Victoria zombie apocalypse
Dear Editor: I took family and extended family to downtown Victoria to do our annual walk of gingerbread houses at Laurel Point, then over to Hotel Grand Pacific for the teddy bears, then the Empress for trees, then up to the Bay Centre for more trees.
We took in local shops, and did what we do every day — promote Victoria as the best place in Earth.
I was let down. The downtown experience has decayed. There was an unbelievable number of invasive and aggressive panhandlers, open smoking of dope and injecting, two fights, and sidewalks being taken up with sleeping bags, loitering and camping. We had to cancel the rest of our downtown wandering because our company was simply not comfortable.
I am tired, absolutely tired, that our city is left to this zombie apocalypse. This does nothing for our taxpaying citizens, visitors or shop owners. I don’t care if it’s a banner year for everyone — we need to get our streets back. The city needs to act immediately on this. I encourage the mayor and council to read Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point and the excerpt on how New York took its subways back.
Just because, through complacency, you have not noticed how bad it is, venture out and listen to the citizens and the shop owners, or better, the many people who won’t go downtown because of this. Derek Sanderson
Victoria
I know this may seem rather draconian, but I'm tired of voting and seeing my effort wasted due to lack of interest in what's going on. You have a right to abstain, but not a right for a free ride on the decisions of others. Considering the fact that if one in 10 decided not to vote, it would be revenue neutral for the government.
There is no excuse not to vote. If you can't or don't make it to the advance polls, most employers will grant you the time to get there. Most polls are open for 12 hours, so either before or after work.
Your notice to vote could be marked as your receipt of voting or one could be obtained at the polling station. If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain about what any government does. In our free society, the lineups should be blocks long to get in. No one has any right to know how you voted or cares, but it's a shame not to participate in one of the few things that nobody can stop you from doing. As the old saying goes "The more there is, the merrier." last George Getty Prince George