‘On the other side’
Dear Editor:
April 22 is Earth Day. On this second Earth Day during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is worth reflecting on how we will live on the other side of the pandemic. To ask: what have we learned during COVID that we want to keep doing on the other side?
The pandemic has reduced the amount of air pollution, because of less travel. Will we return after COVID is over to travelling the way we used to, or will we live smaller lives?
The pandemic has people working from home, doing much less commuting to work, reducing our carbon footprint. Will we continue to work, at least a couple of days a week, from home when the pandemic is over?
The pandemic has many people growing gardens and developing patterns of life that involve living simpler lives, closer to the land. Will these changes in lifestyle become permanent, so that we are more rooted in the place where we live?
The pandemic has people out walking in their communities and neighbourhoods, really seeing what is outside their front doors, and connecting (socially distanced) with their neighbours. Will these neighbourhood connections continue to be built after COVID is over?
Smaller, simpler lives are not diminished lives; in fact, smaller, simpler lives can be rich and meaningful. This Earth Day we are invited to reflect on how we will live on the other side of the pandemic.
Peter Bush,
Fergus
‘Gang of thugs’
Dear Editor:
RE: Chong says he won’t be deterred by sanctions imposed by China, April 1.
First, let me congratulate Michael Chong on his gold star for free speech. Also, I am glad to see, after years of being villifed, we are finally starting to care about the Muslim people.
However, those “sanctions” will inconvenience you about as much as your sanctions will inconvenience the fascist leaders who rule China. The people will feel the brunt.
If you want to hurt China, go after the gang of thugs who are exploiting this slave labour; boycott Apple, BMW, GAP, Nike, Samsung, Sony, VW and, of course, Huawei, just to start. You point to the distinction between your sanctions and their sanctions, quite rightly; then maybe you can explain to me the distinction between the Uyghurs, and those Muslims in India, Palestine, and Yemen.
What we have here are corporate wars, using their paid-off governments to do their bidding. The Americans have overthrown more democratic governments than any other regime in history, so why do we not sanction them?
T. Patrick Doyle,
Guelph/Eramosa
‘Canadian legacy’
Dear Editor:
On behalf of the Au family, I wanted to thank you for the remembrance of Chuck Au that you published in the Advertiser on April 8.
Of course, we knew that our dad made an effort to be welcoming and that as we grew up, the Black and White was a gathering place for kids to hang out and adults to cap off an evening’s entertainment.
But we were surprised by the number and sincerity of fond memories and kind words that appeared in our funeral guest book and on social media.
It was especially nice to see such a tribute on a traditional media platform that we know reaches many locals in the Fergus area. It was clear that you have the perspective of a local who has been in the area for many years and so we thought that it captured a nice perspective on our father’s seven-decade Canadian legacy.
Anna (Au) Calverley,
Midland, Michigan
‘Complacent’
Dear Editor:
Recent surveys of public opinion, as published in the Wellington Advertiser, place the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by politicians mostly in the non-approval column. This should come as no surprise, since far too many politicians work in the reactive mode instead of the pro-active mode.
In times of peace, the best defence against war is preparedness, and that requires planning. Unlike former times when there was no computer modelling capacity, most modern Western governments now have the ability to model reasonable impacts of crises, which in turn, gives information about how to prepare for disasters.
One might ask, at this point, why elected politicians appear not to have chosen to consider the use of such technology? Could it be that, as a group, “they” are simply not up to the task of planning in order to protect and serve the communities that elected them?
COVID-19 appears to have “produced” unfavourable opinions of politicians across the country. Of course, it does not help when decisions of one day are changed on the next day or that decisions that should have been made weeks ago are now ramped up as though there is urgency. Had the country been prepared for a pandemic through proper analysis over past years, we would not be in the mess in which we find ourselves. That, of course, is easy to say! But the truth of the matter is that government agencies (federal and provincial), that should have been ahead of the game, were obviously not. They were, as is often the case in peacetime, complacent.
Complacency is a failure to reach a higher standard, brought about in part, through a sense on non-accountability. Politicians, some but not all, rest on their comfort-zone knowledge that there will be no election for four years, and therefore no direct challenge on their performance. This is a failure of the current election system and ought to be addressed through the right to recall any politician who does not serve his/her constituents suitably. It is not a simple matter, and it would take much thought to establish good performance standards and measurements before a politician should be recalled or made to step aside.
We cannot go forward to the next pandemic without proper analysis and evaluation of scenarios via computer modelling technology being done now, for it will be far too late to play catch-up if another COVID-like virus should happen to emerge.
This is not written with alarmist intent, but with the hope that we never have to go through periods of being locked down or periods when we have to wait for vaccinations … or periods when pharmaceutical companies vie for the biggest share while people are dying.
For that matter, none of us want to see vaccine nationalism emerge while the world suffers; one would hope that genuine humanity would rule the day and that all people would be cared for, equally.
Dr. Alaric Woodrow,
Fergus
‘Effective’ tool
Dear Editor:
RE: Money, April 15.
