Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s desire to have yet another uneconomical pipeline built to the west coast is a waste of time. Smith is asking for the government to get rid of the moratorium on tanker traffic on the north coast.

If Smith is so interested in promoting more energy development in Alberta perhaps she should look at removing the moratorium she placed on billions of dollars of alternative energy projects that were on the books.

Smith, once the fervent free enterprise booster, takes pride in hampering a growing non-fossil fuel enterprise in Alberta.

No investor is going to put good money on a pipeline with the volatile crude oil price for Alberta’s diluted bitumen crude. Alberta’s crude oil is selling for less than $50 USD a barrel.

Smith needs to get back on track and remove the moratorium she placed on billions of dollars of non-fossil fuel energy projects and end her pipe dream.

Phil Le Good

Cobble Hill

Re: “A better way to tackle disorder on our streets,” commentary, Oct. 1.

What a timely and insightful article by Julian Daly, the CEO of Our Place Society. Of course a complex and seemingly intractable problem like this requires complex solutions!

I hope Mayor Marianne Alto is listening and reconvenes the weekly meetings of the groups involved with homeless people that former mayor Lisa Helps started years ago with such positive results.

Sheila Drew

Victoria

Re: “A better way to tackle disorder on our streets,” commentary, Oct. 1.

What a cogent, detailed summary by someone with first-hand, day-to-day experience with this tragic societal problem.

Let us hope that his common sense approach penetrates the fog that seems to surround this issue.

Julian Daly has provided a clear, concise road map for a way forward.

Hopefully, it will not be confused/complicated by a bunch of social do-gooders and academics whose experiments to date have complicated and, in many cases, exacerbated this human tragedy unfolding on our streets.

Bev Highton

Oak Bay

Re: “A better way to tackle disorder on our streets,” commentary, Oct. 1.

Here we go again. I have seen this debate repeatedly. I have been part of it.

I get it, meth etc. have changed the street landscape. The pain is only too visible. But to juxtapose housing first with forced treatment disguised as “health first” is misguided.

We should be cautious about putting a tool in the toolbox that might become the next proverbial hammer looking for nails.

Yes, I am making the slippery slope argument. When I worked in psychiatric care, there was no holding on once it is under your feet.

Let’s be honest, involuntary care doesn’t work well. Never mind that we have a health-care system that is insufficient for anyone who actually wants care.

Let’s create that system first. Then let’s see how many truly lost people remain on our streets. For those, let’s engage in a wraparound approach that involves them when they can.

And then let’s have the conversation no one seemingly wants to have, about how to prevent the next cohort of the........

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