More action needed now to halt Lower Mainland shootings
Every time there is a shooting in the Lower Mainland, a politician from the city, province or federal government says that it is unacceptable and that an innocent bystander could have been hurt. Well, now a 15-year-old out with his parents has been killed.
Talk is not good enough. Anti-gang education in the schools is a start, but that will require 10 or 15 years to take effect. More needs to be done now.
Mall parking lots are being shot up, residences of innocent people are being shot at and there are drive-by shootings. The police do their best, but when they manage to catch these creeps, the justice system gives them eight years and they are out in three. Where is the deterrent?
I’m not saying a stiffer sentence is the final answer, but, again, it is a step. This needs to stop. Ron Paddon, Chilliwack
Not buying pot numbers
The CBC recently reported that the existing illegal cannabis market in Canada is about $8 billion and that the total market will be $22 billion after legalization. This means that an incremental amount of discretionary income of $14 billion — $700 for every person over 14 in Canada — will be spent on cannabis.
However, nobody is saying where this money will come from. Will it be at the expense of alcohol, a $40-billion market? This would be a huge hit for the alcohol industry, but I am not hearing that they’re worried about it. Will people drink less coffee? Should Starbucks be worried? I doubt it.
There is no question that cannabis will be a big deal, but I don’t see how it can possibly be as big as these reports would suggest.
Doug Turner, Delta
Government to blame
Letter writer Jeff Laurie fails to address the issue of how much local governments make on taxation because of development. Don’t blame the developers, the biggest money is made in the form of taxation.
What a better way to increase revenue by allowing, say, a 10-acre parcel to be divided into 200 lots or condos instead of one small tax.
Government is to blame for development because they are addicted to the revenue.
Glenn Nordal, Langley
Good riddance to Robertson
So Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is not running again. Hallelujah! He screwed up our beautiful city and then hightailed it out before the you-know-what hits the fan. He likely sensed his impending doom at the polls.
Robertson said one of his goals was to end homelessness, which is now worse, and don’t get me started on bike lanes. Under Vision, anyone who asks for a building permit gets one, tearing down low-cost homes and displacing longtime residents to build expensive new highrises and — oh, gee — there is more homelessness. What a surprise.
Even city animal shelters are seeing more pets being brought in because displaced renters cannot find affordable housing and pet-friendly accommodation. Way to go, Mr. Robertson. Good riddance.
Lesley Rae, Vancouver
Not happy with transit
I wish someone would investigate TransLink alerts and report on the number of service cancellations that happen on a regular basis. I get alerts sent to my email for two bus lines, the 314 and 316, and I get cancellation alerts virtually every day.
The public is not informed of this, as far as I can see, and it would be interesting to see how many cancellations occur on all bus routes daily or weekly.
TransLink tries to tell us that they are doing a great job, but the service is far from good. Try riding the bus or SkyTrain at busy times and see how much fun it is (not).
Brian Ringrose, Surrey