The kindness of a rabbi enriches life

I am a 91-year-old retired Anglican priest living in the UK.

I lived in Victoria until I was 15. Then my father was discharged from the Royal Canadian Navy in 1948 and my parents moved the family to their home country of Great Britain, where I have lived ever since.

Before that, when I was 13 or 14, I was given a book called “One God as We Worship Him,” which had sections on Catholic and Protestant Christianity and Judaism. The latter section piqued my interest.

At about this time, the Emanu-El congregation was overseen by an American rabbi, Rabbi Pincus J. Goodblatt. I have vague memories – probably from something I read in the Daily Colonist – that things were a little quieter in the community and he was entrusted with the task of revitalizing it.

I went to the rabbi’s house, knocked on the door and asked if I could attend a service. I can’t imagine how surprised he was at such a request from a random non-Jewish teenager, but he received me warmly and said the next service was Tisha B’Av – not a very pleasant introduction to Judaism.

However, I went and attended several Sabbath evening services afterwards. In fact, I still remember singing “Lecha dodi” to the tune they played at that time!

The kindness of Rabbi Goodblatt and the friendliness of the congregation fostered in me a deep and lifelong relationship of respect and love for Judaism, the Jewish people, and Israel (not always for some of the policies of the Israeli government).

My life has been enriched immeasurably and I am very grateful for that.

I was very happy to read that the Emanu-El Congregation is now flourishing and am grateful for the Times Colonist for keeping me in touch with Victoria through the daily bulletins.

Robin Protheroe

(The Venerable Canon RP Protheroe)

Where is Brighton, United Kingdom

What are the actual costs of a new development?

Saanich council is threatening us with a tax increase of almost 10 percent, which, as usual, they attribute largely to inflation, although, also as usual, the increase is higher than the inflation figures justify.

A large part of the budget consists of “maintenance and improvement of infrastructure”.

The need for maintenance on the physical component of the ‘hard’ infrastructure is understandable, as we have an aging system that needs replacing, but it is curious that most of the actual work seems to be taking place near areas of new development.

Quiet side streets with nearly 100-year-old underground utilities seem to be holding up well. The balance between building out and maintaining our “soft” infrastructure is harder to gauge, as much of it is indirectly masked by allowing utilities to deteriorate.

Saanich, in accordance with provincial regulations, charges developers approximately $9,000 for each new apartment built. This development fee is levied to cover the additional infrastructure costs (soft and hard) for the district.

However, published studies (Canadian Urban Institute) conclude that the actual additional infrastructure costs for new construction projects are generally much higher, amounting to almost $78,000 for each two-occupant apartment.

The difference between these two figures would largely explain the high tax burden and raises the question of how much all the new construction is costing local taxpayers. An interesting contrast is Campbell River, where there are hardly any major new constructions and where the tax increase for 2024 is 3.5 percent.

Developers have always claimed that new construction leads to a reduction in local taxes by expanding the tax base.

The experiences here, as in many other cities, seem to prove the opposite.

We are entitled to sufficiently detailed budget documents showing exactly how much money is spent on the necessary maintenance of the infrastructure and how much is caused by the additional burden of new construction.

Resident taxpayers could then decide to what extent they want to increase their tax burden to support the new developments.

Alec Mitchell

Saanich

The treatment of the firefighter was disrespectful

I don’t know Josh Montgomery, but I stand behind him. He definitely needs an apology from the people who treated him so disrespectfully and disgustingly.

He was simply expressing concern for his family and his community. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

His treatment was despicable.

My son was the deputy fire chief of Langford. He died of cancer a little over a year ago.

This is one of the many risks these brave men and women face, but they face everything their work entails with a pure heart and deserve the recognition it deserves.

They need our thanks for protecting us every day, and they deserve to feel safe in return.

Diane Ball

Saanich

Political games and parents’ rights

While Prime Minister David Eby and Victoria Marianne Alto publicly attack each other like two-year-old children for political reasons, we must not lose sight of two important issues.

First, the mayor and city council have approved, without public consultation, a highly controversial plan that has the potential to negatively impact many quiet residential neighborhoods and potentially endanger the public.

Second, a first responder who has witnessed firsthand the dangers of such a decision and whose own family and quiet neighborhood are the target of such turmoil has been reprimanded for speaking out against the decision.

Apparently a clause in his collective bargaining agreement denies him the right to speak his mind in order to protect his family. How is it possible that a concerned parent and taxpayer can be silenced on an issue that affects the welfare of his children?

Let’s put aside the political games and focus on the real issues: an expensive and frightening decision by an irresponsible council and the right of a concerned father and first responder to speak out to protect his family.

Thank you, Josh Montgomery, for having the courage to stand by your convictions and thank you for your service.

Patrick Jackson

Victoria

Loss of city trees and possible lawsuits

Everywhere you look, Greater Victoria is under attack from a rush to build so-called affordable housing.

There are many points of discussion on this topic, too many for this brief summary, but I wonder if this will trip us up by cutting down all the mature trees in the process.

In the last week alone, two articles appeared in the Times Colonist about how important old urban trees are for our future.

In many countries, fossil fuel companies are being sued for their contribution to man-made climate change.

Could municipalities and/or developers also end up in court in the future for cutting down trees and thereby exacerbating the effects of climate change – namely, the decline in carbon removal, lack of shade, higher urban temperatures, floods, landslides and heat-related deaths?

If nothing else, perhaps this little letter will sow enough concern among those in charge to slow down the chainsaws.

Dave Secco

Saanich

Memories of Mars as it was rebuilt

As the Hawaiian water bomber Martin Mars and nine Snowbirds flew in formation over Sydney for the last time, my throat tightened as I thought of the hard-working crew who had completed the conversion of these huge aircraft into water bombers.

In 1961, my husband Jim “Red” Hunter was recruited by Dan McIvor to work for Fairey Aviation on Vancouver Island on the conversion of the Martin Mars aircraft.

In October, Jim, I, and three-year-old Sean moved from Vancouver to Sydney. A moving truck was due to arrive in a week. We found a small house on East Saanich Road and Jim started working at the Pat Bay Airport.

When he came home from work and marveled at the airplanes that had been built at the height of war technology, he would say, wearily dropping his shoes to the floor, “Everything is so damn BIG!”

It is now clear to me that the men on this crew had extensive professional experience, many of them having received training during the war while flying fighter aircraft.

A brilliant foreman was Nils Christensen, who years later was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame and was the founder of Viking Air.

The task was accomplished over three years with many ups and downs. The loss of the Caroline in Typhoon Freda, which followed the tragic crash of the Marianas with the loss of four crew members, and the entire journey inspired teamwork and success.

Until the day of celebration, the last Mars conversion was started in Patricia Bay.

Brilliant.

Doreen Hunter

Sydney

Microplastics enter every body

Subject: “Microplastics are everywhere, but are they really harming us?” August 11.

That’s the problem! They are passed through the food chain and end up in the bodies of everyone, especially in industrial areas.

The dangers revealed by medical research were denied pretty quickly, weren’t they? Unfortunately, the government’s response to clinical research will be slow.

Malcolm Oakes

Duncan

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