Stealing from taxpayers
Re: Partying politicians at Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference.
It is difficult enough to accept that many elected politicians are in business for themselves and have little interest in serving those who elected them, but to party it up like the ancient Roman elite on the taxpayers’ dollar really sickens me.
It seems that Vancouver’s mayor and city council members have forgotten about the source of their revenue so perhaps they need to be reminded of how long and hard Canadians work for the money that is tossed away on a single night of fine food and wine at some expensive shindig that few of us can afford to attend or would even be invited to.
Hey, Gregor, save me some of those cocktail snacks and a bottle or two of scotch or vodka that I paid for, will ya?
Leslie Benisz, Vancouver
Fire them all
Some $13,000 on booze, $19,000 on umbrellas, etc., etc. This sort of nonsense represents a government totally out of control, with no respect for taxpayer dollars.
A taxpayer needs this sort of abuse about as much as a bull needs a hat rack.
Politicians taking advantage of the public purse such as this should not be allowed to use the excuse “we were voted in so lump it”. You’re fired!
Brian Gill, Surrey
Apply the law
I drive all over the Lower Mainland and easily more than 95 per cent of the jaywalkers I see are in the Downtown Eastside. Should these people get a license to break any law they want?
I have seen many people in this area step off a curb right into the path of a car. It is only a matter of time before I witness one on them getting hit. They either don’t care or just want to get lots of money from ICBC.
Laura Shaver of Subhead Vancouver Network of Drug Users needs to stop using drugs herself if she think the problem is the drivers.
Tony Staley, Surrey
Sit down with health workers
Sunday’s guest column about fixing our health-care system touched on some of the leadership issues that must be addressed within that system.
I believe the health minister must cross the battle lines this government has created over the last 10 years and set up constructive meetings with those who deal everyday with the system — health-care workers and their unions and professional associations. If the minister wants to know what’s broken and how to fix it, he must first understand what the working parts of the system see from their side if the fence.
Allen Williams, Port Coquitlam
Schools are too soft
With regard to John O’Keefe’s letter of the week, nobody advocates B.C. students be unhappy and stressed because education simply revolves around a test score. It goes without saying that there is more to education than academics.
The problem in B.C. is that students are often too happy. They are now learning in a school system where exams are being eliminated and punishment and failure are practically non-existent. Throw in the opportunity to text all day long, and I would love to go back to school.
O’Keefe might be critical of memorization, but the flip side is the current emphasis on critical thinking in small groups when the students have zero knowledge. You can’t discuss the legacy of a prime minister if you don’t even know what he or she looks like.
Why can’t we just move back to the middle ground?
John Clench, Vancouver
More to education than scores
Letter of the Week contributor John O’Keefe offers a much-needed counterbalance to the near hysteria that occurs whenever the international rankings of math scores are published.
Over many years as a college instructor, I worked with many students who passed through educational systems in which rote learning and data regurgitation were the fundamental bases of schooling. I agree with O’Keefe’s proposition that most of these students lack not only the flexibility and adaptability that is required for career success in a constantly evolving world, but also the team-working, critical thinking, and creative conceptualization and problem-solving skills that employers value.
Should we work at improving the math skills of students? Surely! But it would serve us well to view the issue with the balanced perspective it requires, like Mr. O’Keefe.
Ray Arnold, Richmond
Light rail, not SkyTrain, is the answer
Ron van der Eerden continues the density myth which has hamstrung regional transit planning for decades. He should have said: “there isn’t the density for SkyTrain,” because there is plenty of density in the Lower Mainland for light rail. A Vancouver-Chilliwack LRT using the former interurban line could be had for about $7 million per kilometre — about one-fifteenth the cost of SkyTrain. It would be $400 million cheaper than the Evergreen line.
We don’t have the density for SkyTrain, especially SkyTrain subways, which is why TransLink is in such a financial mess.
Malcolm Johnston, Rail for the Valley, Delta
The editorial pages editor is Gordon Clark, who can be reached at gclark@theprovince.com. Letters to the editor can be sent to provletters@theprovince.com.
