‘Distorting history’
Dear Editor:
RE: ‘It is what it is’, Dec. 22.
The letter from Don Kruger begged a response. My initial response was anger but yelling at one another has not resolved anything (see the past three years).
I do think a couple of points in Kruger’s letter deserve a direct response. Residential schools did not go wrong just in the implementation. Yes, the abuse at the hands of religious groups was horrific and has clearly caused intergenerational trauma, but the very idea of residential schools was evil.
Is Kruger suggesting that it would have been completely okay ripping young children from their families and bringing them to a school far from home to eliminate their culture if only they had been treated well there?
Government employees took these children from their homes, often forcibly. The goal was to isolate children from their families and eliminate any vestiges of Indigenous culture. For this the politicians were the villains. It is also worth noting that the politicians who “supervised” the residential schools let the abuse of “religious educators” continue for decades so they are not absolved of guilt associated with the abuse.
Imagine if today we decided that the children of a particular religious or ethnic group should be forcibly removed from their families to be indoctrinated into the correct culture or religion.
Kruger also asserts that “media and politicians have decided that the views of Indigenous activists should be protected, with the public’s views being ignored.” I expect that a far larger group of Canadians would agree with me than with Kruger. I wonder who in this conversation is distorting history.
I dare say Kruger should take another look at history. People are imperfect. History should document both their positive and negative contributions rather than whitewashing the bad in the interest of feeling good. Perhaps we should make it a practice to stop putting up statues to many historical figures or vet those people more thoroughly.
Kruger is correct. We need to recognize different views but he also denigrates other views. He also misrepresents history. We can differ in interpretation but we cannot differ on the facts. We can and should acknowledge the evil of residential schools. We have many shameful examples in our history. The internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War is another.
There is much in Canadian history to be proud of, but that should not overshadow the discussion and recognition of the evil that governments and politicians brought onto fellow Canadians. My view should not be ignored either.
Michael von Massow,
Elora
There are other ways
Dear Editor:
On Dec. 21 Premier Doug Ford firmed up his plan to remove 7,400 acres of natural-heritage area and farmland from Ontario’s Greenbelt and replace most of it with already development-protected farmland in Erin. He will replace the rest with urban river valleys, which are also already protected. Talk about smoke and mirrors.
Statistics Canada reports that between 2016 and 2021, Ontario lost 583,000 acres of farmland, most of it to development. Over those five years, this equates to 319 acres of farmland lost in Ontario every day.
With 11 million acres of farmland remaining, at this rate, in 25 years a quarter of our remaining farmland will be gone. In 100 years there will be none left. A child born today could witness the loss of all of Ontario’s farmland.
The reality is that we may be the last generation to have the chance to make the right choices.
But here’s the thing: in February 2022, the Report of the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force advised Ford, “Most of the [housing] solution must come from densification. Greenbelts and other environmentally sensitive areas must be protected. Farms provide food and food security.”
Aside from ensuring a supply of food grown in Ontario, farmland protects wildlife habitats, absorbs rainwater, reduces floods, recharges our groundwater aquifers, and stores carbon.
Ford didn’t listen to his advisors and experts on this. So it’s up to us to overcome public apathy and phone or email Ford and tell him to keep his election promise not to touch the Greenbelt, to stop his pro-sprawl plan and solve the housing problem in other ways.
Jan Beveridge,
Elora
Can’t afford tax hike
Dear Editor:
RE: Guelph/Eramosa tax rate could increase by 3.8%, Dec. 15.
What are people that are on fixed incomes supposed to do to pay these kind of tax increases? How can you keep coming to us for more money when we have none? Should we be forced to leave our homes that we have put our whole lives into? And where do we go?
I am not saying that we should pay zero taxes, but we can structure a system where if you are 70 years old and have owned your home for a set period of time the taxes could be capped. At 70 years of age, we have paid our fair share and should be able to live out the balance of our lives without being in fear of being put out of our home.
I don’t think you realize how bad it actually is out here. We don’t have any type of pay increases or government pensions and for us who were self-employed in years past we were not allowed to pay into Canada Pension but we provided employment, taxes and pensions for other people. A completely unfair system.
