Letters to The Province, July 24, 2018: Donated home should be open to all of the public, reader suggests
rerolled on giantweed from the source
Eric Manford Pierce left an amazing gift to Vancouver — his heritage home in Kitsilano. Now there is a request for proposals from non-profit organizations on how to use the house for the benefit of the community.
As good as that sounds, any proposal most likely will benefit the not-for-profits mandate and not the benefit of all. Many older cities have seen heritage homes preserved as museums where people have the opportunity to visit and learn about the history of the home and the culture of the area. Many of Vancouver’s beautiful historic homes have been torn down and replaced with density housing needed for our population increase.
What a gift it would be for the City of Vancouver to open this home to everyone.
Anne Scott, Burnaby
Trudeau tweet is embarrassing
A petition in Australia has been signed by about 35,000 people calling on the Australian government to award the two Aussies involved in the rescue of the trapped boys in Thailand the Cross of Valour. It’s that country’s highest civilian award for bravery. Several federal politicians support the initiative.
Meanwhile, in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saw fit to thank Canadian diver Erik Brown — who grew up in Langley — via a tweet on social media. He didn’t even have the decency to hold a news conference to publicly thank Brown for his involvement in the rescue.
What kind of a man have we elected to run our country? He sure needs to get his priorities straight. I’m ashamed of him, to the point he sometimes makes me ashamed of being a Canadian.
Ted Taylor, Surrey
Parties dominate both systems
In his criticism of a proportional-representation voting system, letter writer Perry Coleman misses the point that all candidates are first nominated by their party, regardless of the electoral system.
Most of our voting is based on party philosophy. Party-list candidates under a PR system would be nominated too, not pulled out of a hat. They would be a known quantity before the election.
Ron Robinson, Nelson
Too many bad drivers
Reading the article last week about the record 350,000 motor-vehicle crashes in 2017 and the $4.8-billion in claims just furthered one of my biggest pet peeves — bad drivers.
The article noted that there are an average of 960 crashes per day and “one out of 10 drivers could cause a crash this year.” I think 10 per cent is a low estimate. Think about it, if you go for a typical drive of 10 to 25 minutes and pay really close attention to the rules of the road, you are very likely to see more than 10 per cent of drivers — more like 20 to 25 per cent — displaying unsafe driving behaviour. I often wonder how some drivers got their licence.
The article fails to hone in on good-driving habits such as good judgment, common sense, good instincts, awareness, anticipation, paying attention and always looking ahead.
Lou DesLauriers, South Surrey
ICBC costs will climb
ICBC is going broke and it’s only going to get worse.
The public insurance company reported last week that 60 per cent of drivers polled think one of the main causes of accidents is driving too slow in the passing lane. Well, I admit I’m one of the guilty ones as I only go 110 km/h in a 110-km/h zone and sometimes I go in the passing lane, much to the chagrin of the driver behind me flashing his lights or honking his horn. When I finally move over, I see him pass me, texting someone about what a terrible driver I am.
Also, I see that 20 per cent of the 18- to 34-year-olds believe they’ll drive better after using cannabis. Watch out ICBC, disaster is on the horizon.
Tom Duncan, Chilliwack
Letters to the editor should be sent to provletters@theprovince.com. The editorial pages editor is Gordon Clark, who can be reached at gclark@postmedia.com.
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