‘Bluff and fluff’
Dear Editor:
Many slogans use just a couple of well-chosen words to stimulate change.
Essential is an action verb which, of course, needs to be legitimized by action: a backup plan or policy. Verbs like “axe”, “build”, “re-arm”, “cut”, etc., even when shouted, sound hollow or even immature when nothing of substance follows.
Makes me think of the tantrum over the carbon tax that held up the business of parliament for days with no avail. Even the name-calling and reputational slurs backed by a few bobble-head Conservatives and aimed across the aisle do little to convince me their leader has the maturity to become prime ministerial.
Lately, Poilievre’s refusal to obtain security clearance in order to read CSIS information about foreign meddling among some of his party members exhibits an adolescent “nothing to see here” mentality. A bit like sidling up to the lead rebels of the trucker convoy in Ottawa for a photo op to make a name for himself.
Or having his wife praise him at interminable length before taking the platform to put forward his bid for Tory Party leadership. Let’s get past the bluff and fluff and finally bring something home.
Arlene Callaghan,
Fergus
‘No escaping it’
Dear Editor:
We’re eliminating our gas use.
Our household just received its October carbon tax rebate of $210 from the federal government. We are going to use it to replace our gas stove with an electric induction one. Better cooking. Better indoor air. Better health.
But more important, our small shift away from another gas application will reduce fossil fuel pollution. The impacts of that pollution are only getting worse as we witness climate change enhanced storms, floods and heat waves across the country and around the world.
There is no escaping it, fossil fuel pollution must be paid for; either as a planned and progressive carbon tax and rebate supporting good changes, or through soaring costs on many fronts – health, food production, and insurance to name a few.
The cleaner options are available and the rebates we receive help us make them. Don’t buy the oil company’s unproductive “axe the tax” bafflegab. We can and are doing what needs to be done: eliminating one fossil fuel application after another!
Stan Kozak,
Guelph
Selfless youths
Dear Editor:
Oct. 24 was World Polio Day, which highlights the global efforts to end poliomyelitis (polio) worldwide.
Members of the Fergus-Elora Rotary Club were at Vito’s Pizzeria in Elora on last Thursday promoting pizza sales during the week of Oct. 21 to 27 as 50% of the sales were donated to our Club toward ending Polio worldwide.
While the Rotarians were at Vito’s Pizzeria, a few young teenagers asked why we were there and what Polio was. We talked to the young men for a while and when we were finished talking, the young men donated all the remaining money they had after purchasing their food.
I just felt I had to share this as there is never enough “feel good” stories out there and I thought this was a good one. Have a great day!!!
Debbie Roberts,
Belwood
‘Cancer to democracy’
Dear Editor:
An open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
I read with dismay in news reports that you decided to stay on as prime minister, after yet four more ministers in the Liberal caucus made public that they would not stand for re-election in the next federal election.
In recent past elections, you have told Canadians that your government would be “transparent,” among other things, but the opposite is true.
As an 80-year-old peacekeeping veteran, I am appalled that you have allowed our military to be reduced to such a deplorable state, that the outgoing chief of defence staff referred to our military as “irrelevant” on the world stage. This couldn’t come at a worse time, as the troubles in the Middle East and Ukraine are beginning to spread. If Donald Trump wins the election in the U.S., I doubt that we can count on the U.S. for military aid if and when the need arises.
The minute hand on the “doomsday clock” is very near “12-o-clock”, and here we are with a military that has 16,000 positions that they can’t fill, and their equipment is more than 50% unusable, or downright outdated!
You, Mr. Prime Minister, have allowed all the above to happen as prime minister for the last nine years. You cannot blame anyone else for this. You have spent billions of dollars off-shore and at home on your pet projects, thinking that these projects would make you look like a real world leader. In fact, the opposite is true. You left our borders to the south open for all sorts of people by the thousands to come to Canada, putting a massive drain on our infrastructure.
Homelessness has skyrocketed and hunger has increased to a point that’s not been experienced for a long time, if ever (according to food banks). Similarly, our economy has nose-dived, no doubt because of your insane carbon tax.
You say we get that carbon tax back, then, why impose it? Do we get the HST back that we paid on top of the carbon tax? Do you understand that because of the carbon tax on home heating, that this has also affected home ownership?
Do you now understand why Canada’s economy is in a free-fall?
Finally, with Russia and/or China knocking at our northern door and our military “irrelevant”, and the U.S. military may/may not come to our aid, I’m going to advise my kids, to keep my grandchildren close to home, as conscription will surely follow if the unthinkable happens.
In view of everything I’ve stated above, I submit that you are a cancer to our democracy, and respectfully encourage you to resign immediately.
Jacques De Winter,
Rockwood
‘Dangerous crossing’
Dear Editor:
RE: Speed cameras coming soon, signs warn, Oct. 17.
In that issue of the Advertiser, it stated that the county was implementing automatic speed enforcement through a one-year pilot program in designated school and community safety areas.
The roundabout in Arthur at Frederick Street and Eliza Street was not mentioned. This is an extremely dangerous crossing for pedestrians and school children. I realize that this spot is not in a school zone, but it is used by a large number of children on their way to and from school as well as community members.
Both the past and present crossing guards have reported near misses and other disturbing incidents here. What goes on at this crossing is ridiculous. There have been way too many close calls here. A lot of the drivers are amazing, but then there are the others. All crossing guards are very visible. They wear bright vests as well as holding a red “stop” sign. They are there for the safety of our children and they are proud of their job. However, they have been yelled at, cussed out, as well as ignored. Some drivers just speed up and carry on. They have come close to being run over. Some children have also come close.
