Wants ‘a livable future’
Dear Editor:
RE: Canada not that bad? and ‘Ignoring energy facts’ (both April 25).
I’m writing in response to the letters from Henry Brunsveld and Peter Mandic calling out local climate change activist Ron Moore. He has personally taken concrete steps over the past few years to reduce his carbon footprint and has seen impressive results.
My son Adam’s life and that of his co-worker Zach were tragically cut short on May 4, 2018 after they heroically saved a young boy stranded on a school bus by a fallen tree in Milton. There was no safety protocol they could have followed to prevent their tragic deaths that day from the second tree that suddenly snapped and flew through the air landing on them and killing them.
The insurance industry certified that this windstorm that struck Southern Ontario and parts of Quebec with winds gusting to 126km/h was intensified by climate change. Insured damages topped $410 million, and it was the most costly catastrophe in Ontario since the Toronto floods in 2013.
While material buildings and possessions can ultimately be replaced, human life cannot, and one precious life lost is one too many. That’s why I am alarmed when I hear about people who continue to deny that the devastating forest fires, droughts, floods, heat domes, atmospheric rivers and hurricanes in Canada and around the world have a direct link to humanity’s burning of fossil fuels.
We need climate action now to ensure that all our children and grandchildren have a livable future.
Debbie Wickham,
Erin
‘Still need to do more’
Dear Editor:
RE: Canada not that bad? and ‘Ignoring energy facts’ (both April 25).
It’s true that Canada and Russia are the two coldest countries, however, most Canadians live south of 50 degrees latitude while most Russians live north of it. Russia’s per capita emissions are 13.3 tonnes/year while Canada’s are 15.2 tonnes/year.
Finland, Norway and Sweden are all north of 55 degrees latitude, yet their emissions are only about 0.1 % of the world emissions compared to Canada’s 1.5% contribution. Even so, they have worked hard over the years at bringing their emissions down to their current levels.
More and more Canadians are concerned about climate change and rather than looking for excuses, they are doing something about it, such as switching to heat pumps for more efficient heating and cooling, driving hybrid electric or electric vehicles, adding solar panels to their roof, improving insulation, using more public transportation or driving smaller fuel-efficient vehicles.
Being aware that the carbon tax was going to increase every year, I took steps to reduce my personal carbon footprint. As a result, I reduced it from 7.6 tonnes in 2018 to 1.2 tonnes last year.
Frustratingly, the tar sands cancelled the positive efforts of many Canadians. Alberta’s emissions increased from 236 mega-tonnes in 2005 to 256 in 2021. For comparison, Ontario’s emissions decreased from 204 mega-tonnes to 151 in the same time period.
Except for Alberta, Canadians are moving in the right direction, but we still need to do more.
Ron Moore,
Hillsburgh
‘Not as dense’ as them
Dear Editor:
Taxpayers subsidizing the auto industry to produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The politicians would have us believe they will create a thousand jobs. I am not a mathematician but how many jobs are lost not producing the combustion engine? What is the cost of more electricity and the charging stations?
Also I might ad, the old saying “time is money” – charging an EV is not like going through a drive-thru at Tim Hortons. Now here is another problem: what do we do with the dead batteries?
Useless politicians we can vote out. But you can not solve one problem by creating another. Why not push for increased technology on the hybrid mobility?
I think our so-called leaders might find their constituents are not as dense as they are.
Harold Robertson,
Minto
‘Simple’ answer
Dear Editor:
RE: Carbon pricing works, April 18.
With all due respect, the letter recently from Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield is yet another example of how out of touch his government has become with Canadians.
At a time when so many of your own constituents are struggling to put food on the table, to pay bills, to stay housed, your claim that your government’s tax actually puts money into peoples’ accounts is a slap in the face.
I am not sure of the methodology used to calculate the indirect cost of carbon pricing but I would suggest that it is seriously flawed. Every single aspect of our lives has become more expensive, and it doesn’t take an economist to understand that the higher cost of consumer goods is directly related to the higher cost to produce them.
