Letters to The Province, July 21, 2022: City council must make Stanley Park access equitable

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Vancouver city council must remove the pandemic temporary road restrictions in Stanley Park and along Beach Avenue as soon as possible. Council also needs to permanently take over from the Parks Board and cyclists’ lobby on all Stanley Park access issues.

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Park users and park businesses, including walkers, restaurant operators and customers, tour buses, motorists and cyclists should be allowed equitable access. This is currently not the case due to the preferred system for cyclists that blocks others and causes major traffic and destination access problems.

Al Siddons, Vancouver

‘Royal City’ moniker removal

We will never know if the majority of New Westminster’s more than 58,000 voters agree with the July 11 decision made by five members of city council and the mayor to remove the “Royal City” brand from our community. We were not consulted, we were not involved in any way, there was no referendum — just six people making the decision for all of us. As noted by the mayor himself, from his perspective, “it was a good time to start the process of rebranding our city.”

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Regardless of your personal feeling on the dos and don’ts of reconciliation, Mayor Jonathan Cote and five members of council made an arbitrary decision. I believe that is an abuse of power.

The only councillor to vote against this motion was Chuck Puchmayr, who by the way has always been a champion for Indigenous rights. He recognized it for what it was: an autocratic use of authority.

Margaret McBride, New Westminster

Pretending there is a bright side

Most people, especially those on fixed incomes, have every right to be incensed about the unprecedented high cost of groceries and gasoline. Recently, my wife and I went grocery shopping and then filled up the gas tank of our 1998 Buick. On the way home, I listened to myself moaning and groaning about the rapidly rising prices for almost everything. Little by little, I came to the realization I shouldn’t let things I have no control over ruin my day.

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I decided to look on the bright side and figuratively put on rose-coloured glasses. Immediately, I realized the groceries and gas were an investment, not an expense. The groceries in the trunk and the gas in the tank had doubled the value of our car. You can call me a cockeyed optimist, but my frown instantly turned upside down. That’s when I recalled those insightful words in the 1988 hit song, “Don’t Worry Be Happy” — namely, “In every life, we have some trouble, but when you worry, you make it double.”

Lloyd Atkins, Vernon

Letters to the editor should be sent to [email protected]. 

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