The only way to describe B.C. Ferries’ contract with a Chinese state-owned shipbuilder is an “enormous disappointment.” This contract does a great disservice to our youth, British Columbians in general and Canadians as a whole.
B.C. Ferries claims they’re focused on “getting the best deal,” but their deal has robbed marine-trades workers and apprentices of their future livelihoods, and lost an opportunity for Canada’s shipbuilding industry to set sail.
This contract has personally struck a chord because shipbuilding has given me so much to be grateful for in Victoria.
After I graduated from high school, my first job was building the Queen of Oak Bay for B.C. Ferries in 1981.
I was lucky; the job provided a good, mortgage-paying, family-raising job that gave me the economic security I needed to buy my first home at 23 years old. Shipbuilding helped set my career as an electrician for almost the past half-century. All because of the opportunities created by B.C. Ferries and the B.C. government.
Today’s youth will not have the same opportunities as I had growing up. This is a massive loss for high school graduates and young adults. B.C. Ferries has the ability to make a difference and contribute to the growth of apprenticeship programs within B.C. by keeping thousands of jobs here and not sending them to China.
More than ever, our kids need opportunity. Keep B.C. shipbuilding local!
Phil Venoit
Business Manager, IBEW Local 230
Victoria
OK, so no Canadian companies have the capacity or time to build ferries for B.C.
Could we not at least have insisted that China must use only Canadian steel and aluminum in the construction? That would support one area of our domestic industries.
Roel Hurkens
Victoria
Re: “B.C. must aggressively recruit family doctors,” editorial, June 13.
It was not the British Columbia Medical Association that lobbied the province to reduce the number of doctors being trained.
The Barer-Stoddart report was commissioned by the government to help bring down health care costs. They advised reducing the number of medical school seats and fewer immigrant doctors being allowed to practise in B.C.
Peter Houghton
Victoria
Re: “B.C. must aggressively recruit family doctors,” editorial, June 13.
I agree with much of this editorial. B.C. needs to recruit family physicians from other jurisdictions.
More importantly, we need a long-term solution to the doctor shortage, which is to increase our medical school enrolments.
When possible, we would stop luring physicians from other locations, which need these physicians as much as we do.
Who was responsible for the 1990s drop in medical school enrolments?
The editorial says “the British Columbia Medical Association (now Doctors of B.C.) lobbied the provincial government to limit the number of new doctors being trained.
The association was concerned that an over-supply would drive down physician remuneration.”
I was then involved with the BCMA and this did not happen.
Doctors were not worried about a doctor oversupply. Patient needs and endless work demands were what doctors worried about. Doctors wanted help and we knew a health-care monopoly would not help.
The history of medical school admission reduction begins with the 1991 Barer-Stoddart report, which was commissioned by federal and provincial deputy ministers of health.
The report’s goal was to contain health-care costs. The report’s conclusion was that fewer doctors would equal lower costs as it concluded rising costs were due to too many physicians.
As a result, politicians cut medical school admissions.
We still live with the result of this horrible political decision.
The editorial discusses the Canadian Medical Protective Association. It is a self-insurance plan or a malpractice co-op.
It freed Canadian doctors from the control of profit-driven insurance companies. The CMPA defends only defensible practices while also protecting physicians against unfounded accusations.
The massive American malpractice awards and the fear American doctors have of such legal actions are constrained in Canada by CMPA policies.
Please don’t mess with the CMPA. At least don’t mess with it until we can replace it with a no-fault style of compensation for anyone who has had an unfortunate medical outcome.
Robert Penner MD (retired)
Victoria
Re: “Father’s Day, brought to you by a haberdasher, a lighter company and your sticky kids,” column, June 15.
Does the Islander editor not proofread content?
Once again, David Sovka’s piece contains poor taste in an attempt at humour.
This time it is elementary school shootings (horrific, not uncommon and current occurrences) and fatalities from mining incidents (terrifying events that happen world-wide) used as an attempt to bring about some amusement.
Where is the humour? Where are the reactive grins, snickers, laughs on the readers’ faces?
Gene Miller’s essay, placed below Sovka’s on the same page, is able to use humour to get his point across in an intelligent way. Sovka needs to take a hint.
S.P Cummins
Sidney
I’ve noticed a slight resurgence of interest in rail service on the Island. In my opinion, that will never happen.
If I may offer an alternative: Pave the right-of-way.
Restrict access to all but a regular bus service and first responders. Could even throw in a bike lane.
The added bonus would be a bypass for any Malahat closure.
Bruce Peters
Duncan
I guess B.C. Ferries has forgotten about the Chinese steel debacle during the Johnson Street Bridge construction. Building new ferries in China is a huge mistake.
I’ve worked on ships built in China, and they are crap. No one in their right mind ever takes the lowest bid. You get what you pay for.
I’m predicting that maintenance costs of these new ferries will end up costing more than the extra money required to build them in Europe.
Mike Woods, P.Eng
Saanichton
With the eventual tear-down of Crystal Pool, the closing of the YMCA and the closure of McKinnon Pool at the University of Victoria, the Commonwealth Pool will soon be the only 50-metre training pool in the Capital Region.
It is time that municipalities look into building outdoor pool facilities.
There are reports saying that by 2050, the climate of Victoria will be similar to that of San Diego, and with California wineries swooping in to purchase local wineries throughout Vancouver Island, it is a telling sign that we are experiencing the effects of a warming climate.
After living in Toronto (sure, with a population 10 times the size of Victoria), where there is an abundance of outdoor pools to choose from, I wholeheartedly miss jumping in for a cool-down after a day’s work during those hot and humid summers. They would be open early for early-bird swimmers and by daytime be filled with families, children, young adults, etc.
I don’t see why we don’t consider building these kinds of community spaces in Victoria, especially since our summers are stretching longer and getting hotter as the years pass by.
Something to think about.
Tim Prigione
Oak Bay
I know the mayor and council of Saanich wish the dog-owning community would just disappear into the dark and be quiet.
However, I see more municipalities opening areas to have a proper dog park, where the owners get exercise safely walking in a large park with their off-leash dogs.
Saanich, I am sure, has a very large dog population, therefore a large group of taxpaying dog-owners.
Why can’t they grant us a large dog walking area?
Not the little pop up parks, but something substantial.
Council is paving over Saanich, taking down lovely old trees, building multi-storey buildings in residential areas, redoing playgrounds and skate parks, but not a bone thrown to the dog owners of Saanich.
Please, please, listen to us and grant us a large, fenced, safe area to run our dogs.
Jan Cook
Victoria
With all the challenges of poverty, economic inflation, employment, affordability and climate change facing most countries and the conflicts in Ukraine, Russia, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Sudan and Congo, and the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, there are many immediate issues to solve at the G7 Leaders’ Summit.
As the host country, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Canada’s G7 leadership have the opportunity, on the global stage, to influence the necessity of investing in education, peace and security for the millions of vulnerable children living in conflict zones.
Jeanette Aubin
Victoria
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