The most frustrating part of carbon pricing is that it is framed essentially as a luxury tax. Heating our homes in the winter is not a luxury. Putting gas in our vehicles to get to work is not a luxury. These are necessities.
And unlike traditional luxury taxes, there are no easy alternatives to pivot to. If you don’t want to pay tax on cigarettes you can quit smoking. Not paying tax on carbon is much more difficult. Full electric heat pump options cost tens of thousands of dollars to install, even after rebates. This is also true for purchasing electric vehicles and installing home chargers.
Your constituency and the surrounding County of Wellington is heavily agricultural. Farmers pay a huge amount in carbon tax that is not rebated. Are they supposed to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to retrofit heat pumps for their barns? Are there commercially available electric tractors or combine harvesters that I am unaware of?
To be clear, I am not a climate change denier. I clearly understand the urgency and the need to shift our society to a more sustainable way of living. But you need to understand why the people that you govern feel that the tax is punitive.
Prime Minster Justin Trudeau asked the premiers, “If not carbon pricing, then what?”
My answer is simple. Quit wasting the enormous amount of tax dollars that we already pay, and use the money to reward people for making the shift away from carbon, and don’t punish those who don’t have the means to do so.
Kyle Woods,
Centre Wellington
‘Stand up’ for people
Dear Editor:
RE: Carbon pricing works, April 18.
I am writing to let Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield know the carbon tax rebate is paid over the year in payments that don’t cover the cost of carbon taxes placed on everything.
I am one of the people that doesn’t receive the rebate. Not because I am rich, but because I’m not a home owner.
Canada has the second biggest forest in the world and it scrubs more carbon emissions than we can produce. So in reality we don’t even pollute the air with carbon emissions. And we only produce 0.04 per cent of the carbon emissions in the world.
And as far as the tax and the price of gas going up, it’s also partly but the blame on the government for there increases in carbon taxes. And the oil company does play a part.
If the Conservative government gets elected and gets rid of the carbon tax you will see a big decrease on the price of groceries and home heating and electricity and gas. We need a new government that will stand up for the people
Gery Thomson,
Elora
*Editor’s note: You do not have to be homeowner to qualify for the Canada Carbon Rebate. In 2020 Canada’s share of global greenhouse gas emissions was 1.5%.
‘Stop the insanity’
Dear Editor:
The Canadian federal deficit is estimated to be about $40 billion for the next fiscal year. The Ontario provincial deficit is estimated to be about $10 billion dollars for the same period.
Voters must be really confused, since one budget is from the Liberals while the other is from the Conservatives. Each rails against the other’s misguided financial policies. And look at the debt of each government.
Canada’s debt is $1.3 trillion while Ontario’s is $416 billion. Both governments have been run almost exclusively by Conservatives and Liberals. Has there been any fiscal responsibility from these parties? Has there been any common sense?
A famous, old saying notes that, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” It is time for voters to stop the insanity and make a better choice in future elections. We really need better results.
Peter Meyler,
Brampton
‘Hypocrisy’
Dear Editor:
Rural residents in Guelph/Eramosa and Puslinch are not receiving the Carbon Tax Rebate rural supplement. People in other areas that the government considers rural, including Fergus, are receiving the rural supplement.
What this means is that a person living in an apartment in Fergus will receive the rural supplement but a farmer in Guelph/Eramosa is not receiving the supplement.
I have reached out to MPP Michael Chong’s office and he is bringing the issue to the attention of the minister in charge. I have also reached out the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but have not received a response at this time. I believe that it is important to let the residents of Wellington County know about the unfairness and hypocrisy of the Carbon Tax Rebate rural supplement.
Vicki Stumpf,
Rockwood
Chance to be a leader
Dear Editor:
RE: Shredding event secure, April 18.
The mission statement of Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington (CSGW) is to “combine the best efforts of the media, the community and the police in the fight against crime…” and “…to promote awareness within the community and continue to educate our students and the public in making our community safer.”
