Two saplings can鈥檛 replace a mature tree
Re: 鈥淐ity needs new approach to trees,鈥� letter, Oct. 22.
Many believe 鈥渞eplacing鈥� a mature tree with one or two saplings is totally adequate. No 鈥� not even close.
One large tree does exponentially more for our community than even a dozen saplings. It can take 300 or more saplings to replace the work of one mature tree.
You can use i-Treetools.org to find out how much carbon your mature tree is sequestering, oxygen it is producing, air it is purifying, rainwater it is intercepting and electricity it is saving you.
Then, repeat the exercise using a sapling鈥檚 diameter, three or four centimetres. How many does it take to equal the benefits your mature tree gives?
We are guaranteed to keep losing canopy if we keep cutting down mature trees and 鈥渞eplacing鈥� them with saplings.
Until now, residents could cut down large trees up to 80 centimetres in diameter for any reason 鈥� they didn鈥檛 like it, they didn鈥檛 like raking leaves (we should be leaving them for the pollinators anyway), or they wanted more light (we can remove a few limbs rather than the whole tree).
Large trees, by the way, are not necessarily old. Many species can live several hundred years, and benefit us more each year. Sequoias and coastal Douglas firs can live to 1,000 or more. Let鈥檚 respect our elders. They are irreplaceable.
Trees are essential to public health and well-being. Trees on private property benefit the whole community. Why shouldn鈥檛 the community, in the form of city council, have a say in their future?
Grace Golightly
Langford
Madoff idea worth聽considering
Re: 鈥淪ave money, appoint Madoff to council,鈥� Oct. 29.
The idea of appointing Pamela Madoff to Victoria city council is a reasonable and wise proposal at this stage.
Our city would benefit greatly from Ms. Madoff鈥檚 previous service 鈥� eight terms 鈥� on council.
Also, her ongoing perspectives on modern neighbourhood planning and architecture are valuable.
Robert Clarke
Victoria
Polluters should pay for聽shore power
We find it puzzling that pollution from cruise ships in Victoria is being characterized by some as a collective problem. It isn鈥檛 鈥� it鈥檚 a cruise-industry problem.
Mayor Lisa Helps and council members Marianne Alto and Ben Isitt rightly assert, in their recent motion on climate leadership and the cruise industry, that 鈥淸i]t is not anticipated that the city or provincial or federal taxpayers be asked to subsidize shore power through grants but rather that the shore power be installed on the basis of the 鈥榩roducer pay鈥� principle.鈥�
This latter concept is often aptly called the 鈥減olluter pays鈥� principle.
We find dubious, too, the idea that the cruise industry lacks the resources to deal with a problem of its own making. The big three cruise lines 鈥� Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian 鈥� which collectively made nearly $6 billion US in net income in 2018, could allocate a portion of those sizable profits to develop shore power in Victoria, as well as similarly situated cruise ports around the world.
Otherwise, one is left with the impression that the cruise sector cares more about its hefty profits than its greenhouse-gas contributions or the health and welfare of its passengers and crew, those working at cruise ports and those living in surrounding neighbourhoods 鈥� which, of course, can鈥檛 be the case, we鈥檙e sure.
John Kaltenstein
Friends of the Earth U.S.
Berkeley, California
Utter confusion for drivers in ferry gridlock
I had a B.C. Ferries reservation to return from Twawwassen to Swartz Bay on Oct.聽25. Due to high winds, various sailings were cancelled, along with the reservations for those on these sailings. Mine was one of these. OK, understandable.
However, what are customers like me to make of the utter confusion at the entrance to the terminal, with hundreds of cars in gridlock with no assistance whatsoever from B.C. Ferries staff?
Or the fact that some of us had to wait until the next day to get on the ferry while those with later reservations easily got on?
Anyone in the lines that did not get on will surely agree that some customers seemed to be more entitled than others. In my case, it took 19 hours to get home.
It is difficult to avoid the suspicion that B.C. Ferries made a calculated financial decision to avoid cancelling reservations for later sailings at the expense of those of us who were stuck at the terminal from the earlier ones.
If this is a correct interpretation, it would suggest that Transportation Minister Clare Trevena does not have a very good grip on B.C. Ferries operations, or simply does not care.
It is clear from the events that B.C. Ferries certainly does not care. We who ride the ferries frequently deserve a lot better from both Trevena and B.C. Ferries.
Christopher A. Shaw
Victoria
No coverage of Island women rowers
Re: 鈥淗all of Fame photo caption sexist,鈥� 鈥淥mission of women鈥檚 titles shows no class,鈥� letters, Oct. 26.
I, too, was disappointed in the photo caption for Canada鈥檚 Sports Hall of Fame. Your updated caption, however, was missing an important description of Olympian Guylaine Bernier. She was also recently inducted into the Rowing Canada Hall of Fame for being on the first Olympic Women鈥檚 Rowing Team.
There were at least five 91原创 Island women also inducted in September into the Rowing Hall of Fame, which I believe were not included in your sports coverage.
Illoana Smith
Oak Bay
Show more respect for聽educators
I am a public school educator in Saanich and I have been teaching children for 23聽years. If someone had told my 20-year-old self that my biggest struggle in my profession would involve unions and politics, I would have changed my university path.
The passion that I have for teaching is constantly being hammered by a culture that has so little respect for educators. I聽spend six hours a day, five days a week, 10聽months of the year teaching and learning with people鈥檚 most cherished humans, but society shows constant disdain toward me. 鈥淵ou get paid too much.鈥� 鈥淭eachers barely work.鈥� 鈥淢ust be nice to play with kids all day and then get the summers off.鈥�
There are few professions that get criticized more than teachers, yet I spend almost every day of my life planning, thinking, exploring, brainstorming and preparing little children for the world. How is so little respect possible?
People may say: 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 like your job 鈥� quit.鈥� The problem is, I LOVE my job.
I can usually let all the negative noise around my profession just stay in the background, but then we have a week like this week. Politicians and unions are once again keeping me from doing my job. But I can鈥檛 just blame the school board or the premier or the union leaders because we elected them.
British Columbians, we need to rethink our priorities. If you say that education and children are important in our society, then pay CUPE workers in Saanich a living wage that matches the wages being paid for the same job in Victoria or Sooke.
Show some respect for educators and for our children and let us do our job.
Lisa Wergeland
Central Saanich
Youth under 18 deserve聽to聽be heard
Re: 鈥淰oting age should stay at 18,鈥� letter, Oct. 29.
I disagree with the letter writer who wants the voting age to stay at 18 because youth may not pay taxes.
The job of young people, and it is an unpaid job, is to get an education.
Youth are leading the way in pushing for positive change, for example on the issue of climate change. Sixteen and 17-year-olds deserve to have their views heard in our political system. The future really is theirs.
Eric Jones
Victoria
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