A new year is about to begin and that has us thinking about renewal — a fresh start and, yes, those dreaded New Year’s Resolutions.
Some of the best advice we have heard about those things came from Janet Krenz, a registered dietician and community nutritionist with Island Health. In relation to eating habits over the holidays, Krenz said don’t do it — don’t make any resolutions when it comes to food. All they do, she said, is enable people to justify a binge before January 1 and then feel guilty about it afterwards and through the next year.
That advice can be applied throughout the Saanich Peninsula.
Take North Saanich municipal council, for instance. They must have resolved at some point not to continue the bickering during meetings. Why? Because they enjoyed a lot of it at their last meeting before the new year. A bit of a pre-ban bickering binge, if you will. We can only hope they got it out of their system. Realistically, though, residents can expect more of the back-and-forth animosity leading up to next November’s municipal election.
Over in Central Saanich, they have resolved to spend less, thanks to some debt left over from their new fire hall. Residents should hope this resolution holds and no one feels guilty about their spendthrift ways in 2014 and reverses course.
In Sidney, there’s probably no point in resolving to end the Beacon Avenue traffic debate. Why not? Because no matter which direction drivers end up taking along the main drag, someone isn’t going to like it and there will be close calls between cars and pedestrians. It’s inevitable that when people are walking and drivers driving, they will cross paths — often way too closely. The best course of action is to mitigate that conflict as best you can and ensure Sidney’s downtown is welcoming to both groups.
For the rest of the community, resolve not to make a resolution this year, but to live a little happier and more positive and, maybe then, good things will come your way.