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eaders’ views Pro amalgamation proponents have been so vocal over the last few years, that I was beginning to doubt my own concerns about how amalgamation of our municipalities would not save money and result in more bureaucracy and less public engagement. Then I happened to be flipping through Focus, randomly landed on this article that mixed the words plumbing and amalgamation—and lo, my belief that amalgamation would be disastrous has been restored. Good public policy is based on solid research and analysis; the research shows there is little to gain and a lot to lose with amalgamation. Thank you Gene Miller. Steve Coe Commissioner Lowe’s open window In regards to David Broadland’s article “Commissioner Lowe’s open window,” Stan Lowe’s conduct and actions may not be as transparent as they appear. First, consider that the Office of the Police Complaint Commission (OPCC) is staffed partly by former police officers. Also, few people realize that complaints to the OPCC about police departments are first investigated by officers working at the very same police departments about which the complaints have been made. Since complaints about BC police departments are not conducted in an arms-length manner, considerable opportunity for misconduct by the OPCC exists. Here is one example: In 2010, a former BC Complaint Commissioner, Don Morrison, conducted an investigation into the OPCC’s investigation of a complaint about the Saanich Police Department. Former commissioner Morrison issued a legal opinion citing misconduct by the OPCC and by current Commissioner Lowe in disregarding “deceit and abuse of authority,” including inappropriate threats of arrest, by a police officer. Mr. Morrison also concluded that Commissioner Stan Lowe’s role in the matter had been “fatally compromised” because of egregious failure to consider evidence, ignoring regulations for handling complaints and not following legislation governing the OPCC. Mr. Morrison recommended that an external investigation be conducted into the OPCC’s handling of this complaint. Commissioner Lowe was advised of this finding, but he has never responded or taken any further action. Regarding the VPD chief ’s inappropriate communications with another police officer’s wife, there may be other motives for Commissioner Lowe’s sudden interest in providing an “open window.” In the past year, there have been reports of other police departments in Canada questioning whether police boards should be run by civilians. The Police Complaint Commissioner has issued what appears to be an order to the Victoria and Esquimalt mayors with respect to their conduct as VPD Board members. I believe that sets a dangerous precedent. Civilian oversight must not be bullied nor dispensed with; it should be strengthened with respect to all public authorities, especially the police. Lois J. Sampson Split DFO in two When I was a kid in the 60s, in addition to the spectacular beauty seen from BC Ferries, I also looked forward to an affordable and delicious salmon sandwich. No White Spot on the boat in those days. And no doubt the salmon was wild. I admire Alexandra Morton’s epic work to keep profit-driven salmon farms off our coast so wild salmon can survive; however, there is an intractable dilemma—the farms exist because there are two classes of consumers: those who can afford wild salmon and those who can’t in the capitalist world market. Do we want wild salmon to be a food of privilege? Anything that restricts fish farms increases the farmed and wild salmon price under capitalism. Anything that limits the wild catch also increases the price. That prevents more people from having access to salmon, except the well-to-do. The only fair and ecological solution is to start the long rewilding process. That means abolishing fish farms, allowing coastal First Nations enough to feed themselves, and decommodifying salmon with world quotas. Frances Pearson Walbran logging In response to your article “In terms of emissions logging the Walbran makes no sense,” besides emissions there is another salient point in not cutting old-growth forests. This came to me one very hot summer day while riding my bike down a long exposed hill which leads into Mt Douglas Park. When I entered the park, which is old-growth forest, the temperature plunged what felt like 20 degrees. And I realized that forests, especially old-growth forests, are wonderful natural air conditioners. With this in mind, let’s consider the glaciers of the Himalayas,the Hindu Kush, and Kilimanjaro to name a few. Most, if not all of the oldgrowth forests in their foothills have been stripped. Now when the hot air from the plains rushes up the slopes, there is no forest to cool the air. Consequently the glaciers melt. And I might add that old-growth forests do something else called respiration which sends up into the atmosphere vast amounts of water which comes down as rain. When these forests are cut, it stops respiration which helps create drought. Old-growth forests are vital and it would help the biosphere immensely to leave them be. Stephen Fairclough Premier Clark: Please decarbonize Under Letters in your January issue I see where Dorothy Field addresses her concerns re LNG and the destruction of the Peace River Valley in a letter to Ms Clark. Even though I’ve read just a few articles so far, I’m beginning to see a thread—the increasing loss of our fragile environment. I found myself remembering what the author Yann Martel did to enlighten Stephen Harper. He mailed him a carefully chosen book every two weeks, some accompanied by a note, some not. After reading Briony Penn’s article on her visit to New Zealand and Trudy Duivenvoorden’s on championing something local, I found myself wanting to find them on the Focus website and email them to the Premier because of the notso-subliminal lessons in them. But then, using Yann’s approach, I wonder if a subscription to Focus might be an easier way to get these powerful messages to her on a continual basis! I’m more than willing to gift her with a subscription and pay extra to have it registered so she has to sign for it. Otherwise, I fear, Ms Clark’s legacy may centre around her leadership and complicity in the destruction of all we hold dear in this beautiful province. Rosemary Baxter, Courtenay Tomorrowland: Victoria and the New Economy In his December column, Gene Miller paints a rosy picture about how “Victoria is ground zero…a living laboratory, a model in the transition to the sharing economy, a place the world could visit and study.” Apparently people will flock to this former colonial outpost on the 8 February 2016 • <strong>FOCUS</strong>
