Pivot’s claim of DTES police shakedown tough to believe
The comment by Anna Cooper of Pivot Legal Society that Vancouver police officers in the Downtown Eastside are “basically shaking down people who are visibly poor” is tough to believe and a slanderous accusation by the definition of the phrase.
If society and advocate groups for addicts are to perpetuate the sad cycle of addiction by claiming areas of public streets where “safe” injection sites are located as no-go zones for police, I believe she is waging a battle with which few people would agree. The police on patrol in this area have a tougher job than most and have to deal with wholesale human tragedy on a daily basis.
Their presence is necessary to deter much worse happenings than making a few people feel uncomfortable.
And another thing ...
When are the politicians going to do what’s right? Legalizing pot is crazy. People will go to work, get tested and then get suspended.
They are spending crazy amounts of money on the homeless, but nothing on seniors, who need it more. Vancouver installed bike lanes with nobody in them and the Surrey
bike lanes are empty. People sick with rare diseases are denied the drugs they need because they are deemed too expensive, but the government endlessly funds treatment for people who overdose — sometimes with paramedics and firefighters bringing them back to life two or three times a day.
What happened to the days when taxpayers had rights? The Liberals stole money from ICBC and now the NDP wants to cancel the Kinder Morgan pipeline. Where’s the money going to come from to pay all these bills?
Arnold Eichhorst, Surrey
Canadians ripped off
I can say for a fact that the Canadian wholesale purchaser of gasoline from the BP refinery in Ferndale, Wash., pays the same price to the refinery as his American counterparts.
Some 120 fuel trucks per day, seven days a week, leave that refinery to bring fuel to Greater Vancouver. When you factor in a 32-per-cent exchange rate on the dollar, why is fuel still 40 per cent cheaper in Washington state?
The Americans have great roads and plenty of fuel taxes that go into those roads.
So, yeah, we do get a rotten deal here in Greater Vancouver.
It’s ridiculous. John Pennington, Vancouver
Great caregivers
Thank you to letter-writer Sylvia Taylor for being brave enough to point out how millions and millions of tax dollars are being wasted by the government in a misguided attempt to save the lives of drug addicts who voluntarily poison themselves in perpetuity, while the rest of our health-care system goes wanting for a lack of proper funding.
However, I must say I recently had an opportunity to observe the doctors, nurses and support staff of Royal Columbian and Eagle Ridge hospitals. Although these hospitals are seriously understaffed, I have nothing but the highest praise for the excellent care these dedicated, kind and caring professionals provide to their patients day in and day out.
Gary Tupper, New Westminster
ICBC strays from model
A recent letter-writer suggested that B.C. was the only province with mandatory car insurance. That is not correct. Saskatchewan has mandatory insurance.
ICBC was modelled after Saskatchewan’s insurance agency, but the major difference is Saskatchewan wrote into the legislation that the government could not take money out for general revenue. The NDP deliberately left the door open in case they wanted to raid the profits, something the recent B.C. Liberal government took full advantage of. Insurance in Saskatchewan costs much less.
John White, Surrey