Arbitrary ‘punishment’?
Dear Editor:
And lo, it came to pass that agents of the crown descended from above upon the hamlet of Elora to inflict punishment upon St. John’s parishioners attending her majesty’s 70th coronation celebration.
Fines were levied on many parked vehicles which for countless decades had been granted immunity from punishment every Sabbath.
Oh woe is we!
Stan and Elizabeth Litch,
Centre Wellington
‘Despicable, shameful’
Dear Editor:
The Ontario election is in the history books. Pundits from all parties will spend many hours analyzing what went right and what went wrong. All parties will try to ascertain why turnout was so noticeably low, and how this may have affected the results.
Doug Ford came out as humbly as he could, knowing full well the massive landslide in his favour. As best as he could, he tried to be as humble as possible, deflect attention from himself and honour his workers, family and supporters.
Mike Schreiner emerged quite proud of himself as a party of one, ensuring that his entire party would continue to co-operate constructively to forward Green values. It fully sounded though, like he was simply reiterating his election speeches one more time. As all the other parties and yes, the entire world is becoming more and more aware of environmental issues, there seems to be an increasing overlap of policies, making this party of one almost redundant.
Perhaps the most touching speech was delivered by Steven Del Duca. Not only was he humble in accepting defeat, but he did so in a truly conciliatory tone. He left us with hope for Ontario, knowing that he personally would not be part of its political landscape. He undoubtedly was the most disappointed of all the leaders, where so much more was expected of the Liberal brand, and so little was achieved. Top marks for this man’s honour and integrity.
Andrea Horwath? She was so insulting and downright adversarial in tone, that it was difficult to maintain one’s own composure. “Nasty” would be my grandson’s contemporary term. She focused on every single negative in the world today, and seemed to imply every issue was singularly Ontario’s failure. Our current government got every single crisis wrong, despite the facts that prove otherwise. Her response was almost childlike, proclaiming, “We’ll get you next time.”
I don’t know if she has ever seen a Stanley Cup final, but the most touching scene of all is actually when play has ended. The two combative teams, to a man, line up and shake hands over a grueling and hard-fought often seven-game contest to win the most cherished trophy in all of sports history. No animosity, simply congratulations for the winning side, and a heartfelt appreciation for the efforts of the other team.
Andrea Horwath’s despicable and shameful outrage is not the way to bow out of any contest, whatever that contest may be!
Ron Johnson,
Mount Forest
Rainbow criticism
Dear Editor:
I am concerned about the apparent need for rainbow colours everywhere. Rainbow flags can be seen on flagpoles, light standards and store fronts. And now the rainbow colours are painted on the steps of the Wellington County Museum and Archives.
Is this a good use of tax dollars, my tax dollars? Is this necessary? Is this wise? Oh, but lately it seems, what is foolish is now considered wise and what is wise is considered foolish.
What do we tell our children? What do you say to a six-year-old child when he or she asks, “Mom, why did they paint the steps in the colours of the rainbow?” or “Dad, what does the rainbow-coloured flag mean?”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the rainbow-coloured steps meant what the rainbow really represents? (On a side note, the real rainbow is seven colours, not six). It would be so good to tell children about the mercy of God in that the real rainbow is a sign that He would never again destroy the world with a flood.
What would be wise is to keep all things in the current rainbow-themed movement away from the eyes of children. The Bible speaks clearly about how we are not to lead little ones astray.
I am sending this letter to the Wellington County Museum and Archives as well, asking them to remove the paint. May we as adults show wisdom and discernment. Clear-heading thinking is sorely needed.
Let our children be children.
Diane Breukelman,
Elora
‘Terrible’ process
Dear Editor:
An open letter to Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong.
I am a constituent in Fergus, Ontario. I am having a nightmare with random COVID-19 testing.
I arrived from Europe to Toronto on May 25. I was given a pink sticker on my passport. No one at the airport explained what this meant, so I went home. On May 28 I received an email saying I had been randomly selected to do a test within 24 hours of arrival. By then it was two and a half days after I arrived.
On May 28 I received a phone call asking if I had done a test, which I hadn’t, and telling me I had to get tested. I emailed Switch Health which is looking after the process and they said they would courier a test by Purolator.
On June 2 I got a form from Purolator saying I had to pick up the test at the Guelph location. I was home that morning and they did not even notify me that they were here. I picked up the test on June 2 and did it on June 3. That was the only easy part of this process.
There was no direction with the test as to how to ship it back to Switch Health. I took the package to the local pick-up point in Fergus. The Purolator driver was there and he said they will not pick up COVID tests; I have to phone Purolator. I did that and after about a 20-minute wait I spoke to an agent about a pick-up. She said they would not be able to pick it up until Monday between 9am and 5pm. I live in a condo and will have to be here to buzz the driver in to pick it up from my door. This means I potentially have to stay home all day Monday.
I think you will agree that this is an extremely onerous process and is really useless, as I was unable to do the test within 24 hours of arrival; it has been a week and two days since I have arrived. The service by Purolator is terrible.
I am a senior and fortunately am retired so I can spend all this time on the testing process; I have a car so I can drive to Guelph and around Fergus and I have a computer so can do the online test. I feel sorry for all the seniors and other people who do not have the time, car or computer. What can they do?
If you can do anything to sort out this mess, I would appreciate it.
Kathie Kurtz,
Fergus
Trudeau ‘simple’?
Dear Editor:
Once again, the Liberal government is proposing legislation that misses the mark as far as gun control is concerned.
Should there be gun control, no question, yes. Are legal gun owners the cause of gun violence? Well, no. Fatal shootings overwhelmingly are the result of illegal ownership especially for gun crime. Suicide is a different matter that for some reason has not been talked about but is definitely a cause for concern.
