Visioning Nanaimo

A Journey Towards Community

Category

Viewpoints

A frequently held – and often mistaken – assumption is that local issues exist only locally and are exclusive to ourselves. More accurately, similar experiences and challenges are also occurring or have occurred elsewhere and have resulted in other perspectives being published and available online. Accessing this material might provide helpful information and contribute to a broader than purely local view.

Similarly, reading one perspective on how a cited article might inform our views on local issues could trigger our own analysis. For this reason, each post begins with my thoughts on why the item found elsewhere could have local relevance. The wish is to provide a context. Because the found article is the viewpoint on which each item rests, each post in “Viewpoints” ends with the link and source information for the cited article, itself.

Items are grouped into five topics that can be accessed through the drop-down menu in this page’s header. Articles frequently appear in more than one sub-category as their topics often overlap. (WordPress also shows all posts in all sub-categories on this page sorted only by date.)

It’s Time to Use Zoning to Benefit Those Who Need It Most

The Tyee. June 9, 2021. Patrick Condon is always worth a read and his latest column no less so. This time he makes a case for providing affordable housing by separating the connection between property value assigned to building and… Continue Reading →

Two reasons to celebrate, Nanaimo

Two great stories emerged at the end of this week. Both testify to the wealth of our community sourced in its youth and the diversity of their cultures: Syrian and Snuneymuxw First Nation. Nanaimo teen wins award for short story… Continue Reading →

The residential school system is more than just ‘a dark period in Canadian history’

CBC. June 5, 2021. How long can we go on without dealing honestly and ethically with this large, most recent elephant that now stands squarely in the middle in the room? Accountability exists at all levels of government, and for… Continue Reading →

Remote working has been life-changing for disabled people, don’t take it away now

The Guardian. June 2, 2021. It’s so very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the dominant perspective is somehow the only legitimate perspective and that all alternate views can be safely ignored. Particularly when we’re depleted. worn… Continue Reading →

Seniors overwhelm RCMP barrier past Fairy Creek

Cowichan Valley Citizen. Feeling marginalized now that you’ve retired? Dumped when you hit 70? Well, there’s absolutely no reason that you should. If you combine the experience of and time available to retirees with their being part of the demographic… Continue Reading →

The climate crisis requires a new culture and politics, not just new tech

The Guardian. What we have here, is the tragedy of the commons writ globally. “This is a crisis of culture and politics, not of science and technology.“ When you get down to it, the real problems lie with the perception… Continue Reading →

Minister Eby receives warning over ‘dangerous precedent’ in Penticton shelter dispute

Nanaimo News Bulletin. If we set the issue of homelessness aside when we read this article, the inappropriateness of a higher level of government imposing its own self-defined “solutions” onto local problems without collaboration becomes immediately apparent. Were Ottawa to… Continue Reading →

How to make space

Capital Daily. If it isn’t already obvious (and for some people it appears it isn’t), change is not only coming but inevitable. For our communities and cities to remain as they are today would take significantly more modification of human… Continue Reading →

The second-largest country in the world is running out of land

BNN Bloomberg. Nothing may typify the mindset of being Canadian more than the inherent cultural view that our resources are unlimited. We see ourselves possessing enormous swathes of wilderness, endless forests and untamed rivers, boundless unmined wealth, and more water… Continue Reading →

Species or Ecosystems: How Best to Restore the Natural World?

Yale Environment 360. A review of three research papers that reach different conclusions on the best way to protect nature and restore what has been lost. They differ regarding “the nature we have, how to conserve it, and the best… Continue Reading →

© 2025 Visioning Nanaimo — Powered by WordPress

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