Letters to the Sun, Dec. 3, 2022: Taking public transit during snowfalls is challenging

Remember to be patient with people crossing the street more slowly than usual, writes Laurelle Shalagan of Vancouver

Take public transportation during inclement weather. Heard that one before; if only it was that simple and safe.

A potential transit user first has to make it down slippery sidewalks (oops, some property owners don’t shovel or sand?), across treacherous icy corners. Once they make it to the main thoroughfare, they most often encounter a buildup of snow and ice courtesy of plow operators who “remove the snow” to street gutters rather than have trucks take it away.

Then you have the challenge of getting onto the bus without incident because, yes, there is a buildup of snow and ice at the transit stop.

Imagine how this all goes if you have mobility challenges or cannot afford proper winter footwear.

Easy to see where some of these problems can be addressed. There also needs to be a review of how to improve street driving access for buses and taxis, such as identify temporary bus/taxi-only lanes on major streets and don’t permit parking on these streets during snow removal to avoid the buildup on sidewalks.

To those of you who think you should drive in hazardous weather, remember to be patient with people crossing the street more slowly than usual. Lastly, don’t speed along slushy streets without thought given to splashing pedestrians as you go by.

Laurelle Shalagan, Vancouver

Medical care for people with ‘ME’ sadly lacking

Re: Clinics aim to help long-COVID patients get through their day

I found Lori Culbert’s article very interesting. I am one of the estimated 77,000 British Columbians with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis or what is sometimes referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome). Our symptoms are very similar to those of long COVID. I am bedridden much of the time, struggle with brain fog and work constantly to keep a host of nasty symptoms at bay. I am not unusual.

The medical care in B.C. for people with ME is sadly lacking. We have one program that sees about 600 patients per year. Patients who were referred in 2019 have not yet been seen. The program does not provide care to children or the severely ill. Our lifelong diseases are eligible for one year of care through the program despite any evolving symptoms or comorbidities. Yet our recent research shows 75 per cent of health care providers state that they do not feel prepared to care for people with ME. In B.C., it takes an average of seven years to be diagnosed with ME.

With the Ministry of Health’s commitment to health-care equity, we hope they will make some improvements to our care soon.

Sue Khazaie, Langley

Are the housing solutions part of the problem?

Re: More supply won’t stop B.C.’s housing crisis on its own

I read with interest Elliot Rossiter’s  editorial on the housing crisis. He argued one basic point: We need to have “large-scale expansion of non-market housing and enhanced protections for households at risk of displacement.” In plain speech, this means that the government should pay for rental housing (presumably through large tax increases) and there should be more price controls on rent. However, is it possible that the solutions proposed by Dr. Rossiter are part of the problem?

What person in his right mind would invest in building rental units when a) rent controls mean that you’d lose money if conditions such as interest rates change; b) government may be building rental units down the street that rent at half the cost of actually building them?

Kent Dykstra, Surrey

Greening highways suggestion

Re: Greening up our highways

Great observation from Bryce Rositch. I would also like to add that the plants along the highways should always be native plants. The natives, which have evolved and acclimated in this region since the last Ice Age (along with hundreds of species of bees and other insects). We have obliterated too many of these plants in many areas by paving and these plants are primary food sources for insects and birds and other critters. If all those medians and rights of way were planted in native meadows it would go a long way to alleviating the problem.

John Shinnick, Volunteer seed collector and guide at VanDusen Botanical Garden