© PENINSULA NEWS REVIEW seeds tree bes sceswenpescnsnbesiseees tenes gaaneteene: seacavenconnnsenys ipenecvOnr nOnenysce DPRPA BME CeNA Cae AES THE PENINSULA’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ~~ Publisher: Jean Butterfield Editor: Judy Reimche A division of Island Publishers Ltd. 9726 First St., Sidney, B.C. . V8L 3C9 Vol. 87. / No. 22 / Circulation: 13,796 Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #41815 EDITORIAL Regional Growth has Millennium Potential As the new millennium approaches, so too does the Cap- ital Regional District’s Regional Growth Strategy — an out- line for growth in the Greater Victoria area through to the year 2026. Convincing the region’ S various municipal governments to supporta list of growth plan alternatives has proven to be “a tough task for CRD planner Mark Hornell. Taken in any of its four current alternative forms, the re. : ont RGS draft is a radical.departure from previously en-.. _dorsed growth plans. Hornell and the CRD must have ~. . known the idea of urban containment — identifying areas for urban growth and limiting that growth to these areas — : would bea hard sell to those harboring “white picket fence and a backyard: big enough for the family dog” ideals. : Ts. quite a variance from all preferences we've demon- strated since World War Two,” said Hornell ata recent pre: aes ~ sentation to Central Saanich Councilors. : ae . ae Today, young people are faced. with a lot of uncertainty. a _ As they struggle to become part of tomorrow’s voice, most. - - are'faced‘with the reality they will ‘probably never own a: house. At least, they.aren’t likely:to own any. of the big-back- yard, place-for-Fido:houses of oid. But that:doesn’t mean- they will never own a home. They will simply have to evolve their concept of community along with everyone'else. ~. The planners are already adjusting — continuously evolv- ing the RGS alternatives to satisfy various municipalities. Some areas are happy, while others need to see more changes before offering support: So far, the CRD appears to © be listening (a recent threat by a majority of municipal rep- resentatives to walk away from the whole process probably didn’t hurt their willingness to adjust); : But the bottom line is the public. Without support’ from eo the people who live in the region, this high-priced plan will never work, Forget about projection to the year 2026, it won't get off thé ground in 2000. There are still several holes to fill, including missing eco- nomic outlooks, the possibility of development on reserve lands (which aren’t counted in the RGS process), and the fu- ‘ture of the agricultural land reserve. But the RGS is based on several positive, forward-thinking ideals about trans- * portation, housing and the environment and needs to con- tinue towards completion.: Hopefully Hornell and the CRD continue to work with, rather than against, the negative comments. Otherwise a~ good idea could get lost in a battle of ideals, - KW. EASA EDTA RE SR AD SREP RN DD 7 | about culture On May 17, 1999 the Makah in ~ dians .of Washington harpooned » Killing 0 of whales is not. ‘and shota grey whale. ~ the kill. The placid. animal. doe ~ not dive to avoid the hunters, it ha no reason yet to fearthem. tered humans before . 3 i ~ + Possibly this whale has encoun: : . tourists,’ * -who have paid to touch and stroke’. i the barnacled body as the Whale - |. Watching boat bobs gently on the | ocean beside the huge mammal. 4 The placid giant has no way of i} knowing the hearts of the men in | the canoe soar with excitement i} -and anticipation of the razor sharp + harpoon slicing deep into its flesh ‘ | or of the rifle bullet designed to i 4% bore into its brain, spewing the i mutilated fragments out over the ; waters and churning the green sea into a bloody inferno. i Betrayal ... this hunt is not Hl about culture or spirituality, it’s | about moronic arrogance and ut- ter disdain for the life of another ._ living creature, This incident will ‘not serve to unite our cultures but it rather (o alienate us. | | Watching the media footage on- i i television, one can see the huge creature. lingering on the surface © -’ ~as the Makah canoe moves in for: Margaret J. Jectlco OPINION -Saanichton ‘Traffic: study | is not ‘people-friendly — “Re: Traffic management plan for i “ the Town of Sidney. ~ - Although. there have been dis: ; ‘cussions between the traffic con- = sultant