Dear editor,

Recent Record editorials and letters to the editor have claimed that a 鈥渕ajority鈥� of Courtenay residents do not support a pedestrian bridge.

They have also claimed that this money could have been used on housing.

Canada is a democracy where voters fill in legal ballots on Election Day. In the last election, lots of candidates in Courtenay ran on platforms opposed to active transportation. Every single one of these candidates lost.

Other candidates ran supporting active transportation, including explicitly supporting this bridge. All those candidates won.

So now we鈥檙e getting this bridge, because that鈥檚 how democracy works.

Democracy doesn鈥檛 work on who screams the loudest on social media.

As well, the over $3 million for this ($6.8 million) project provided by higher levels of government cannot go to housing, or crime prevention, or a road bridge, or anything except active transportation. That鈥檚 how targeted grants and contributions from the provincial and federal governments always work, regardless of what party is in power.

Anyone who doesn鈥檛 like these facts is encouraged to present or support a detailed campaign platform prior to the next municipal election in October 2026.

John Dacombe,

Courtenay