As for any supplements provided by the township, they were consumed a long time ago. You can have all the pet projects you wish but if we cannot afford them then we cannot afford them.
Try living on $1,400 a month. It’s not like we are living above our means; we have cut back to one vehicle, we no longer go out for dinner once a month and we no longer participate in social events.
Our home is at the point where it is in need of upgrades and repairs which we cannot afford. We no longer celebrate anniversaries or birthdays with even the smallest of gifts. The list goes on and on.
Normally our taxes would come out by automatic withdrawal. In the new year this is going to have to change. There just won’t be enough cash in the account.
We just came through an election and we (meaning all of us) voted in such a manner that we knew we would need help with this situation that we have been forced into. We must come up with a way that we can live out our golden years in our homes that we built.
And just in closing, why are we having a public meeting on Jan. 4 at 1pm, when working people have just returned to work after having approximately 10 days off? How do they justify to their bosses that they need another day off for a meeting with the township? We have always had these meetings in the evening before.
We elected you to help us. Now we need your help!
Bob Foster,
Guelph/Eramosa
‘Not a private matter’
Dear Editor:
In some of the past issues of the Advertiser I read letters in defense of medical assistance in dying (MAID). One of the arguments in favour of MAID seems to be that those who are suffering ought to have the right to choose to die. However, is the right to choose an inalienable right?
We’re not free to choose to drive as fast as we think we can. The reason is the public good, to protect others. The same principle applies to MAID. I read in a number of letters that choosing assisted death is purely a private, personal matter. It is not. It is not a private matter because it affects the doctors and nurses who are supposed to perform MAID irrespective of their Hippocratic oath to do no harm.
MAID is not a private matter because it endangers the dignity of people with disabilities or dementia, which is why the disabled community largely opposes it.
MAID is not a private, personal matter because whatever the safeguards, the elderly will experience spoken or unspoken pressure confirming the thought that they are a drain on health and family resources and energy.
MAID is a very slippery slope, as shown by advocates who now argue that it is discriminatory to deny assisted suicide to patients with mental illnesses.
My hope is that our civil leaders will see that enhancement of palliative, disability and elderly support systems is a much more compassionate approach.
Jack Moesker,
Fergus
‘A stranger’s kindness’
Dear Editor:
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus – he was in the Fergus Walmart just before Christmas when I saw him. He was not wearing a big red suit, neither did he sport a long white beard, not even a “Ho, ho, ho” to be heard.
He quietly wished me a happy Christmas, then paid my entire grocery bill! Surprised and shocked, I barely managed a “thank you” before he disappeared in the holiday crowd. The cashier told me this good Samaritan performs this generous deed every year.
Since I was a grateful recipient of a stranger’s kindness, I feel inspired to share this story. Many thanks again, Santa. Wishing you a healthy, joyful life and a very happy new year. By your actions, you make the world a better place.
Patricia Blokhuis,
Belwood
Airline issues
Dear Editor:
I have been closely monitoring this airline “dog and pony” show. Imagine being a recipient of this apathy.
Would it not be intelligent to alleviate the problem; would it not be prudent to rectify the problem ?
I’m sure most of the marketing managers at the major Canadian airlines realize there is an increase in air travel at Christmas, so alleviate it! Simply alleviate it!
How about a percentage of the flights at peak times be limited to “carry-on” only? The plane arrives, the passengers disembark and go home! Of course, some flights would be full luggage .
Does it require Einstein to suggest this? I mean, really.
Jim McClure,
Crieff
‘Giving, caring’
Dear Editor:
The Advertiser’s Dec. 22 front page photo was so beautiful with the photo of grey Percheron horses pulling a cart in the Alma parade….that just takes us back to another era altogether.
Silent Night and the clipping of hooves through the falling snow. What a magnificent sight.
And, to all Wellington County students, a plus for all the giving, caring and thoughtful things you’ve been involved in at your schools.
Kudos to all of our teachers as well for initiating this within the school community. Thank you.
