Opinion

As the old Joni Mitchell song goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got ’till it’s gone.” Doubtless many across the U.S. are pondering that this week as President Barack Obama leaves office.

Dear Editor: The District of North Vancouver is implementing a new garbage collection scheme in 2017. Single-family homes will be given two 240-litre wheeled carts, one for household waste, the other for organics.

It’s a perennial problem which blooms every spring in North Shore parks.

Re: West Van’s Tree Bylaw: Let Common Sense Prevail, Jan. 8 Mailbox. With respect to the West Vancouver tree bylaw, we would like to thank Mr. (Tony) Farrell for his excellent letter of Jan. 8. Mr.

The letter West Van’s Tree Bylaw: Let Common Sense Prevail, Jan. 8 Mailbox has some inaccuracies which should be pointed out. The term “overgrown tree” used in the Jan. 8 article implies the tree has outlived its usefulness.

After 15 months on the job, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is embarking on a cross-Canada tour, ostensibly to reconnect with Canadians - or at least those that can’t afford $1,525 to bend his ear in private.

We welcome the news that the province is looking to help alleviate the congestion for folks trying to access Mount Seymour Provincial Park.

Dear Editor: Re: No Tickets for Icy Sidewalks , Jan. 6 news story. I agree that fines don’t really solve the problem or make icy sidewalks safer. There are more effective ways to deal with this problem.

Rafe Mair, astronomically paid battling broadcaster in the balmy days when CKNW styled itself Vancouver’s Top Dog, is in shaky health and thinks he’ll die in 2017. Mind and speech, he’s as sharp as ever. I assured him he looks fine.

Barring civil disobedience on a scale that makes it impossible for work to start, preliminary work on the Trans Mountain pipeline and expanded terminal in Burrard Inlet could begin this year.