Public not listened to

Re. Ricky Daytona's letter Think outside the box (Castanet, Aug. 4)

I, like many others, have been subjected to (letter writer) Ricky Daytona’s views on all things COVID and the ensuing “oppression” meted out by the government in an effort to strip us of our freedoms and remove our will to resist since COVID was afforded only brief mention in the global annals of what will become a black spot in our history.

His views, while strongly expressed, were his and he, like all of us, has the right to express them.

I though, am a credit-where-credit-is-due kinda guy and his letter entitled "think outside the box" is excellent.

He very correctly points out to all of us who have been slowly loosening our grip on the dream of living in what was once our own utopia and is now increasingly speeding toward a complete erasure of what we once had, that we don't have to put up with it.

The choice is, in fact, ours to either rekindle the dream somewhere else or, if we choose not to, stay put and accept that we now live in a city where the rights of the masses are trumped by the rights of the fringe.

As a now senior citizen, I have the ability to look back at the world when if one was caught in the commission of a crime as defined by law, there were actual consequences.

When it comes to our “award-winning” crime rate, even the RCMP refer to the current system of justice as "catch and release". Talk about throwing in the towel. Punishing criminals is an unsavoury practice. There are, after all, rights to be considered and underlying circumstances that often get in the way of administering justice.

Given the gift of age and the memories one is able to dredge up, I can’t, however, say for sure if the governing groups of the day ever really listened to the voices of their constituents.

The real tragedy, if you will, is that while there are solutions for a lot of what we are now being forced to live with, there is no appetite for initiating them.

Meanwhile, our city planners have lost their minds when it comes to the non-stop erecting of larger and taller towering behemoths despite the obvious ignoring of the OCP.

When one goes to the trouble and expense of creating a plan, why wouldn't one follow it?

The way in which our city goes about handing out development permits (only to revisit them at a later date and extend the footprint that was originally agreed to) brings to mind the adage that "just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should".

Making decisions on where new construction is permitted should actually take into account the voices and wishes of the tax paying community. They are the real ones in charge after all.

While it is true that we elect officials to look after the day-to-day operation of our cities and towns, we did not ever indicate to them that completely ignoring us once they occupy their seats would be OK.

I guess the only good news there is that this happens in virtually every community in our country with the federal level setting the tone, so we are at least all playing on the same field.

This could go on forever so, getting back to Ricky's excellent submission, let me leave you with this thought.

The definition, loosley inscribed here, of insanity is "doing the same thing in the same way and expecting different results".

My sincere hope would be that his letter be presented to city council. While one individual may have written it, it does speak loudly for the majority.

It is indeed a big world out there.

Peter Haslock