I have the good fortune of living across the bay from the Trial Islands. Over the past year, I have noticed significant increase in marine activity related to the increase in the herring population. This culminated in the celebrated arrival of a large herd of California sea lions residing on the Trial Islands.

I am a longtime resident of Langford and take issue with front-page headline of B次元官网网址淕ood times gone, growing pains are here in LangfordB次元官网网址� in the March 8 Gazette. This subjective statement is a mere point of view, an assumption, and to me, actually false.

In his March 9 letter (Henderson bike lanes a result of negotiated compromise) Eric Zhelka speaks of a B次元官网网址渘egotiated compromiseB次元官网网址� in 2008 that produced a part-time bike lane on North Henderson B次元官网网址� the only bike lane in the region that rolls up at night.

In a letter to the editor headlined B次元官网网址淐ouncil only paying lip service to public input,B次元官网网址� published on Feb. 27, the writer expressed displeasure at Sidney councilB次元官网网址檚 purported dismissal of concerns raised by property owners who objected to a housing projectB次元官网网址檚 setback variance. At issue, a proposed 16-unit development on the southeast corner of Fifth Street and Malaview.

Re: B次元官网网址淧otential B次元官网网址榤assiveB次元官网网址� Cordova Bay development worries residents.B次元官网网址�

The housing crisis is driven by REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts). These are corporations listed on the stock market. They buy up housing and rent it out for high prices and mediocre maintenance. They can outbid most people trying to enter the market, including individuals who want to invest in a revenue property. And those who do outbid the REITs are forced to charge the same exorbitant rent just to pay their inflated mortgages. There is a solution.

I attended the March 6 North Saanich council meeting where I heard North Saanich resident Dr. Karen Carsten promoting the idea for a veterinarian college in B.C.

To be clear, Coun. Carrie SmartB次元官网网址檚 motion at the meeting on Feb. 27, supported by Couns. Andrew Appleton and Lesley Watson, was modest in the extreme. The motion called for staff to seek input from affected residents for a possible change to the traffic control order to make the Henderson Road bike path full-time, and to prepare the necessary amendments to bring back to council for a final decision.

I am writing to express my disappointment with the recent decision made by the Sidney mayor and a member of council to refuse referring the Active Transportation Plan to the townB次元官网网址檚 accessibility advisory committee. As a resident of the Saanich Peninsula and an advocate for accessibility, I believe this decision is a step backward for the community.

It is with great sadness and frustration I write this, as the possibility of losing the E&N Railway line forever is drawing closer. The fact that freight by rail would remove up to 25,000 truck trips annually and thus eliminate up to 3,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases makes the decision to retain the Island Rail, a no brainer. This coupled with an amazing opportunity to promote our tourism sector by offering rail trips up and down the Island.