Ottawa and Victoria need to step up on fentanyl deaths
There have been more than a thousand overdose deaths over the past 13 months in B.C. alone. We talk about it, we apply Band-Aid solutions and we study it.
Just last week we were told by some provincial leaders that solutions take time, and that yes, there are budgetary considerations. The hundred or so people expected to die next month don’t have time.
And budgetary considerations didn’t seem to come into play when, as an example, it came to pouring huge resources into handling the recent fake bomb plot in Victoria.
Both the provincial and federal governments should declare it for what it is — a state of emergency. Would temporary distribution of clean drugs help? People are dying, so budgets be damned. We need to do more. Don Francis, West Vancouver
Lots to protest at home
People find it imperative to protest the U.S.-imposed, 90-day travel and immigration ban on seven Muslim-majority countries. Where were they while U.S. president Barack Obama bombed Muslim countries for years, sometimes with the support of Canada’s Armed Forces, resulting in the death of hundreds of civilians?
I don’t condone either policy. But this is an American issue, not our issue, and, for better or worse, Donald Trump is their president, not our president.
There is no need to look across the border to find issues for demonstrations; there are plenty of issues right here at home.
Ted Grigoleit, Burnaby
Shooting won’t birth hate
Re: 'Scene of unspeakable brutality,' Jan. 31
It has been only two years since I moved to Canada. All the things I had heard about Canada turned out to be true. The winters are cold, the country is beautiful from coast to coast to coast, and Canadians are the most open-minded, welcoming and kind people.
I am in love with this country, which I proudly call my home now. And such incidents like the one in Quebec won’t make me feel any differently.
Let us not close our minds; let us open our hearts instead. It is in tragic moments like this that we must come together in order to move forward. We won’t be broken by this violence and our sense of spirit and unity will only strengthen.
Our mosques will stay open, we will continue to come for prayers and we will continue to remove misconceptions regarding our peaceful religion. We won’t shy away from promoting peace and harmony.
Let us gather as one community, as one country and as one family. Let us conquer fear and hatred with love and compassion. Let us continue to make Canada more beautiful by practising the teaching of love for all, hatred for none.
Misbah Tariq, Lloydminster
For whom the bridge tolls?
If tolling is the solution to paying for needed infrastructure, then every bridge across the Lower Mainland should be tolled.
If you choose to drive your car into Vancouver, you need to pay a road or bridge toll. This should be mandatory.
This alone would pay for new road construction. Why penalize everyone living south of the Fraser River?
Sandra Steffan, Langley