Letters to The Sun, November 13, 2021: Why Should Vehicle Owners Not Make an Annual Payment for Emission Reductions?

Article content

Re: City of Vancouver not on track to meet climate goals

Article content

According to public relations manager Alvin Singh, Mayor Kennedy Stewart is “very confident” that the feds will take over the $ 200 million plus defeated pollution charge for city street parking that he would have handed over.

Excessive. As if the federal government didn’t have enough financial and environmental challenges.

To those who voted against the fee: Mayor Stewart and Couns. Bligh, De Genova, Dominato, Hardwick and Kirby-Yung. I ask: Why shouldn’t all vehicle owners, regardless of income, make a ridiculously small payment, $ 45 a year, to reduce emissions?

Of course, it’s all about votes. But until we take a true user-pay approach to vehicle use and sophisticated retail pricing, we are inviting continued failure.

Article content

Alison Appelbe, Vancouver

Re: Almost 600 people died due to a record heat wave in BC this summer

About 600 older people died in British Columbia last summer due to the heat wave. Why? Who were these people? Were they living alone? Were they in health centers? Did someone register them? Did they die over a period of days because no one bothered to see if they had enough water, food, fans, or maybe they needed a sponge bath? Did they try to ask for help but were too weak to do so?

The tragedy was reported by the media, but frankly, it almost felt like it was a report about 600 cars being wrecked in a storm due to potholes in the roads that needed repairs, and a commission would be set up to ensure that it wasn’t. it will not happen again.

Article content

But these 600 people weren’t cars, they were older people who should have been cared for, and we dropped the ball. Should we call this tragedy elder abuse? Will we have programs so that this never happens again? Let’s not forget, we should be our brother’s keeper.

Eileen Abrams, Vancouver

Re: Daphne Bramham: Anti-Vaccines Ignore Inconvenient Truths in Their Campaign

It’s easy to put a label on people and problems these days. It’s easy to throw in the term “anti-vaxxer” and include clever lines and descriptions to try and prove a point. The point, as I see it, however, is that this is a “health option”, which should not be labeled “vaxxer” or “anti-vaxxer”, which reduces people and problems to very simple things. . Such labels degrade people and limit our thinking about the issues involved.

Article content

People who choose to get vaccinated have their reasons, and people who choose not to have their own. Of course, the media plays an important role in shaping people’s opinions these days: CBC, The Vancouver Sun, Common Ground, etc. You have the right to present your opinions in The Vancouver Sun and elsewhere, and Joseph Roberts and his collaborators can write their articles wherever they do.

Let readers inform themselves, examine the information, and decide the course they want to take. And please stop insulting people who are looking for health care options or alternatives.

Wendy von Meyenfeldt, Salt Spring Island

Re: mental health agency pushes to reform BC system

I enjoyed reading Dan Fumano’s excellent column on Coast Mental Health and Dr. MacEwan’s response to helping people with mental illness access the system when they need it. Coast has been helping my son for over 30 years, and Dr. MacEwan has always been at the forefront of innovative ideas that work. The government couldn’t get better assistance in devising better ways to help the mentally ill than Coast Mental Health. For decades, she has shown how to care for people with mental illness and, as a mother of someone who has been helped, I am very supportive of her ideas.

Article content

Lucy Waters, Vancouver

Re: Bullying is not free speech

I strongly agree with Ian Mulgrew’s comments and am concerned about the decline in civility that seems to be associated with social media.

I wonder what if everyone had to post their real name, photo, and contact information in their posts. Removing anonymity can be the best first step in improving discussion quality by holding people accountable for what they post.

Jack Habart, Vancouver

Letters to the editor should be sent to [email protected]. CLICK HERE to report a typo.

Is there more to this story? We would like to hear from you about this or any other story that you think we should know about. Email [email protected].