Magic Teeth by Gareth Gaudin

Letters - June 25

An educational article

Re: “School Board Scandal,” June 18-24

Thanks to Jason Youmans and Monday for taking the time ask the right questions to get to the real reason for school board trustee Catherine Alpha’s dismissal.

Now that the political basis for this unnecessary and expensive potential by-election has been exposed, my hope is that voters will remember the names of the “gang of five”—Ferris, Holland, Leonard, McEvoy and Petrie—when the 2011 school board elections come around.

Vote them out! Replace them with trustees of Ms. Alpha’s stature who will actually stand up for necessary funding for public education and not just do the government’s bidding with ever-shrinking finances.

Brad Myers, Victoria

Western separatism

Re: “Concerns in Colwood,” June 11-17

Jason Youmans’ article is the tip of the iceberg of discontent in the Western Communities over the increasing role of the CRD in their daily lives. Dan Campbell set up the regional districts 40 years ago to fill in the gaps in service in sparsely populated areas; he must be turning in his grave as the CRD supplants locally elected representatives. Yes, the CRD board is made up of elected people, but they are elected indirectly—which is as much to say not elected at all. If my mayor or council person does something that I believe is wrong, I can vote against them in the next election; if the CRD board does something that offends me, I can write letters to the editor.

There is a structural flaw in the makeup of the CRD where the “tyranny of the majority” allows local views to be disregarded on a regular basis. Hopefully we can begin an honest and open debate on the makeup and role of the CRD. Goodness knows we have seen a lot of change in the past 40 years: VIHA has taken over health care and the Western Communities—which were a negligible factor in the past—have become the growth centre of the region. To have a single entity managing growth from the Gulf Islands to Port Renfrew and from Sidney to Victoria may no longer make sense. There are a lot of entrenched interests who will defend the status quo, but let’s have the courage to take a fresh look at the current arrangements.

Peter Martin, Victoria

Mag to mag nag

Re: “Father’s (Pay)Day,” June 18-24

No parenting magazines? Not even the locally produced (and free) Island Parent?

Couldn’t resist! Keep up the good work.

Sue Fast, Editor, Island Parent

Comic in name only

Re: “Magic Teeth,” June 11-17

The new format is excellent. You’ve trimmed the excess, now it’s succinct: compact, yet still fully informative. I’m happy; nice work—thanks to all. But did you have to stoop to lower-than-Martlet level with the stupid cartoon? Yep, the dick-head one.

Wendy Ramsay, Victoria

I was actually a little shocked at the comic of the penis-head guy. I feel like sex is shoved in my face everywhere I go these days. I’m only 26 and I don’t think of myself as prudish; call me old fashioned, but I’d like to read a paper without seeing a penis. It’s not even funny. It’s the oldest play on words in the book. With all the beautiful creative minds in Victoria, there’s got to be something better out there.

Christine McCallum, Victoria

Cartoonist Gareth Gaudin responds: “The oldest play on words in the book”—really? I was playing with the phrase ‘Up and comer’—that can’t be the oldest in the book!”

Society on drugs

Re: ”MP abstains on C-15,” June 11-17

The futile efforts of police and others to provide law and order solutions to the drug trade continue to dominate the media coverage of the many issues arising from this trade. Surely it is time for the media to use investigative reporters and column writers to introduce the real discussion of the issues that are involved in the legalization of all drugs and the removal of the “get rich quick” profit motive from this trade.

As long as the huge investment in enforcement parallels the huge profits in the trade—and there is no real discussion of the other options available to decrease drug over-use in our over-stressed society—there will be nothing done to really attack the problems.

Phil Lyons, View Royal

Dogpile on Miller

Re: Letters, June 18-24

I can’t believe Gene Miller is still pushing his connections with Monday. After all, let’s not forget that for years now, Miller has been paid to promote expensive developments, often against the wishes of the local community. That stance seems somewhat opposed to Monday’s general respect for communities.

While Miller’s is a perfectly legitimate occupation, at the community meetings he attends, he seems to take personal offence when local residents decline to go along with his puppeteers’ wishes. If Miller wants to continue pretending to be a friend of the little people, perhaps he might reveal how much money developers pay him to attempt to override community interests.

Stuart Robinson, Victoria

Sewage deal smells

Re: “Stantec nets a big one,” June 18-24

CRD sewage czar Dwayne Kalynchuk and petty-czar Tony Brcic are ex-Stantec employees—and now Stantec gets millions from this mega-sewage scheme fiasco? What’s new? Environmental advocate Stephen Salter was a co-author on minister Ida Chong’s sewage “resource recovery” report and Sustainable Fisheries executive director Don MacDonald co-authored the report that prompted minister Barry Penner to dictate that we must suffer this plague of unnecessary sewage plants.

It’s not that there is anything necessarily wrong with these tight links between advocates and beneficiaries, but rather it reflects an oppressive paradigm of environmental perception that will leave our Victoria landscape burdened with a sewage mega-scheme that won’t provide any real marine environmental benefit—but there will be some who profited handsomely from the whole mess.

John Newcomb, Victoria