My encounter with Jo Campbell was at a charity banquet. There was a silent auction featuring among many glamorous items a chocolate Santa Claus about a foot high.

Many people were bidding on the Santa but as time wore on they dropped out one by one, eventually leaving only Jo and yours truly.

From time to time either one of us would go and up our bid, until finally we happened to arrive together.

Jo, not realizing she was face to face with her opponent, said “I want this for my grandchildren.” I replied “and I want it for the children in the Transition House.”

Jo never raised her bid and I took the Santa Claus for the children in the home for abused and battered women.

That is the person she was, a lady of grace and compassion. I shall never forget her.

May you rest in peace, Jo Campbell.

Elizabeth Chatfield

Victoria

Two women were savagely stabbed on Pandora Avenue last Wednesday. We were told the incidents were unrelated, but we all know they were related to the drug culture on Pandora that continues to be enabled by the cabal on Victoria council and Island Health.

The cabal on city council recently adopted a so-called safety plan that will cost taxpayers $10 million to continue the woke policies that caused the drug and savage crime problem in the first place. Anybody who has read the plan already knows it is about doling out cash to feckless freeloaders and decriminalized drug service providers.

On Thursday, councillors Marg Gardiner and Stephen Hammond pointed out the main culprit that has worsened the state of Pandora Avenue into a cesspool of violent crime — Island Health’s drug den they euphemistically label a “safe injection site.”

The cabal on council blocked this sensible motion calling for closing that drug den. So now we have seriously large amounts of property-tax dollars handed out with no possibility of solving the problem of safety on Pandora.

I hope the CEO of Island Health is aware of the sensible request to have that drug den closed. The narrow-minded ideology of saving violent criminals and drug addicts from themselves at the hardship of decent folks........

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