In late May, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated, “The majority of gun owners in Canada are responsible and follow the law, but rising gun violence is unacceptable.” No statistics or studies were brought forth to demonstrate that the guns used in criminal acts came from legal gun owners.
It appears that the greatest threat is from firearms smuggled or illegally imported from the U.S. or beyond. And yet previously in 1995, the gun registry, Bill C-68, the Liberal government said would cost $2 million to make Canadians safe, cost about $2 billion and was scrapped in 2012 as it proved to be not effective for its intended purpose. What if that $2 billion had been spent on crushing the smuggling and illegal importing of guns? Is it quite likely that the tragic mass shooting in Nova Scotia in April 2020 could have been avoided?
Instead, Trudeau used that horrible waste of life to push a ban on firearms that had been legally owned and registered by Canadians.
Fast forward to the senseless school shootings in Uvalde, Texas. Here the gunman had legally purchased the automatic rifle he used but was likely deranged and mentally disturbed, as was the Nova Scotia gunman.
Once again Trudeau is using a horrible and tragic event to push handgun legislation even though the Texas shootings did not involve handguns. He said, “Other than using firearms for sport shooting and hunting, there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives”.
Handgun ownership legislation is quite strict in Canada so what is the real reason Trudeau is focusing on this?
Trudeau states, “Gun violence is a complex problem, but at the end of the day, the math is really quite simple: the fewer guns in our communities, the safer everyone will be.” Let’s use Trudeau’s philosophy and apply it to smoking, the number one “ preventable “ cause of death and disease. The math is really quite simple: ban smoking and save over 48,000 lives (and $16.2 billion in healthcare). There is no reason anyone in Canada should need to smoke in their everyday lives. The fewer cigarettes in our communities, the more people will live. Where is the war on tobacco and the doom and gloom?
Life is hard, challenging and definitely not simple. Someone thinks it is or is simple themselves. You decide.
Michael Thorp,
Mount Forest
‘Children need fathers’
Dear Editor:
A father’s influence for good in the lives of their children is immeasurable. That doesn’t mean some have not tried to do the calculation. As Father’s Day will soon be here, it is appropriate to try to appreciate our own father’s impact on our character and lives.
In a recent article, Samuel Sey, a Ghanaian-Canadian blogger who lives in Brampton, wrote, “63% of teenagers who commit suicide are fatherless; 72% of adolescent murderers are fatherless; 75% of adolescents in rehab centers for drug abuse are fatherless; 60% of rapists are fatherless; 85% of teenagers in prison are fatherless. And especially, 75% of the most-cited school shooters in America are fatherless — just like the teenager who walked into Robb Elementary School to murder 21 people.”
While these are measurements of the lack of the presence of a father in children’s lives, it is easy to see that loving fathers are a powerful crime prevention influence in society.
Our parents instill appreciation for authority in us, but the buck stops with dad. I remember as a child if my sisters and I didn’t stop talking when we were supposed to go to sleep, all it took was for my father to start walking slowly up the creaky staircase and we were silent.
When a father is not there to enforce authority children tend to go the wrong way. Mothers also do this successfully but the statistics don’t lie: children need their fathers.
Jane Vandervliet,
Erin
*Editor’s note: The Advertiser was unable to verify the statistics used in this letter.
Jewelry fundraiser
Dear Editor:
I think most of us can agree that it’s very easy to accumulate things that we think we need or want, only to find that in fact, our prized possessions sit unused, hidden away, never to be seen again. I was definitely guilty of this and my weakness had always been jewelry.
I decided to take my love for jewelry and put my collection to better use and here’s how it began.
It was roughly seven years ago that I came upon a story that changed my life. I discovered what was happening to the critically endangered orangutan of Borneo and Sumatra in South East Asia and the lifesaving rescue and rehabilitation work that International Animal Rescue was doing to help this threatened species.
Clearing land to make way for palm oil plantations has resulted in mass deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia where more than 80% of the world’s palm oil is produced. This has destroyed the natural habitat of animals including orangutans, tigers, rhinos and elephants, pushing many to the brink of extinction.
Orangutans, as well as many other wild animals, are being driven from the forest in heart wrenching scenes that go unnoticed in western media; the pain and suffering incurred is shocking and inhumane. Finding ways to help has become my passion and the opportunity to do so has been fulfilling and life changing.
As a volunteer fundraiser I have done a number of different things like yard sales, many raffles at the company I am employed by, campaigning at Zehrs grocery stores, the Guelph Santa Claus Parade, and up until COVID-19, I have hosted an annual Orangutan Pub Night.
I am always looking for new ways to raise funds and reach people with the story of the critically endangered orangutan.
My latest fundraising initiative has been collecting jewelry. The jewelry collection that I have put together is called “The Rainforest Collection”; it’s very eclectic, with something for everyone. It consists of my own pre-loved jewelry and jewelry that has been donated by family, friends, artisans from around the world, as well as compassionate and generous people within our Guelph/Fergus community.
To all of these people, I am so very grateful. The response has been amazing and as a result I have been a vendor at several shows where I have been able to sell the jewelry. I am scheduled to be at this years Guelph Multicultural Festival in June with my “Rain Forest Collection” and will continue to do markets right up to Christmas.
All profits raised go directly to IAR’s Orangutan Project (internationalanimalrescue.org/orangutan-sanctuary). If anyone is interested in getting involved in this very special cause and has jewelry they no longer have use for, please reach out to me (patricialeecuthbert@hotmail.com). I am grateful for any and all support.
Patricia Cuthbert,
Guelph