Letters, Nov. 8, 2019: Fewer police boots on the ground
Credit to Author: Carolyn Soltau| Date: Mon, 04 Nov 2019 21:22:33 +0000
I have just read the article about crime stats in Surrey and how unsafe this city is.
I learned long ago that statistics can be used or bent in many ways to advance one’s argument. Having read Mayor Doug McCallum’s proposal for Surrey’s own municipal police department, it actually calls for fewer police personnel than what the RCMP presently has.
Perhaps it is time for the City of Surrey to tell us how they will make Surrey safer with fewer boots on the ground. There are too many unknowns about what the staffing levels and support services that will be required for a city as large and fast-growing as Surrey. It’s time to let the taxpayers know now.
Barry Bradley, Surrey
Whatever TransLink employees are being paid, it’s probably too high. After all the times I’ve been stranded, inconvenienced, frustrated and degraded by that company, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for their problems. The two hours or more I spend with TransLink every day are the worst two hours of the day, always. I would rather be in a shark attack than ride a Vancouver bus. Did you know the new buses have seats facing each other so closely, you actually have to interlock knees with the person across from you?
Go to any SkyTrain bus loop, and you’ll see the same thing: crowds of people waiting at the stops, and just up the road an empty bus sitting with the driver nowhere in sight. It didn’t use to be that way — buses used to wait at the stop so passengers could sit inside in relative comfort while we waited. Now we stand in the rain, while the driver sits in some break room somewhere.
Don’t get me started on the service in Richmond. Buses are regularly late, or don’t show up at all. I once waited over an hour at a stop where the buses were supposed to run every 15 minutes. After an hour, you guessed it, four buses came rolling over the hill together in a neat little line. How does something like that even happen? That’s exactly what I asked the driver. His answer: “Duhhhh, I dunno.” The TransLink corporate motto, apparently.
Steve Vanden-Eykel, New Westminster
Tom Blackwell’s article “Canada-China relationship a conundrum” points out the need for a new strategy on China, with which our new ambassador Dominic Barton is tasked. Clearly, this appointment seeks a cooperative approach, since the background of Barton indicates a deep appreciation and understanding of China, similar to that of our earlier ambassador, John McCallum.
It will be recalled that McCallum was fired for expressing his views with regard to the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, which conflicted with Canadian political policy at the time. No doubt, we all wish for a peaceful settlement and are sympathetic for those caught in the net, but would a “harder policy” yield positive results?
China is a great power expanding its demands on the world for recognition long denied. America still dominates the planet. We are a small country dependent on good relationships with others to achieve our goals. We are subject to pressure from both parties, but we are clearly locked in with the U.S. culturally and economically. We depend on the U.S. solving its relationship with China before we dare enter too tight a relationship with China, even though we can profit, such as with 5G technology.
Canada is not the only country with this dilemma today. We all need peaceful cooperation between great powers in order to solve all the problems we are faced with. Ambassador Barton has made a good beginning. His connections and leadership qualities should serve us all well. We are not appeasing China, we are recognizing its greatness and offering to work with it for the good of all.
Keith Hester, North Vancouver
Letters to the editor should be sent to sunletters@vancouversun.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.