Letters - October 9, 2008

Letters: October 9

Anybody But...

I find this election quite different from the previous. For the 2006 election, the incumbent was given a five-point mantra to chant, with an emphasis on accountability.

This time any mantra will fail the accountability test. Holding the Harper government responsible for its actions is certain to lessen the willingness of the one in three electors that are primed to go to the polls on October 14 to say "I want more of the same, no questions or comments."

That would imply a desire for a secretive, authoritarian regime that spends big money for helping the U.S. make war on the world and makes major cuts in programs Canadians really need. The extensive list includes food inspection, workplace skills training, adult literacy, child-care, women’s rights, Indian Affairs, the CBC, and even the National Crime Prevention Centre.

In place of the latter, Harper promises to "crack down on violent crime", while he ignores the all-too-evident financial crimes that are threatening to destroy our livelihoods and disrupt permanently our communities.

The thousand jobs lost just in this riding, the invasion of private property by mining interests, the right of prairie farmers to market their own produce, the reneging re taxing income trusts, the cancellation of the Atlantic Accord giving the Maritimes rights to full resource royalties -- are each matters that call for the reversal of policy decisions. Fat chance with a further CON government.

Danny Williams (premier of Newfoundland and Labrador) has it right : "Anybody But".

As for myself, I'm being civil and polite to Scott Reid --whom I have much more respect for than I have for the party and the leader that he represents. My party will be one of the three fewer presenters at the candidate forums.

Instead I will be reporting the global money meltdown, including what is needed to prepare and respond.

Jerry Ackerman, Parham

Re: Ompah Library

It seems that the Ompah library is threatened with closure again. The North Frontenac News reported last week that North Frontenac Council has been offered a portable classroom by the Limestone District School Board for use as a library in Plevna. Two staff from the Kingston library made a report to their Board recommending this as an opportunity to finally close the Ompah branch, centralizing things in Plevna.

Hold on a minute. We see things a little differently from Ompah. There is an Ompah Library Expansion Committe which started 18 months ago. We are in fact active library users here, and we came up with a plan to build a larger facility in place of the existing 200 square foot building. We talked to the community and got a petition. We made plans and looked at ways of coming up with the $70,000 or so to build it. We took the petition and our plans to a Council meeting in March 2007, then to a library Board meeting in Kingston . Our municipal government told us we had a good argument and that we’d get a larger library as soon as plans for the future of the community centre/firehall building were clear. That would be in a few months. The library Board listened politely and made no promises.

The fact is that a single library in Plevna would not be good for Ompah users. We generally travel in the Perth or Kingston directions when leaving the community, so travelling through Plevna does not work for us. The KFPL Board seems to have a vision for it’s rural library system still dictated by the “consultant’s report” that was so contentious a few years ago. We will actively work to ensure that the village of Ompah continues to have a busy library.

John Inglis

Please Return My Toy

I am a big girl. I am 3 years old, but I don't write very good, so my friend is helping me to write to you. He said that when you have trouble, sometimes the newspaper can help you out. Well, newspaper, I have a trouble!

My mommie saved up a lots and lots of money so she could buy me a real Dora the Explorer Jeep that a kid can really drive! It was really, really pretty, like red, with yellow bars on it, so you can't get hurt so much? And you know what? It had my big long skippin' rope in it too ! I left it in my gramma's yard, 'cause that's where I can drive it, cause I can't play near the road!

Well. Guess what? When all our family was gone, and there were no big cars in the yard, someone came right into our yard and stole my jeep!

I really, really miss my jeep. Newspaper, please see if you can find my jeep for me. Thank you very, very much. My friend Ray Fletcher wrote this for me.

(If anyone out there has the jeep, or any information about it, please return/help return the jeep, absolutely no questions asked. Or call 613-279-1113 ASAP - help a little girl feel better)