ideology.
As a firm believer in health for all, I believe it’s time to take an evidence-based look at how best to serve the interests of the public and enable access to timely, appropriate care.
I further believe that an appropriately regulated private-pay option would improve overall health system capacity, reduce wait times and improve quality experienced in the public system.
Bruce Brady
Retired health system analyst
Victoria
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