I was outraged to read that Saanich council was removing Cedar Hill School from the heritage registry, paving the way for demolition.

Do they not think a 100-year-plus heritage building designed by a premier architect like Samuel Maclure, that generations of people have been schooled at, would not be something the community would want preserved?

Why do they think it was on the registry in the first place?

Save me the garbage about “finding heritage in other places” and the loopholes of it not being a designated building. What absolute nonsense. The owner purchased this property with a noted heritage building on it. Therefore, they cannot make excuses that it doesn’t fit their needs.

The intended use of the property, however virtuous, is immaterial to the fact that they are destroying a heritage building to do it. I am not surprised that council would be ignorant of this or choose to ignore it; they are compromised.

I am in the construction trade, and I know that this school will have been well maintained throughout its time, and were it continued to be maintained, it would last another 100 years.

There is no argument that this is not a useful space as it is, and someone who wants to demolish it for gain will always find a reason to do so.

If it’s not right for this owner, then they should respectfully alter it or find a different space.

We are merely stewards of this land and buildings, and we need to consider future generations, not short-term goals and increased tax revenues.

Rich Sanches

Saanich

Employers in the hospitality, food services and agricultural industries claim they import foreign workers as they cannot find young Canadians to do the work.

This is an expensive undertaking as they must cover accommodation, medical insurance and return transport as well as paying them a salary.

Employers would no doubt prefer to hire locally IF they could find the workers and IF such workers had a strong work ethic.

What if locals had an incentive?

Resident workers in these industries could receive, in addition to their salary, a credit for each 40 hours that they work, say $100.

These credits could be accumulated and later used to offset tuition costs at a university, college, trade school or training centre. “Older” workers could transfer their credits to a family member.

To discourage poor work habits, there could be penalties for tardiness, absence and distracted phone-gazing — earned credits could be cancelled or reduced.

As employers would no longer have to pay the significant cost of importing foreign workers, they could contribute to a fund that would help to pay for the tuition credits.

Would it work?

Chris Harker

North Saanich

It’s time we stop pretending the temporary foreign worker program helps our economy. It........

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