Dear editor,
Our Mayor Bob Wells and Councillor Will Cole-Hamilton made a statement recently which left me with my mouth hanging open in disbelief.
They stated that the City wants to install free charging stations for electric vehicles in downtown Courtenay. Then enthusiastically informing those listening that “according to research” typically people with electric vehicles make between $100,000 to $200,000 per year, so let’s give them free charging stations and maybe they will shop downtown while their cars are charging.
All I could think of was the numerous renters in the Valley paying inflated rents during a rental crisis.
Many of these rental accommodations have outdated electric baseboard heat - and hydro rates are so high that I frequently hear people talk about struggling to pay hydro bills that are so large there is not enough money for food!
These members of Courtenay council seem so far removed from the economic realities of those who do not make large yearly incomes like these mentioned, that they think it is more important to spend tax dollars on providing free charging stations and free electricity to the people who can most afford to pay their own way, rather than, oh I don’t know, how about problems like our rental crisis?
I am not sure what world they live in, but it is not the world that most of us live in. I can’t help but wonder if they even understand the economic realities that most of us have to face today.
I would prefer a municipal council that is much better grounded in financial reality, one that cares about all of its citizens, is less concerned with the yearly income of those they would like to attract here, and more concerned about their own population.
Yuppie havens like Whistler and other similar places only care about how much you can spend, not the quality of life for all of their people. Please - don’t do that to Courtenay.
Terry Chaney,
Courtenay
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