As with most controversies in Oak Bay there is more than a little hysteria evident in correspondence regarding the proposed deer cull. Regrettably, your editorial of Feb. 6 embraces that hysteria with its claims of a community divided.
I’ve lived in Oak Bay for about a decade and if we are a community divided then the division surely predates the deer issue. This is a community where virtually every major, and some minor, development proposal faces opposition. This is a community where we don’t mind telling our neighbours we dislike their tastes in architecture. This is a community where we cannot agree regarding sewage lines in the Uplands. And what about the community plan?
The reality is that despite all the foregoing, the vast majority of neighbours are still interacting amiably. The police are not being called to mediate heated discussions on any of these issues. People are not leaving the community because it is an uncomfortable place to live.
Shocking though it may be to some, the deer cull won’t change this. Notwithstanding the buzz in coffee shops, most of us are not discussing the proposed deer cull at all. I interact with neighbours and friends every day and not once has the deer cull ever been a point of discussion.
The correspondence on the deer cull long ago stopped offering any new insight or solutions. As Patrick Skillings so aptly said, enough already! This talk of a community divided is taking the entire discussion over the edge and borders on the ludicrous.
James Murtagh
Oak Bay