A transport truck driver got into a verbal confrontation with the crossing guard once. This happened in front of a mother with a small child. All three were traumatized by this. This altercation was overheard by a Wellington North employee who also reported it. These situations occur many times a week, not just occasionally.
Please don’t wait until a child or a crossing guard is seriously injured or worse. If you can’t put cameras in this spot, could you at least put a crossing similar to the one that was just installed at Smith and Conestoga Street in Arthur and in Mount Forest.
I don’t want to open the paper to read about a disaster at this corner. Crossing guards everywhere do an amazing job protecting our children; please help them do their job safely. If you see a crossing guard on duty, please wave to them or if possible, stop briefly and say “thank tou.”
Janice Wilson,
Arthur
‘Cruel circumstances’
Dear Editor:
For qualification purposes I will note my first full-time job was as lineman for Bell Telephone out of Guelph’s Campbell Road location in the spring of 1966. Our main job at the time was stringing high capacity (for the time) multi pair cable to accommodate heavy telephone usage throughout our area. TV cable at that time was also a relatively new advancement.
Since telephone cable of that era was almost solely copper conductor based, it was not completely unknown for “resourceful individuals” to save odd scraps of cable to convert to hard cash. However, it was rare and the era different in that most young people were ready to take on and value a job, even one that could be near to the most boring in nature.
Fast forward to our present decade, in which we see many unemployed – some that could surely hold a job to maintain body and soul, yet they find more and more reason not to work.
Up until COVID raised its ugly head it could be argued that many employers were forced to hire unfortunates ahead of homegrown workers. That situation changed in a heck of a hurry during the worst days of pandemic, so much so that employers were scratching for labourers wherever they could find them.
In the last six months it has become more than evident that people fit enough to “manhandle” (for any appreciable amount of the cable referred to, requires a strong back). More than evident you say? The writer and fellow Bell Telephone land-line subscribers on southeast side of Guelph are again, for the fourth time in three months, without land-line telephone service. During that three-month span the total duration without land line service for ourselves, is within a day or two of one complete month.
The majority of Bell Telephone subscribers fully realize that Bell can not watch all of its lines 24/7. We also are completely aware that a large sector of Ontario’s population has met with the cruel circumstances when gainful employment was simply not there for many, and that substance abuse often filled that void. Those two terrible situations can cause deterioration in any society.
Eke Gates,
Guelph/Eramosa
‘Hindrance to peace’
Dear Editor:
RE: “Enough is enough,” Oct. 24.
Sandra Solomon seems to feel that the war in Gaza would end if not for Israeli PM Netanyahu and the IDF; she also blames Israel for the Hamas attack in the first place.
Should she also blame Israel for the wars in 1948, in 1967 and 1973? Should she also blame Israel because the Oslo Accords, which were supposed to usher in peace, instead began a period of renewed and intensified Palestinian violence against Israelis?
Does she know anything about the history of the Jewish state? She should read about the UN partition of Palestine in 1947 and the creation of a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. Israel accepted the partition and the Arabs and Palestinians did not.
In 1948, with a small army comprised in part by Holocaust survivors, Israel was attacked by five different countries: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt. Israel, again, had to prepare itself for war in 1967 against the Egyptians, Syrians and Jordanians. And yet again in 1973.
And now, in 2023 and 2024, Israel is fighting not just Hamas but a war on seven fronts by organizations and countries that want nothing more than to rid the Middle East of Israel. Yes, Israel has had enough of war; we all want peace.
But Sandra Solomon is asking nothing of Hamas or Iran or Hezbollah – for them the liberation of Palestine can only be achieved through armed struggle (and the liberation of Palestine means the elimination of the Jewish state).
There is no greater hindrance to peace than Palestinian terrorism.
Barbara Cooper,
East Garafraxa
Community health
Dear Editor:
For community members who work and volunteer in community health, October is a meaningful month. It’s a time to celebrate community health and wellbeing with the priority populations we serve, and to remind decision-makers that our work is the foundation of the health care system.
Guelph Community Health Centre (Guelph CHC) is one of many community health organizations across Canada providing primary health care and wraparound supports to community members who face barriers to health and wellness.
What does that look like? Newcomers to Canada who face language barriers can access translation services to ensure clear communication with their health care providers. Parents can support early childhood development and socialization through Guelph CHC’s EarlyON program.
Transgender people may address acute health conditions before it becomes more serious, because they know their medical team will treat them with dignity and respect.
Someone who is struggling with loneliness can improve their sense of belonging through a social prescription that connects them with programs in the community.
Thanks to Guelph CHC programs, people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness have access to primary health care and other supports such as showers, nutrition and pathways to housing. A person experiencing a mental health crisis in public spaces may be supported by an outreach worker instead of a police officer.
Community health provides the right care in the right setting. When a person has access to health and wellness programs at the community level, they are less likely to reach a crisis that requires emergency or hospital resources. Community health settings – where all clients feel welcome and valued – relieve pressure on other parts of the health care system.
Despite our critical role and the rising cost of living, community health workers face a combined wage gap of over $2 billion compared to our peers doing similar work in other publicly funded settings, including in hospitals and schools. This growing wage gap is causing staffing shortages that will continue to impact care. To continue our work in a meaningful way, wages must keep pace with comparable health care roles.
During Community Health and Wellbeing Month, we celebrate our clients’ health and wellness journeys. We acknowledge barriers and work to remove them, one by one. We celebrate and honour the collective efforts of our hardworking staff and volunteers.
And we join with our colleagues across Ontario in reminding our communities and decision-makers of the critical role we play, now and in the future.
Melissa Kwiatkowski,
CEO, Guelph CHC