With freedom of speech on everyone’s mind, it is sad that Mr. McLeod is castigated by letter writers.
He may not have the facts straight but getting them is not easy.
Example — go to the government website and the form for the Drivers Medical Examination Report (DMER). It clearly states that the doctor may bill the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles $75 for completing the form. But that’s not the true story. In fact there is another form that is sent to people approaching 80, which does not provide for the doctor to be paid $75 — but try finding it on the website!
So the government is misleading people — not unusual.
Writers say that driving is a privilege not a right. Well, the dictionary states that a right is a privilege and vice versa.
The difference is that a privilege is a benefit enjoyed by a person or class of people that is not shared with others. A right is something that we all have, like the UN Charter of Human Rights.
With rights go responsibilities and if we act responsibly then we have every right to drive a motor vehicle. This is not Saudi Arabia where driving is indeed a privilege, restricted only to men.
The government does not have the right to financially discriminate against people every two years just because they are old.
Senior discounts and the fact that driver licence renewal is cheaper at 65-plus are irrelevant. These are benefits offered to everyone when they reach a certain age.
I don’t mind having the responsibility to prove medical fitness to exercise my right to drive but I am fiercely opposed to a discriminatory cost levied on me because I am old.
There is too much talk nowadays that what are actually rights should be regarded as privileges — such as voting, which is a right.
So good for you Mr. McLeod, you had the courage to go public and stand up for yourself.
David Olsen, North Saanich