Land connection
Being in Powell River all my life and knowing the back country since I was a kid, there is good understanding why there should be a new highway from Powell River to Squamish. [“High cost of geography,” January 15]. It makes sense to me the logging road off Highway 101 up to Goat Lake and past 65-mile is near to Squamish-Pemberton area. There was a meeting about four years ago about the plan and people were shown a video on which way to start. There were two choices: build bridges or build a tunnel through the mountain.
Well, Powell River, there are the choices. It was a very interesting meeting and now it’s time to make a move. BC Ferries can keep their fleet.
It is sad the way Powell River and Texada Island are being treated. The island might as well retain the water taxi for the island because the way it’s going now is sad.
Either the federal or the provincial government needs to step in and make some severe changes to the system.
Powell River, step up to the podium and take the bull by the horns and say “Push this new highway through for Powell River and solve the problem once and for all.”
If they can push a gas pipeline through the countryside, they can push a highway through to for our people living in the Pearl of the Sunshine Coast.
Clifford Lang
Squamish, BC
Ferry solution?
Believing that there must be a reasonable and fair solution to this ongoing price gouging by our ferry system, consider two possible solutions to this annual problem [“Ferries top up with another surcharge,” January 8]:
1. We all know that the cost of the 14 interior ferries is totally paid for by us, the taxpayers. Why? If they can’t be made to pony up and pay their costs of operation then at least take their total cost and equal that amount and apply it against the cost of operating our coastal ferries. This would go a long way in putting a dent in the $19 million the coastal ferries is looking for.
2. There are roughly 3.5 million residents in BC. Stats Canada tells us that there is one worker (taxpayer) for every three people, so we have over one million taxpayers. If this $19 million was spread among the one million taxpayers it would come to less than $20. This would take care of all of the route cancellations and fare increases including the seniors’ discount, plus a very important part of our society—our travelling sports teams.
As for berthing the ferry in Comox as opposed to Powell River, I believe it was our own chamber of commerce who lobbied long and hard and eventually won to have it berthed in Comox simply to inconvenience us in shopping out of town. Just think of what this could have meant to our economy with all those employees living here, not to mention the better medical appointment service, which could have been ours, and our sports teams not having to stay overnight on many occasions. What a shame.
Jack Hildebrand
Hazelton Street
Boo to bullies
I write this for my friend Nicholas.
I am an old woman, probably as old as your grandma. Though I never had any of my own, I love children. In my heart each child is special and I feel a bit responsible for their well-being. I think everyone should look out for them as well as their mums and dads.
One of my jobs in this life is to speak out for others who are being bullied or hurt. Bullying is not okay and it is not okay to watch someone being bullied. It is our duty to speak up and tell the bullies to stop [“Students wear pink to stand up against bullies,” February 27, 2013].
I was bullied and made fun of when I was young and I had hurt feelings and I was afraid to go to school.
Then, one day, when I was being picked on and I was crying, something inside me said “enough.” So, I shouted at the bullies: “It is not okay for you to make fun of me. I do not give you permission to bully me. So stop.” Then I walked away.
It did not stop them right away, but other kids started to speak up and tell them to quit. Somehow we all had a little more courage.
Always remember, there are more of us, the people being bullied, than there are bullies.
Bullies are cowards and they need an audience to feel better than everyone else. We, however, can just feel good about being ourselves and having the courage to speak up for ourselves.
I feel sorry for bullies because pretty soon everyone knows who they are and that they are just bullies. I certainly don’t want to be one and I am sure you don’t either.
Stop bullying.
Gina Kendrick
Kiwanis Avenue