The implementation of my proposal to Wellington North council in on April 2 – to investigate, discuss and establish a permanent shredding site for the community – would be a giant step in identity theft crime prevention.
The success of the CSGW shredding program, as detailed in Sarah Bowers-Peter’s letter to the editor of April 18, 2024, is commendable; but it is not comprehensive.
Bowers-Peter has invited me to attend the shredding event planned on Sept. 14 in Mount Forest, an event over four months in the future. Depending on CSGW for the shredding of my sensitive documents creates two problems: 1) continued accessibility to the documents and 2) the creation of a fire hazard in my home by having the extraneous paper stored there.
The suggestion that CSGW will extend event hours if the community requests this, does not resolve the issue as sensitive documentation accrues on a daily basis and requires ongoing, not yearly, attention.
With respect to fire safety, my concern is not fire safety at the event site but rather the fire safety in homes. Quantities of paper create a fire hazard.
Bowers-Peter iterated many of the dangers that accompany the use of fire as a paper purge. Curtailing the temptation to burn documents then becomes a fundamental reason for the municipality to consider a shredding site.
CSGW’s website states the last shredding event was Aug. 31, 2023 – over eight months ago. Each day the documents are in existence is a day of added risk for breach of security and privacy and as a fire risk.
The provision of a “secure destruction certificate to businesses with professional requirements for secure destruction” is secondary to the need for the ability of the general community to destroy its sensitive documents. The goal of a shredding site is for the education and use of the general public – not to fundraise or to fulfill a business requirement.
Crime Stoppers should realize that a shredding site for the community works in consort with their annual shredding event and their mission statement – not against it – and should find avenues by which to co-operate with the municipality in establishing this strategy as a crime prevention tool.
Wellington North has an opportunity to be a model of forward thinking in the protection and destruction of privileged information and to be a leader amongst municipalities.
Joy Lippai,
Arthur
Kudos to caregivers
Dear Editor:
To all caregivers, you are absolutely angels. You have a dirty job and yet you do it with love and respect.
I am especially referring to Arthur Caressant Care – those caregivers are the most loving and caring people. When you give love and respect it is returned to you 100 per cent. I know, I have experienced what I am talking about.
People that are critical of nursing homes should spend just one day with them; it would change their minds.
The abuse caregivers have to deal with is unimaginable. And don’t tell me “that is their job” (it isn’t).
So to all the caregivers in all the nursing homes, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Marlene Pryde,
Fergus
Safety issues
Dear Editor:
When I saw the photo on the first pages of the Equine section in the April 25 edition of the Advertiser I thought it was a quiz – “What’s wrong with this picture?”
Then I realized just one picture shows so many of the dangers associated with horses.
Wear a helmet. It has been proven time and time again, that a helmet offers head and brain protection.
Use a saddle. Bareback riding relies solely on upper body balance. A saddle enables balance from the feet up. One twist or jump from either horse will end in disaster no matter how good a rider one might think they are. Horses are unpredictable.
Use a bitted bridle or hackamore. A halter is not designed as a mounted control method. It is for leading or tying. A knotted lead shank tied to the halter can come undone at any moment.
Leading a horse while mounted. This practice is not a good idea but many do it. A bridle is preferred to halter for more control of the led horse, if you must do it.
Wear proper footwear. Boots with heels of at least 1/4”. The horse feels no pain when it steps on your shoes, or in this case, it looks like sock clad feet. Protect your feet!
I have been involved with horses – many types, breeds, disciplines, competitions and many countries. Horses are big animals of prey with a brain the size of your fist, so please use all available means of safety.
And most of all, think of the impact this photo has on new riders, beginners, those unfamiliar with horses and those unfamiliar with the proper ways of doing things for safety’s sake.
They say that a photo is a just a moment in time but speaks a thousand words. Unfortunately, this photo is saying all the wrong things and in the worst possible ways.
Vivianne Macdonald,
Mapleton