Outdoor recreation
We recently enjoyed a walk up to the Gibraltar Bluffs where we had not been for a year or more. The trail was in excellent condition and at the bluffs there were beautiful new picnic tables and benches. Once again we said to ourselves, “We are so fortunate to live here and enjoy these spectacular hikes.”
We first came to Powell River on our summer holidays in 1991 to do some hiking. It didn’t take us long to fall in love with the place. Why? Not just the great community, the cultural events, the real estate—it was the hundreds of miles of well-marked and well-maintained trail systems [“Trail and businesses combine,” December 4, 2013].
It didn’t take us long to decide we wanted to live here and bought our first property here in 1998. After we retired, we moved from Victoria to become Powell River residents in 2009.
We take our guests on the trails and they too are impressed. We continue to hike and explore. Many congratulations to Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society (PRPAWS) and its volunteers for their vision and commitment. Due to the efforts of PRPAWS, the BOMB (Bloody Old Men’s Brigade) Squad, and other outdoor enthusiasts, the Upper Sunshine Coast is a world-class outdoor recreation destination. It deserves community, district and provincial support.
Best wishes on all who make this happen.
Robert Main and Hannah Main-van der Kamp
Douglas Bay Road
Deserving of royal treatment
Once again our own Powell River Kings (Junior A hockey) have advanced to the post season [“Playoff schedule is rolled out,” March 5].
Once again I was thoroughly disappointed with the barely 500 people in the stands for the opening round game one. Of the six opening round games held earlier this week Powell River saw at least 200 fans fewer than any of the other five.
While I realize that some would say it was a weekday, that it is only the opening round, that it is only game one, that it is only Junior A hockey, I would say that we owe it to ourselves, our team and our community to show more support and spirit than we have been doing.
This group of young athletes, the coaches, trainers, management and volunteers work tirelessly to put an entertaining, winning product on the ice year after year.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, please Powell River come out and raise the rafters with a rousing cheer of “Go Kings Go!”
Bill Chinn
Ontario Avenue
Power of community
Community thrives on generosity. It withers from greed and selfishness. Given the choice, I choose generosity because I love my community. To me that means we all pull together, and those of greater means help those of lesser. The flat tax is not consistent with my choice [“Flat taxes are undemocratic,” March 5]. What do you choose?
Rob Southcott
Gordon Avenue
Does literacy include math?
In a recent letter to the editor “Deserving of literacy,” March 5, a trustee on the Powell River Public Library Board said, you too could have a new library at Willingdon beach for only $20 per year per household.
There are 5,760 residential units on the City of Powell River’s residential property tax list. $20 times 5,760, times 30 years would generate $3.5 million. However, the city has to pay interest on its loans and at four per cent interest over 30 years it would result in $40 (principle plus interest) per year per household for 30 years to obtain $3.5 million.
The Willingdon South new library option is estimated to cost $9.4 million, and funding plans hope to get an additional $2.5 million out of the community (equivalent to $434 per household) plus an additional $3.5 million from provincial and federal governments, an initiative which as yet has not been successful after three years of trying.
If you believe it will only cost $20 per household, I have a bridge to Vancouver I will sell you for $20.
Paul McMahon
Invermere Court
Radiation fallout
Perfectly right, Health Canada, the need is not for you, oh guardian of public health, to do your job. The real need is for the public to educate itself about becquerels, rems and millisieverts, to buy loads of radiation monitors to sell to locals at reasonable prices, and to share the findings throughout the community. Why? Because you’ve made it crystal clear that we cannot depend on Health Canada for truth, prudence and responsibility [“Government suggests no need to test for radiation,” March 5].
I’m not the only person who has stopped eating Pacific seafood and probably there will soon be many more. We need to begin discussing what to do in the likely event of the end of our fishery, without waiting for the hapless Harperium to hear the industry’s cries of agony and perhaps, finally, dole out a pittance of cash for those who stand to lose their livelihood thanks to the Fukushima nuclear plant fiasco.
Clearly Health Canada has been instructed to keep the people calm at any cost rather than embark on a competent radiation-measurement schedule, much less research how to deal with the future—and forever—effects of Fukushima. Let’s do that ourselves, and prove Stephen Harper misjudged Canadians, by acting with courage, intelligence and resilience.
Eva van Loon
Cranberry Street
