I’m tired of risking my life by cycling on Sarnia’s streets
Sir: I was biking on the road last week as the law requires when my hat got blown off by a gust of wind and landed on the hood/windshield of a passing car behind me on Mitton Street.
The driver was spooked and swerved, nearly colliding with a parked car and a telephone pole, ultimately slamming on the brakes, with tires squealing.
Of course I apologized to the driver and made sure she was OK, and upon doing so discovered she had two very young children in the backseats.
The driver was scared she had hit me because the beak of my hat banged when it struck the car. I assured her she hadn’t hit me, we had a bit of a laugh about it, and we continued on our ways.
In my opinion, the law requiring bicyclists to ride on the road is not only endangering the lives of cyclists, but the lives of motorists as well.
You never know when you might ride over a bad pothole, or when a gust of wind will throw your hat or simply blow you over.
Most of Sarnia’s main streets do not have designated bike lanes or "Share The Road" signs. The back streets, and some main roads, such as Mitton, are so skinny and in such a terrible state of disrepair that it’s almost a death sentence to bike on them.
Had I been biking on the sidewalk this incident would never have occurred. Until cyclists have designated bike lanes on all major streets in Sarnia, we should be allowed to bike on the sidewalk.
I have enough common sense to go around people walking on the sidewalk. But I have been clipped by multiple cars, forced off the road, cut off, actually hit by a motorist, and sworn at by drivers to get off the road. I've been followed and assaulted verbally, once physically, and I'm tired of it.
I'm tired of risking my life every time I go for a ride.
Dan Larocque
Sarnia
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Gutting of Great Lakes cleanup fund must be challenged
Sir: U.S President Donald Trump’s budget all but eliminates Great Lakes restoration funding. This cannot go unchallenged.
While the Great Lakes seem invincible, they are under threat from a new invasive species every six to eight months.
Cameron Davis, a scientist working to save the lakes, describes them as ”incredibly fragile and delicate.”
I would like to offer a few carefully researched facts:
* The Great Lakes account for one fifth of the fresh water on the planet, and 84% of the fresh water in North America
* Thirty-four million people live in the Great Lakes basin.
* Commercial and recreational fishing is a $4 billion industry
* Thirty-seven percent of Canadian agriculture relies on the lakes
* Some 3,500 species of plants and animals are found in the Great Lakes basin.
* Asian carp have already reached electrified barriers on tributaries to the lakes, and a new mussel, the quagga, could be ten times more damaging than zebra mussels.
I have written to Trump, using the most respectful tone I could muster.
He won’t listen to just me, but perhaps a few thousand emails and letters and phone calls may make someone say, “Um, Sir, we have a problem.”
Please, if you love your lakes as much as I do, and recognize the disaster it would be if they were left unprotected, take a few minutes to write your own plea for a reconsideration of this cut.
As I said in my letter to President Trump, “Once the arts are gone and the environment is destroyed, what will your additional millions of dollars allotted to the military be protecting?”
Margot Gulliford
Sarnia
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If every dog took an obedience class we’d all be happier
Sir: Re: April 27 letter from John Wever: ‘Dog owners are the problem’
I believe his solution to the reported dog attack incident — an animal-owners licence — is very unreasonable.
First of all, there is no evidence that the owner of the dog purposely opened the door so her dog could attack the other dog.
All canines have a territorial instinct, a sense of protecting the pack and their territory. They distrust strangers or what they feel is a danger or an encroachment on their pack’s turf. That is what made dogs so valuable to our species 10,000 years ago.
As Mr. Wever said, there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. But all dogs have a dark side, and when they are raised you can promote their dark side or you can do the opposite.
If you want to own a dog, take a reasonable obedience class, the basics of sit, shake a paw, etc., not a robot dog class.
As for barking, perhaps if people kept their cats inside in accordance with the city bylaw, or kids didn't bang on fences and howl at them, and other dog owners walked slowly by in order to train their dogs to ignore distractions, dogs wouldn't bark as much.
Duane Skuce
Sarnia
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Nothing in integrity commissioner’s report proven in court
Sir: I am aghast at what certain belligerent members of our community repeatedly submit to the media, without any factual foundation at all.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, especially given the so-called state of free speech in our once enjoyed democracy! However, I wish people would educate themselves as to their choice of vocabulary.
Some folks seem to thrive on taking third-hand hearsay and making it fact – thus maligning the good name of certain individuals, such as Mayor Mike Bradley.
I do not like to keep going over old ground, but when people repeatedly use hearsay as fact, I just have to speak up.
Nothing at all has gone to court, or even come close to being proven, within the pages of the integrity commissioner’s reports. If it had, it would be a different matter.
In the judicial and legal system, Canada prides itself on being “innocent until proven guilty,” therefore, members of the community should not appoint themselves judge and jury, simply because city management and council have apparently already done so.
Why mimic those in local government, assuming that because they were elected, makes their activities squeaky clean? Do you want to be part of a suspected ‘bait and collusion’ scenario, too?
The opinion, that we’re all entitled to, should be based on facts; facts that we have researched, checked and double checked before writing up and submitting to all the media. In a court of law, if one used hearsay as their factual evidence, they would be discovered and sued and possibly gaoled for trying to illegally and intentionally change the course of justice!
Writing to the newspapers and publications is no different. Your opinions, okay, but please do keep them just and fair and do not take on the role of court and judge when you are not qualified to do so!
Margaret Bird
Bright’s Grove
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Seniors’ facility an excellent idea for Sarnia General site
Sir: Re: The May 18 letter from Sandi Compagnion, “Build a senior facility on hospital site.
I often agree with Sandi and thought her suggestion was excellent.
As a city, we need a dependable source of revenue, and a senior geared-to-income complex sounds like an excellent idea.
As a neighbour, what an asset that would be for the neighbourhood.
Hopefully, the decision makers will take this suggestion seriously.
Janet MacKey
Sarnia