Re: Opening with a bang

Did I read the story correctly this morning about people complaining about the Irish? I am Irish-Canadian, and I have news for you Vancouver: Get off your high horses and join us.

You party with us on St. Patrick’s Day and you don’t complain, but then after, the city closes nightclubs and pubs. Let’s go Ireland.

The complainers are not real Canadians, they are what's wrong with this country. Rich and far too powerful.

Re: Paul Sullivan’s 5 reasons to suspend your ‘belief’

Ah, come on! Please don’t tell me we’ve got such sore sports out there that they still oppose the greatest event on Earth as it unfolds.

One would think that after losing fair and square in their opposition to the Olympics that they’d hop on the bandwagon and be good natured hosts to the reps of the world now flooding our city.

I hope all those out there who opposed these Games will realize that it has now become a wonderful opportunity for Vancouverites to have a tet-a-tet with fellow human beings from around the world.

Directional walking/biking lanes makes more sense

Re:?Every which way but loose on Burrard Bridge. (July 10.)

I’ve commuted from Kits over the Burrard Bridge to work downtown for six years.

Depending on the day, I run, walk, bike, bus or drive. In six years, I’ve never seen a “biking jam” or a “walking jam” or a “running jam” but there’s always a traffic jam.

In those six years, I’ve also never seen anyone ride their bike off the sidewalk into traffic and get killed. I’ve also never seen anyone walk off the sidewalk to their death.

Did they not consider just making the sidewalks flow the same way traffic flows? That would give a dedicated walking lane and a dedicated biking lane in each direction.

If the reason they are doing this is environmental, then they can start with improving the bus service over the bridge during rush hour. I can honestly say that if the bus service wasn’t so entirely pathetic, I’d never have to drive over the bridge.

Improvements can’t come at the cost of city car revenue

Re:?Every which way but loose on Burrard Bridge. (July 10.)

In all my years as a cyclist, pedestrian and car owner, I cannot believe how such a small minority has obtained such control over city hall. The concept of more cyclists and safer interaction between cars and pedestrians is great, but commerce, which is dependent upon the road system, helps to pay for all capital improvements in the city.

Motorists pay well for their usage of the roads throughout Vancouver. Expecting drivers to travel to the supposedly under-used Granville and Cambie bridges is absurd, since more gas will be burned and more pollution produced due to the extra distance travelled. 

The whole benefit of more cyclists is defeated by the side-effects caused by the lane closure.

I am a cyclist, and support improvements, but they must come second to the important needs of commerce transportation that greatly assists in paying the city’s bills.

Metro Vancouver lends helping hand to paralyzed man

On March 17 we published a front-page photo and story on the theft of a valuable aboriginal mask from the hospital room of a sleeping paralyzed man.

Norman Ryall told us the mask had great sentimental value to him.

“It’s like a piece of me is missing,” he said.

The story generated significant media attention.

On March 18 Vancouver police held a news conference to say the mask was returned after a security guard at the hospital read about it in Metro and recognized it.

The security guard, Benjamin Cohnstaedt, 21, said he found the mask abandoned on a bus and took it home not knowing its value. After reading about it in Metro Vancouver and seeing photos of the mask in our paper he contacted police and returned the item to the paralyzed man.

Ryall is ecstatic. He had spent years saving to buy the mask.

Vancouver police has issued a statement thanking the media for helping solve the case.

"It was handed over to police in a red bag with a copy of Metro underneath," VPD Const. Jana McGuinness said. "All it took was four days, open and shut case."

Mandatory helmets welcome

The NHL Players’ Association decision to make helmet use compulsory during hockey fights is a welcome move.

These injuries and fatalities must be prevented and controlled and needs no further discussion. Players who refuse to wear helmets during fights should be banned from playing hockey.

Injuries account for $12 billion of health-care expenditure per year. After cancer and cardiovascular disease, injuries are the most costly condition for our health-care system. Injury is the leading cause of death and hospitalization of Canadians under 45 and the fourth leading cause of death among all Canadians.

Put away your partisan ways and put the economy first

It is sickening to watch the eyes of  opposition leaders in Ottawa aglow with arrogant greed for power at a time when the country can least afford it.

The prospect of a coalition with Stéphane Dion as prime minister, Jack Layton as finance minister, where the Bloc Québécois, a party dedicated to the breakup of Canada, would hold the hammer is worrisome indeed. Come now you elected officials, your performance as of late is like a five-year-old having a temper tantrum. Please shed your diaper-stage performances, drop your partisanship and start tackling the task at hand: a deteriorating economy.

Why spend tax dollars for immigrants’ English needs?

I am appalled that immigrants coming to this country expect the government to pay for their English lessons. One would think that if a person was so anxious to change his or her whole life and move to another country they would at least have the courtesy to learn the language of that country.

I feel our tax dollars would be better spent on things that really need it  — homelessness, health care, etc.

Kudos to Maureen Bader for taking a stand on a subject no one else seems to be brave enough to speak out about.

Hells Angels prosecutions are a human-rights issue

The Hell Angels motorcycle club is not a criminal organization and deserve the same rights as any other person.

In March this year, a landmark ruling by a B.C. judge said that “a full-patch Hells Angels member and two of his associates are not members of a criminal organization.” The trial was a key test of new “federal anti-gang legislation,” and if the Hells Angels were deemed a criminal organization, police would have been able to seize their assets.

A recent decision in Alberta has some legal experts saying publicly that it could eventually place limits on the way police try to control the movement of “biker gangs.”

I maintain that these cases revolve around fundamental rights that all citizens are entitled to, whether they drive motorcycles or not.

Supreme Court should keep off sports issue

It seems to me that soon  a  time will come that the Supreme Court of Canada, in the name of non-discrimination, will decide on women’s demand that buying the tickets to sport events, like women’s ski jumping, and watching it  is mandatory for everyone.

I did not know that a sport like ski jumping, for instance, is a legitimate job governed by some kind of  industry that is obligated by law to employ women regardless of  public interest.
If women ski jumpers want to participate, they should seek sponsors to support them. The Supreme Court should stay out of this.