and.the consultant and. the. town, thé:public is.inaware’of the: consequences of either highway. fe “access option: in the consultants re- an port.» : — written-about ° interchange schemes can be evaluated against each other, how they: will. look: (Except for the interchange option ‘at Bevan: and Beacon: avenues which is favored by town council and is the only interchange draw- ing in the report.) The attached page shows tr af fic volumes from the report in table form. This is the usual format of presentation when the client is not familiar with the reading and di- gesting of technical traffic reports. I do not know why the consultant or for that matter the Town of Sid- ney chose not to include this infor- Of Professional “The presentation of the traffic. volumes in the report is not in a- format which can be understood : - by the general public. Nor ‘is it. clear to the layman reader how ____ Wednesday, June 2, 1999 mation in thie report for the bene- *- fit of its residents. I ama now retired Transporta- tion Engineering Specialist, (Ac- credited by the Association of Pro- fessional Engineers of Ontario), anda member of the Association ‘Engineers ‘of. British. Columbia, and have taken: “an interest in what is best for Sid- “ney, base on 35 years of trans- © portation engineering . in Canada : and abroad. : “Tf any of your: readers wishes to seontict myself, my ‘telephone num- ber is 655-1484 or by e-mail zon- enberg @be. amen Ca "Er E xiney ‘Editor’ 8 ote: The traffic study ; a question has been. presented to council. in a preliminary form. Town council has not approved the “concepts yet,.and will be taking the - data to the public, with the traffic engineer, in n July Speeding isn’t the problem ~ Treally question the veracity of | [Tseycum Chief] Mr. Vern Jacks ~ concerning the speeding on re- ‘serve land. lam sure now and then someone speeds but.I find most people go slower than the 50 kilo- meters set for this area. I use the road twice a day and rarely see any ‘one speeding — J see very few children waiting for school buses =. and never any adults unless there happens to be a TV~ camera CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 ran ener en panaaneatesnttes fe arene angen Arend Haun Sart mt te tei Prt Ae te Ne mee standard. of. living inthe world. But do we have the - best quality of life? If we do, why do we Cana: dians complain about every-. thing? Nothing is ever good enough... Ask any: European, Aus: : tralian or Asian - they like us, but they say we're way too serious about every- You can see the wielanh half full, or . ‘Canadians have the best: Saskatchewan and Alberta ‘last week; J met one woman who belies that statement, . “Mrs, Pennycook. is. the ~ ours, Gord, His mom: ae. ‘thing. We're complainers. Well, while. I was. in mother of a close friend of companied him, his: wife. Carol and Lin a drive from. their home an hour’and a * half cast of Edmonton to an- other friends" Saskatchewan -- about half an hour north of Prince Al-. : “place: in bert. Mrs, Pennycook lives another 120 km_ cast of there, She took the drive with- outa second thought, even though she was just recov- ~ ering from an eye operation. — During her visit (o one of “her three sons living in Al- « Metached retina and. after “i the operation, spent two weeks lying with her head parallel.to the floor to pro- tect her.eye. The trip home. was her first day in an upright posi- tion, Throughout her. or- \berta, she had suffered a deal, she uttered not one complaint, not then or. dur- ing the 10-hour (trip she en- dured that day, And she’s 80 years old, Indeed, she could. only say how. blessed she_ was — that the incident hap- pened when it did, where it _did, and that she was so well cared for by her sons and _ their wives, That feeling. of being ‘blessed forme the basis of her life, She feels blessed at ; mother. She had the best having seven healthy chil- dren, and: looks ‘at. their early lives, all living in adé by. 22-foot house (with no running water or electricity) ‘as a magic time. The kids feel that way, too, IT mentioned to Gord how impressed | was with. his. mother, He smiled his slow grin that lights up not only his face but yours, too, “She's always been that way, no matter. what hap. i pened, But if you think she’s i positive person, you» should have met my grand: outlook on life I've ever. seen, and she passed it.on to all of her 17 kids,” And to: her grandchildren it seems.