Letters July 16: Downtown Victoria is beautiful

Readers’ letters to the editor, Victoria Times Colonist, July 16, 2026.

Cafes, seaplanes, boats make a beautiful place Re: “Take it from a tour guide: Victoria is beautiful,” letter, July 14. The letter reminded this retired tour guide of a recent walkabout in downtown Victoria. The letter is correct.

We found a bustling downtown with visitors and locals alike shopping and enjoying the many outdoor cafes and pubs along Government and Wharf streets. Some of the cafes along Wharf have gorgeous flower borders around their outdoor seating. Seaplanes were buzzing in and out, and small boats were travelling in all directions offshore.

The legislature grounds were dotted with families having picnics and enjoying the great view from the lawn. We are fortunate to live in this beautiful place. Maureen Applewhaite Victoria Helmcken traffic change part of a bigger problem With the change at Helmcken Road and the Trans-Canada Highway, why are we reconfiguring to have the 99 per cent of the traffic yield to the 1 per cent coming from other directions?

I would love to avoid this area altogether, but the only alternative is to use McKenzie, and we all know that route is a nightmare as bus lane widening on the Trans-Canada goes on and on. Lack of regional transit planning is evident every day and will only get worse as most of the new homes in the region are on the West Shore. Forget amalgamation.

Too late. Chuck Pusateri Victoria The master piano player is a Chemainus delight It is the silence between the notes that separates a good pianist from a master pianist. I first met Dwight Siemans some 25 years ago.

This past week, I attended one of the Chemainus professional theatre performances. Before the performance, I was enjoying the delicious dining room experience. In the background, amid the grandeur, sat Dwight at a full-size grand piano.

The master pianist’s passion was transformed into each piece he played. Beethoven once said, “To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.” Dwight’s passion comes alive with each touch of the keys, with just the right weight and timing.

A master’s performance is received by all who would listen. Most have come to see the professional theatre production, with family and friends together in good conversation, enjoying the banquet set before us. Many miss the opportunity that, in the background, as we are blessed by the presence of greatness: “The Piano Man” who has given his life to ivory and ebony, and to anyone who has ears to listen.

The Chemainus banquet and theatre would not be the same without him, so the next time you are there, introduce yourself to Dwight, thank him and drop a toonie or two into his jar. Rev. Allen Tysick Sooke Sundance elementary needs to be replaced My kid goes to Sundance Bank Elementary. For those who don’t know, it’s a School District 61 elementary school that has around 100 kids, and is on Bank Street near Richmond Road and Oak Bay Avenue.

The teachers and kids are great. The school is not. There are two main buildings: Bank Street School and Sundance School.

Both are old. Both should be torn down. The Bank Street School is derelict, and Sundance isn’t far behind, but the district considers it fit for kids.

By the district’s own admission, it’s an H1/P1 building, which means likely to totally collapse and hurt/kill people in an earthquake. And don’t feel bad if you don’t know about this school; our MLAs don’t either. The catchment spans Victoria, Saanich and Oak Bay, as well as the provincial ridings of Victoria-Swan Lake, Victoria-Beacon Hill and Oak Bay-Gordon Head.

So no MLA cares. Calls and emails to MLAs are futile, and I imagine we’ll get the same response when the school collapses in an earthquake. Some kind of surprised Spiderman look, where all three point fingers at each other over the rubble.

It’s hard to see a future here when politicians care more about soccer games than the safety of kids. My request is simple. Replace the school now.

Or move the kids elsewhere, and the MLAs can move into Sundance. I bet we’d see faster action on seismic safety. Jesse Neufeld Victoria Nurses are not alone with their VIHA chant

The nurses union is not the only group chanting that old ditty “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, VIHA has to go.” People who have had long waits at ER, people who cannot get a family doctor, people who are waiting for specialist appointments, people who are waiting for surgery, lots of us are also chanting that same old ditty... Norman Patterson Parksville Victoria’s Pride Parade was a positive experience On Sunday I did something I have long thought I should do: attend the Pride Parade.

It was an event of such fun, colour, creativity, whimsy and above all, love. Love of everyone and above all of oneself regardless of where one might stand on various spectrums: Race, nationality, gender, age, body size and condition and any other you choose to name. It generated great positivity at a time when this is badly needed.

I’m so glad I went and will go again! Mary Andrews Victoria Good people to rescue when alternator died Our car stalled at the intersection at Pandora/Oak Bay/Fort. Alternator gone bad at noon on a busy Friday.

My thanks to the good people who stopped and helped push the car out of the intersection and everyone who offered help, and to Deo from BCAA who towed our vehicle to a local garage. Everyone’s kindness was appreciated. Ken McFarlan Victoria Billionaires, trillionaires are making things worse I was alarmed by four recent news stories.

1. Billion-dollar startup Starcloud successfully launched and tested its first commercial AI data centre satellites into low Earth orbit. 2. Meta will build a $13 billion data centre in Alberta. 3. Canada’s largest airport is warning of an influx of “AI-generated” articles with inaccurate information about airport operations.

4. NASA is recruiting volunteers for a year-long Moon and Mars simulation. So, “To lose my mind and find my soul,” as the poet John Muir said, I decided to go clean up a local beach. After a few hours, I sat down on a piece of driftwood to rest when I heard a whooshing sound directly above my head.

It was a large eagle in all its majesty. We sat in awe and silence, gazing out at the beautiful ocean beyond as well as the blue heavens above. I started tearing up and felt the sudden desperate urge to reach for a stick and scrawled the word “HELP” in the sand with the hope that the Creator would see my desperate plea for my fellow humans, the eagle above and all other species we share this wondrous, fragile Earth with.

All the ongoing wars are destroying lives, lands and seas as it is, but added to all of that, we are allowing billionaires and trillionaires to further trash the Earth and the skies in such reckless and dangerous ways, all for their selfish greed and dominant egos. Anne Forbes Victoria Victoria and Saanich would both be replaced One of the most repetitive misunderstandings in the amalgamation debate from local citizens is the idea that Victoria and Saanich would somehow “join together” while keeping their existing councils and structures. That is not how amalgamation works.

Victoria does not join Saanich, and Saanich does not join Victoria. Both municipal corporations cease to exist. Their councils are dissolved.

In their place, a brand-new municipality is created with a single boundary and one council. There is so much wasted finger-pointing towards entities and individuals that are not present. John Vickers Miramichi, N.B. VAR is, well, different, not necessarily better VAR — the video assistant referee used in World Cup games — is much like computers and cell phones.

It makes the world a different place, but not necessarily a quicker, more accurate and agreeable place. Bill Carere Victoria Tumbler Ridge blame belongs here as well British Columbia is pursuing legal action against OpenAI following the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting. Why has the premier not identified or taken similar action against the government official who ordered the return of the guns to the murderer that were seized from them by the RCMP before the rampage?

Richard Talbot Sidney SEND US YOUR LETTERS • Email letters to: [email protected] • Mail: Letters to the editor, Times Colonist, 201-655 Tyee Rd., Victoria, B.C. V9A 6X5 • Submissions should be no more than 250 words; subject to editing for length and clarity.

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