The Editor:
This new draconian travel restriction and quarantine over entire Italy reveals the limitations of the effectiveness of methods used to screen travelers. Which country will be next? Where would you like to spend 14 days isolated?
I hope your travel cancellation insurance covers this because airlines are also slashing their routes.
What is Canada and B.C. doing to improve the screening effectiveness?
Jim Ronback, system safety engineer (retired)
Delta, B.C.
The Editor:
In reference to John Lesow’s desire to make Point Roberts part of Canada.
He seems to be under the impression that he is saving us from years of deprivation ... Mr. Lesow, you’re not. Point Roberts does not need your kind of saving.
We who have chosen to live here full time – those who have businesses, trades people, retirees, whomever – have accepted its realities in exchange for a more relaxed, peaceful and uncrowded lifestyle.
If you live on the Point you quickly become aware of its realities and adapt or move on. It’s not a place for everyone. If you’re not happy here, move to Canada or somewhere else. But it’s absurd and quite frankly insulting to think that the Point should become part of Canada to suit your desires. This is not the place for you. Fine. But for us it is – somehow find the maturity to respect that.
You cite the potential rise in property values as an attractive reason to become part of Canada, yet say your motives are not for profit. As you own property here, methinks you contradict yourself. (Ed. Note: See John Lesow letter below.) You say your efforts are simply the “right thing to do” I would say your efforts are entirely self-serving. The “right thing to do “is to accept the Point as the wonderfully unique place it is, respect its 170-year history and leave us alone.
The last thing the unique exclave of Point Roberts needs is an outsider with a Messiah complex who thinks the Point should become part of another country because it doesn’t have all the conveniences of their chosen home. As you now choose to live in North Vancouver – focus your concerns on improving things there. Hopefully, that will satisfy both your need for attention and desire to be of public service.
Ross Douglas
Point Roberts
The Editor:
I must admit that I haven’t followed the garbage and recycling controversy that closely, but I thought I would put a bit of a different spin on the big picture. I’m a Canadian that frequents Point Roberts mostly in the summer months. I would prefer to drop off my small amount of trash and recycling when it is convenient for me.
As a past and now part time resident of Whistler, BC; I have seen from the early days what works great for a small community. In Whistler we were one of the first communities in Canada to recycle. We did not have the continued space for landfill. I’m proud that I helped stop the nonsense of having large garbage trucks race through our streets that would put our children at risk; extra wear and tear on our roads; and smelly diesel fumes in the air. Whistler, like Point Roberts is a unique community.
By the way, Whistler’s fulltime population is now well over 11,000 and the garbage and recycling system still works fantastically. People don’t make a special trip to the facility; it’s centrally located and they plan and drop off their waste when going for groceries. There are no garbage cans left out in the streets prior to pick up and no garbage cans left to tip over or blow down the road. What an ugly site that would have been. Are the people in Whistler more important than the people in Point Roberts? No, of course not.
I had no intention of voicing my opinion until I thought about all my upcoming bills to be paid in the next few months. One of those bills is the taxes on the cottage. Of course, I don’t like paying extra taxes that always find a way to go up, never down. If my taxes are to cover the cost for trash disposal and recycling, then put the allotted amount of money towards a new or improved facility. Perhaps the powers that be should make a trip north to Whistler to see how well 11,000 people deal with their disposal.
Rod Harman
Burnaby, B.C.
The Editor:
I am saddened by your attempt at humor. The message on the reader board at the Reef is to tell people to keep a positive attitude. Who would want people to be Covid-19-positive?
Ken Calder (The letter setter)
Point Roberts
(Ed. Note: The letter writer is referring to a cutline under a photo of the reader board that read, “Hopefully, the letter setter didn’t mean Covid-19 positive.)
The Editor and Whatcom County Council:
John Lesow. Resident of Point Roberts for 23 years. But I don’t own any property in Point Roberts. Because if I did, that would run afoul of my statement to you – and the county executive - regarding the advisory vote, by Whatcom County voters, on the Canadian purchase of Point Roberts. That statement was made here on February 25 in open session. Obviously, if I owned property in Point Roberts, I would stand to benefit if Point Roberts were part of Canada. But I don’t own property and I don’t stand to benefit as I clearly stated on February 25.
So why, just a few days later, did Pat Grubb, of the All Point Bulletin, print in a front-page article: “John Lesow, who still owns property in Point Roberts”? And why has Pat Grubb been pushing this false narrative on the All Point Bulletin online edition for the past month and a half?
These posts are all part of the written record, regularly submitted to council over the past few months. I’d also note that the Global News Video of my interview on January 31 – which Pat Grubb posted online was incomplete. It did not include interviews conducted with residents of Point Roberts made the same day as my Global News interview. I have known Pat Grubb for 25 years. He lived just down the street from me.
Why didn’t he fact check his article before he printed it? He’s known about this proposal for over a year. Because, I submit, Pat Grubb is lazy. And he likes to stir up these “mini controversies” to generate interest and sell ad space in his newspaper. Last week, I submitted a written demand that Pat publish a retraction in the print and online editions of the All Point Bulletin. Let’s see, if in the interests of transparency and fair reporting, he has the inclination to do so.
Tonight I have left copies of the March issue of the All Point Bulletin for each councilmember along with copies of my demand for retraction with the council clerk.
John Lesow
North Vancouver, B.C.
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