Letters to The Sun, May 11, 2022: What about quality of life in Vancouver?

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The city’s brilliant plan of destroying Broadway with rows of tall towers and a subway line to the clear-cut development site at UBC is part of the broader plan to increase the population by yet another million as soon as possible.

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Does anyone still have any illusion that any of our local governments are “green”, or respectful of Indigenous rights? Every green initiative the city and region have undertaken in the last 10 years is completely undermined by the rush to over-population. In addition, the huge influx of people from abroad is a direct attack on Indigenous rights to land and resources. And, by the way, has any government even hinted at their requirement to conduct meaningful consultations with First Nations regarding population and immigration policies?

We seem to have a policy of “over-population as soon as possible,” being set by developers and land speculators, rather than anyone interested in quality of life for citizens of this country, Indigenous or not.

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Malcolm McSporran, Vancouver

Olympic bid: Nothing has really changed

Re: Daphne Bramham: Cone of silence continues to surround 2030 Olympic bid

Well said, Daphne. Thank you. After reading this feature at Starbucks with my husband, John, we cannot help but reflect back to Vancouver 2010. The many false promises they never kept for low-cost housing to help the homeless they aggressively drove out of the east side, coupled with all the greed mostly going one way — the billion-dollar security costs really stand out.

Bramham’s quote “the cone of silence isn’t unique, just more suffocating” is so true. Since my naive teenage days reflecting back as an athlete standing on the Olympic podium in Mexico 54 years ago, nothing has really changed.

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Elaine Tanner (Order of Canada) and John Watt, Surrey

paper cup surcharge

I visited two coffee shops recently. The first only offered a paper cup and charged an extra 25 cents over what had been charged previously. The second shop purchased mugs for those drinking on the premises and charged the same price as before. We therefore have a situation where the shop that is adding paper cups to the landfill is making an extra profit on each cup and the shop avoiding paper cups in the landfill is incurring extra costs by purchasing mugs and cleaning them. Remove the policy.

Rick Mahler, Vancouver

It’s a question of who gets to buy the housing supply

The real estate industry continues to call for more housing supply, which, of course, benefits the industry. I believe, however, that the difficulty that many people have with buying a dwelling in BC actually has more to do with the fact that companies and individuals with very big pockets purchase multiple residential properties as investments.

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In fact, I suspect that the current number of residential properties listed for sale exceeds the number of buyers who don’t currently own real estate and who want to buy a home.

In other words, it’s not a question of supply. It’s a question of who gets to buy the supply of residential housing currently available.

Perhaps our governments could place a moratorium on purchases of residential units in BC by any entity that currently owns any residential real estate.

Then, first-time homebuyers and buyers who currently don’t own real estate, would be able to purchase the homes they desperately want and need.

Carol OgdenVancouver

Youth worker risk and fatalities

Re: Daphne Bramham: Hazardous jobs need to be off-limits to youths

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A job is hazardous for workers of all ages if inadequate training, deficient equipment, and ignored safety procedures are allowed or encouraged by the employer.

A few years ago, I was shocked to watch a youth digging an excavation where the top of his head was eventually just visible in the unshored hole. As the heap of soil grew on the brow of the excavation, the risk of his being buried in a collapse increased. He worked, largely alone, for about three days.

About 10 years ago, a young carpenter was helping to renovate a home. At one point, rather than secure a second-storey fascia plank from below from a ladder, he crept to the edge of the roof to swing his hammer from above. He was not wearing any fall-prevention harness. I think I did call WorkSafeBC in this instance.

Unfortunately, we don’t seem to care about workers, young or old, killed “in the line of duty” that keep the wheels of our economy turning.

DB Wilson, Port Moody

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