Vancouver Sun letters to the editor for Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019
Credit to Author: Gordon Clark| Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2019 01:00:52 +0000
In her recent op-ed, “Handgun, assault rifle bans would be good politics for Trudeau”, Shachi Kurl of the Angus Reid Institute fails to mention how a proposed ban on handguns and assault rifles (a definition would be welcome) would curb the gun violence currently plaguing Canadian cities.
I would prefer to have good legislation that targets criminals, rather that “good politics” that targets lawful Canadians.
Jim Thorpe, Aldergrove
The question that has been burning for some time in my mind is: Are the homeless we are trying to house from this province? If not, is there a system to track their origin and possibly recoup some money from their home municipalities or provinces?
Building homes for the homeless may be drawing more people to the West. We will never be able to house everyone. Does anyone have an answer or comment about this?
Wally Henkel, Vancouver
The recent article about Redwood trees was interesting, but there is more to the story.
Sequoias are rapid growing trees and, on the plus side, these friendly giants sequester a lot of carbon. There’s a large number of them planted on the Cambie Corridor near Little Mountain and about a dozen surrounding an apartment complex on 16th Avenue.
But they are brutes and any homeowner who plants them may have a huge headache in the not-too-distant future. You occasionally find them pressed against the walls of apartment buildings. Maybe they shouldn’t be planted holus-bolus in any lawn or development that will have them.
John Shinnick, Vancouver
Re: Parks in Lower Mainland face challenges from overcrowding, Aug. 19.
The chairman of Metro Vancouver parks is advocating for $7 million to purchase more land for future parks. The real problem is not enough parkland. Instead of spending $7 million to acquire more land, why not spend that $7 million on developing the parkland already owned?
Case in point: Tynehead Regional Park. Most of this land was acquired more than 60 years ago at a very low cost. Yet very little use can be made of all that land. This park is ideally suited to serve both residents and tourists, with easy access from Highways 1 and 15. Campsites located within the 260-hectare parcel would provide the feeling of being in the wilderness while less than one hour from Vancouver. A natural amphitheatre could be cleared on the westerly slopes of the eastern portion. Summer concerts and other events could be held without disturbing nearby residents. All services, including public transit, are available.
The question that needs to be asked is how the Metro Vancouver Parks budget is being spent with more detail than lump-sum figures.
Bill Pekonen, Richmond
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can tax our carbon until the cows come home, but the end result will be the same — no impact on the global climate. Canada’s effect on climate is so insignificant compared to India, China, South America and Africa, etc., what good is Trudeau’s carbon tax?
We should be more concerned about our homegrown pollution — Sarnia oil refineries and chemical plants polluting the Great Lakes, all our dumps polluting our water systems, our sewers discharging poisons into every river and water system in the country. In the Okanagan, our sewer discharge full of chemicals goes directly into our lake.
Jorgen Hansen, Kelowna
No other country gives the prime minister the power that Canada does. What can we do about it, aside from changing the system?
First-past-the-post voting aids and abets the arrogance shown by the federal Liberals. They are our government, elected by less than 40 per cent of the voters. The other 60 per cent are yelling for the prime minister’s head, futilely because he has a majority of the seats, thanks to FPTP, which distorts the will of the people.
FPTP, in handing parties 100 per cent of the power with only 40 per cent of the vote, makes it easy for vested interests to lobby government, as we’ve seen in the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Daryl Sturdy, Vancouver
Letters to the editor should be sent to sunletters@vancouversun.com. The editorial pages editor is Gordon Clark, who can be reached at gclark@postmedia.com.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.