Dushan Divjak asked how sending money to Ottawa would alter billions of years of change on Earth.
About four billion years of change gave us a beautiful planet to share with all manner of plants and animals, but in approximately the last 200 years we have been industriously and greedily mucking it all up.
We are discarding millions of tonnes of plastic into the oceans; we are dumping toxins and sewage into our lakes and rivers. We are destroying insect, animal and plant species at alarming rates. And now, we are trying to fry everything by pumping mega tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It’s the change we humans have made, particularly in our own lifetime, that we have to stop or reverse.
There are many tools we should be using to address the climate crisis, and one of the more effective ones is a steadily-increasing carbon tax, that will give industry and consumers time to adjust their habits, and a rebate that will help those with lower incomes.
Now that the Conservatives have finally decided that a carbon tax is a good idea, it’s unlikely you will be able to avoid sending money to Ottawa – unless, of course, you stop burning fossil fuels.
Ron Moore,
Hillsburgh
‘Food for sober thought’
Dear Editor:
This is Earth Week, people. Some of us are unaware or just ignore the news of the catastrophic collapse of species. The common view is that it is happening somewhere else, like the Amazon Forests. No. Wilderness is here, next to us. The thickets, the brambles, the trees and dead snags serve as very important habitat to wildlife that is still left. Just as important as the Amazon Forest.
I am talking about the GRCA land and trails along Belwood Lake. A curious thing has been happening along the trail east and west of Wellington Road 26.
Trees and thickets have been disappearing at a fast rate over the past few months. Seems that the trees were guilty of blocking the views to the lake, from the mansions bordering on the trail.
A lovely bench was installed on the trail a few years ago. One could rest there on a hot summer day. Now the shade is gone. All the trees were cut down. There were Baltimore orioles and others nesting in these trees. Habitat destroyed.
As far as I know, GRCA is not handing out permits for clearing vegetation. The view from the trail to the houses sitting in vast expanse of weedless lawns is not very pretty.
I hope I am providing some food for sober thought here.
Basia Hanisz,
Belwood
‘Cooped up’
Dear Editor:
We are happy to see that, for the most part, concerned residents are attempting to abide by the current, but slightly confusing, order issued on April 16 to remain at your residence except for essential travel.
What amazes me is the number of people feel that travelling to their cottage in the north country is part of the stay-at-home order. Although I agree the logic that being outdoors is likely safer then staying cooped up all the time, I do not understand why the government stands by and allows this travel to the north to be acceptable while many others would like to go camping or have a trailer in parks that are certainly in the same outdoor space as cottages, and yet the government has made it clear all parks remain closed under the order.
Clearly it seems there are double standards when it comes to who gets to go where and possibly the government should look at opening up all outdoor spaces so that people can social distance at home and in the their camping/trailer environment.
Pat Brydges,
Drayton
Annoyed with ‘hotrods’
Dear Editor:
I see with the nicer weather coming that “toys” are hitting the road again. These vehicles are probably the “pride and joy” of their drivers, but why do they insist on failing to install adequate mufflers?
They no-doubt think it’s great, but all they are doing is making life a bit more tedious for town dwellers. Also, apart from violating town noise bylaws and the Highway Traffic Act, there is usually an increase in air pollution, when removing an “original equipment” exhaust system.
Years ago, we could take “hotrods” to some secluded cinder track, out in the “boonies” and let off steam, but these places are all gone now and the “kids” have moved onto the highways. How do they get away with it? is a very good question.
What is going to end up happening is the return of “E testing” and probably yearly safety checks, and everybody will end up paying the price for these selfish individuals.
Recently, Halton Region Police had “Operation Wreck Check” and “Operation Noisemaker” and laid over 1,400 charges. Maybe Centre Wellington OPP officers could try something similar.
Malcolm McCulloch,
Fergus
Poetry ‘nitpicking’
Dear Editor:
RE: Water ‘solution’, April 8.
I thank Sytske Drijber for the thoughtful letter on water conservation.
However, in the very best traditions of academic nitpicking, I must point out that the correct quotation from “the old poem in our school reader” (actually Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner) is:
“Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.”
Coleridge continues with some wonderful imagery, for example:
“Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs, Upon the slimy sea.”
Great stuff!
David Brewer.
Puslinch
Shut it down – for real
Dear Editor:
An open letter to MPP Ted Arnott and Premier Doug Ford.
I am writing to express to you my views on the province of Ontario’s effort to stem the tide of COVID-19 and its variants. We all want this nightmare to end ASAP, so you should spend every effort and expense to get everyone vaccinated quickly – priority one.
You want to shut down the province, then shut down the province. Do not allow schools to open, do not allow churches to open, do not allow marijuana dispensaries to open, do not allow beer stores to open, do not allow LCBO stores to open, do not allow playgrounds to open (how can you expect a child to mask-up). If you really want to end the problem, then we all will have to be a little uncomfortable for 30 days.
Frank Yanchus,
Centre Wellington