Liz Hughes,
Puslinch
‘Years of wrong’
Dear Editor:
Most of the TV and online viewing this Christmas season, was devoted to the theme of changing negative characters into positive ones: the sinister, selfish, and sullen Ebenezer Scrooge from the pen of Charles Dickens; the infamous Grinch from the imagination of Dr. Seuss; the nasty Imogene Herdman from Barbara Robinson’s story; The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, along with innumerable Santa Claus stories from any number of writers. All deal with the theme of a metamorphosis of a character due to the spirit of Christmas.
Enter William Shatner, the captain of the legendary Starship Enterprise. Last year, Shatner traveled to the very edge of space, courtesy of Elon Musk’s flying machine. If anyone would be a proponent of space travel given his background, and given the opportunity to actually experience space in real life, it would be him.
In an article written just around Christmas and shared over the internet, quite the opposite is strangely true. Not only was he disappointed, but he is also visibly shaken by the realization of the total futility, the darkness of the infinite and empty void in space, and the utter hopelessness of any sort of space exploration.
He came to understand the Star Trek episodes in which he starred were regrettably totally fake! He now sees our only hope for survival is this planet we all call home. He advocates strongly that we must now address what mankind has done to this oasis we call earth, and make corrections immediately. Famine, floods, forest fires, climate change, war, pollution, poverty, and disease; these are the issues that require our attention, not some make-believe fairy tale or pipe dream with no possibility of fulfillment even in any future generation’s lifetime!
NASA beams proudly today about sending a bunch of crash test dummies around the moon and back, remote controlling some sort of robot on Mars, seeing photographs never-before-seen of something or other they have to explain, and of course, rationalizes the purpose of a few space cowboys in the international space platform circling the Earth like some extra-terrestrial sort of merry-go-round! All for several trillions and trillions of dollars!
And for what purpose? Ironically, as Mr. Shatner has come to realize and now advocate, no human being will ever to able to “go where no man has gone before.”
Thank you, Mr. Shatner. Let’s all stop talking and start to do our part, (as the Christmas carol It Came Upon a Midnight Clear so eloquently says), correcting “two thousand years of wrong!”
Ron Johnson,
Mount Forest
‘Not qualified to lead’
Dear Editor:
With the year 2022 now over, I believe that the public realizes that our economy is in serious trouble.
I believe the prime minister should take responsibility for most of the deficit, and stop blaming it on COVID-19, or the war in the Ukraine, or past governments. Whenever the PM goes “globetrotting” he hands out millions or billions to other countries, while many Canadians have to choose between heat, or putting food on the table.
We could be a very prosperous country, instead we are stuck with this PM and his “climate groupies” paying carbon tax and HST on top of the carbon tax, which likely will go towards financing projects in other countries, while homelessness is on the increase, and food banks witness a never-before-seen increase as well.
When this PM took office, government spending was $296 billion per year. Last update in November that spending was increased to $448 billion. Ninety per cent of middle class pay substantially more income tax. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation explained that the PM intends to increase five major taxes in 2023.
This prime minister is obligated to own all these problems, as this happened on his watch. Add to this that our military is now in such bad shape for equipment, manpower (10,000 unfilled positions), and senior officers have been forced out. Retention has also become a problem.
All this to say that Justin Trudeau is not qualified to lead this nation, and never will be, and I ask the NDP to stop propping up this failed prime minister. Phone Justin Trudeau in Jamaica, where he is on holidays, and tell him that he cannot support him anymore, and initiate yet another federal election so we can start to fix this problem, which will take years.
Jacques De Winter,
Rockwood
‘Over-the-top’ apology
Dear Editor:
I wish to apologize to the chap I yelled at who was parked in the handicapped spot behind the Fergus library on Dec. 21.
One of the three spots was full of snow removed from the parking lot and the other two by the aforementioned chap.
My anger went over the top from years of watching drivers using these handicapped spots illegally. I had just helped my wife from our car and dragged her wheelchair through the snow.
While the driver of the car in the handicapped spot did not possess a handicapped sticker, my reaction was somewhat over the top.
Chris Woode,
Fergus