southern tip of Vancouver Island to admire “the contours of an open-ended future” which is being shaped before our very eyes. Mr Miller embraces the notion of post-capitalism “sharing” like an ardent born-again evangelist who, having repudiated the sin of substance abuse and anti-social behaviour, now finds salvation in the modern American consumerism gospel according to Messrs Paul Mason and Jeremy Rifkin. Allegedly, Victoria “seems to have the right DNA for this—the unplanned purpose for which this place was made.” The city possesses not only that elusive quality of being “self-aware” but also enjoys the unique role of being a “global crucible for this profound social and economic transformation.” According to this fanciful urban mythologist, Victoria is known for its “love of generosity,” “benign climate and fecund nature,” and not a lot of “financial aggression and make-a-zillion triumphalism.” The sharing economy, however, isn’t about sharing relationships, redistributing wealth, or establishing a collaborative global village. It is simply another slick way to make money, most of which ends up in the pockets of multi-billion-dollar entities, investment banks, and accredited private investors. The sharing economy is a network of digitally-mediated commercial exchange platforms that facilitate a link between those who own something and those who wish to use that something on a short-term basis. It’s about owners of goods and services making money by offering consumers access to their goods, services or resources for a given period of time and for a specified fee. It’s a pity the author hasn’t assessed one of the darlings of the “sharing” economy, AirBnB. This multi-billion-dollar venture-capital backed peer-to-peer short-term lodging service is having a negative impact on affordable rental housing in many high-cost-of-living cities around the world in which it now operates. (See “The Sharing Economy Isn’t About Sharing at All,” Gina M. Eckhardt and Fleura Bardhi, Harvard Business Review, January 28, 2015.) While 58 hotels operate in the Victoria area, a variety of online vacation rental platforms now offer hundreds of premium condo suites and penthouses for well-heeled short-stay guests. Local residents seeking permanent rental accommodation are being squeezed out of the housing market in favour of the higher valued, “sophisticated sharing guests” who are hosted by condo owners seeking additional income opportunities without being regulated or taxed as a hospitality industry provider. While some “sharing” platforms present an unassuming face to the world, others reflect predatory, anti-competitive business practices, such as the new “Uber” ride-sharing service, backed by Google and Goldman Sachs. (See “Debating the Sharing Economy,” Juliet Schor, October 2014, www.greattransition.org) Or, they represent the corporatization of auto-sharing services such as Zipcar. The new “sharing” economy favours concentrating ever greater amounts of wealth in fewer and fewer hands in the shortest time possible, with little or no interference by government or regulators. Whom does the “sharing” economy serve, and who really enjoys its promised “benefits”? V. Adams Tried everything else? Now make a resolution to try something that WORKS Victoria Podiatric Laser Clinic Laser Treatments for Fungal Nails Covered by most Extended Health Plans 350 - 1641 Hillside Ave • 250-592-0224 Learn more at: www.victoriapodiatriclaserclinic.com Gene Miller responds: Hey, V. Adams, fabulous letter! Puts me in my place. You have me entirely rethinking my perspective, and now I recognize that the “sharing economy” is simply a Trojan horse for more capitalist agglomeration by mega-corporations. I’ve been www.focusonline.ca • February 2016 9
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Page 3 and 4: contents February 2016 VOL. 28 NO.
Page 5 and 6: Focus presents: Kirk Béasse Psycho
Page 7: But Mr Miller’s desperate and cor
Page 11 and 12: Focus presents: Peninsula Gallery A
Page 13 and 14: WHEN SENIOR GOVERNMENTS IMPOSE unre
Page 15 and 16: WE ARE IN A CRAZY-MAKING SITUATION:
Page 17 and 18: “ IN MY OPINION it would be prude
Page 19 and 20: THE DEATH of our drug safety monito
Page 21 and 22: KINDER MORGAN’S submission that d
Page 23 and 24: Supporting arts, culture and our co
Page 25 and 26: 1040 MOSS ST | AGGV.CA “The Road
Page 27 and 28: “The Struggle,” by Cameron Kunt
Page 29 and 30: “To Begin Again” by Kimberly Ki
Page 31 and 32: eadings & presentations February 20
Page 33 and 34: February 2-28 THE VALLEY Belfry The
Page 35 and 36: music February 5-14 VICTORIA FILM F
Page 37 and 38: “ I’VE BEEN PASSIONATELY perfor
Page 39 and 40: “ I BECAME MORE AWARE of the ever
Page 41 and 42: Focus presents: Triangle Healing AD
Page 43 and 44: ANY COMMUNITY—its citizens, its e
Page 45 and 46: NIGHTINGALE, who ignores the occasi
Page 47 and 48: Kois Center Advanced Prosthetics Gr

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