For the second time in a year, postal workers are on strike and that service is suspended. This has generated negative reaction among folks like me who still use that service quite a bit.

I suggest that the postal union ­executives and postal workers take a look around and see how the world has changed in the past 20 years and think about ways that the service can be ­maintained in a cost-effective way in today’s digital world.

I also suggest a review of the old ­European folk tale about the goose that laid the golden eggs.

The folk tales of our ancestors carry the distilled wisdom of our various c­ultures and, because human nature has not changed, are relevant still.

John Wiznuk

Saturna Island

I was alarmed to see the rollout of ­Saanich’s Shelbourne Valley Plan.

This plan would disrupt life in Saanich as we know it.

I was astonished that Saanich would continue the trend of choking the major arteries of our transportation network. Automobiles were relegated to the ever-narrowing thoroughfares and trumped by walkers, cyclists, public transport and “micromobility.”

The plan suggests tightly condensed townhomes, low-rise, and high-rise buildings (including 18-storey towers) in newly designated urban centres. The selling point was that you can get anywhere on foot in 15 minutes.

This development vision pierces deeply into the heart of Gordon Head and the Shelbourne Valley, leaving no part untouched by rapid densification. Saanich intends to cement its targets — many already underway — by early 2026.

Mature trees, gardens and long-established family homes are at risk of being replaced by high-density developments.

Many residents feel that their carefully developed Local Area Plans have been disregarded in favour of top-down models built on selective statistics and projections.

Is this the future we want for our healthy, biodiverse, family neighbourhoods? Why would we consider this plan?

I strongly encourage council to present side-by-side comparisons of alternative plans that balance housing needs with environmental protection and community character.

Most residents support some level of gentle densification — duplexes, backyard suites, basement apartments and row housing — but........

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