Letters to the Sun, December 29, 2022: Horror stories abound during the holiday travel season

Article content

The headlines are grim after extreme weather events across the continent this Christmas.

Article content

Record storms across Canada made travel a nightmare, and in the US, arctic cold and blizzards followed a December heat wave that killed dozens.

Article content

The Vancouver airport, and many airports across the country, became Christmas refugee zones for days. Horror stories abounded. Blocked VIA Rail trains trapped passengers for hours on end. A bus overturned on an icy highway west of Kelowna, killing four and injuring dozens.

Canadians’ expectations of a quick trip home for the holidays were dashed and for many became tests of endurance of misery.

In addition to all the airline, train, and bus woe stories, thousands of people risked their lives driving into blizzards, stuck in ditches, and killed in accidents caused by the weather.

It’s still too early to learn all the lessons here, but after a year of extreme weather calamities, this latest southward shock by the polar vortex has to teach us something about the climate emergency.

Article content

One of these lessons should be that the age of ultra-convenient travel across the continent, or even hundreds of kilometers in just a few hours, is a fossil fuel-fueled luxury that we cannot afford and the planet’s ecosystem cannot tolerate.

Canada needs to massively rebuild a sustainable transportation system, rapidly shifting away from fossil fuel-powered passenger planes and SUVs. But our federal and provincial governments hardly talk about the future of transportation. Billions are being poured into widening highways, new interchanges, and trying to fix a clogged and overused airline system. Bolster the fossil fuel system, in other words.

Like our housing disaster, with years without major planning or investment, our governments have no vision for the future of transportation. Our broken political system provides no leadership and no plan. In fact, our leaders cannot even contemplate the large-scale change we need to see.

Article content

A high-speed passenger rail corridor from Halifax to Vancouver is an easy thing to envision. It has been called for at many political party conventions, where members’ motions fall on the deaf ears of the government. With an electric bus feeder system that connects people to frequent high-speed trains, we can easily have a transportation infrastructure that connects Canadians across the country. Air flights will be drastically reduced when their real cost includes the tremendous volume of fossil fuels and pollution.

And it will all come with a huge cultural shift. Jet-setting lives lived at tremendous speed are over. A slower ride will be part of a slower life and of smelling the blooming roses in a beloved natural world.

Article content

Keith WileyNelson

Vancouver needs to manage the aftermath of storms

This letter has been going through my head since December 2nd when I slipped, fell and broke my wrist while walking my dog. He wore proper winter boots with good soles, and he made my way carefully, but he was no match for black ice.

I totally agree that the City of Vancouver needs to dedicate more resources to snow event management. In my normally very walkable neighborhood, the vast majority of citizens have done a great job cleaning the sidewalks in front of their homes. However, there have been many days when I was terrified of crossing streets as unswept residential streets turned to packed ice.

As Vancouver tried to get people out of their cars, the city’s focus seemed to be on bike lanes and traffic. For many people, walking is their primary mode of transportation, but pedestrians seem to receive little to no attention, especially during snow events.

Article content

When I saw the orthopedic specialist, he mentioned that he saw 20 people with wrist fractures in the ER the same day I broke mine. That’s just one emergency department at a Vancouver hospital and one type of injury. I was lucky not to need surgery, but I know not everyone was so lucky.

I appreciate the challenges presented by recent weather events, but based on reporter Dan Fumano’s article, it appears that Burnaby, North Van, and Coquitlam are doing a much better job of clearing the side streets. I would say that it is time for Vancouver to step up and do more to protect its citizens. With property taxes going up and up, it’s unacceptable that people don’t feel safe going for a walk in winter because the streets are a treacherous mess, even days after weather events.

Chris Wasylishyn, Vancouver

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

More news, less announcements: Our in-depth journalism is possible thanks to the support of our subscribers. For just $3.50 a week, you can get unlimited, ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The province.