Letters_oct27

Jeff Green | Oct 27, 2005

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Letters to the Editor

Mitchell Creek BridgeWell, the environmental assessments are in and we are most certainly going to have a new, higher and much wider bridge spanning Mitchell Creek. The bridge is at the north end of Loughborough District, so it's probably safe to assume that most Loughborough residents Don't use the bridge on a regular basis.

Therefore, I want to thank my southern neighbours for their future tax dollars that will pay for the roughly One Hundred Thousand Dollars that their councillors, Ron Vandewal and Gary Davison (with the cheerful Leadership of Mayor Lake) are willing to spend, rather than fight for the original and less expensive bridge design. I particularly want to thank my neighbours in Sydenham whom Councillors Ron and Gary obviously thought could use a little more tax burden when they voted down a motion to have Council keep up the pressure on the Department of Transport.

The next election is more than a year away and it's kind of scary to think what the Mayor and his shadows might do to us over the course of the next twelve months or so!

- John Sherbino

Sharbot Lake High School commencementI must convey my disappointment at finding a photograph of school principal Tom Taylor as the center piece of the article. As the commencement is really about the graduating students, I believe that perhaps a photo of the valedictorian, Erika Benn, would have been more appropriate. And a big hurrah for the big cell phone give away!

Corporate Canada must be applauding Mr. Taylor for that grandstanding move. The final lesson for the grads from Sharbot Lake HS is to welcome with open arms society's expectation of "keeping in touch" along with the monthly user fees that I'm certain newly graduated students can so well afford.

"Scrounging?" That must have been a tough go, what with so many companies giving the phones away! They know that the real money is made from the usage, not the purchase. Good one, Mr. Taylor. Perhaps for your final commencement at Sharbot Lake HS, you could really make a splash, and present the graduates with new vehicles (monthly payments not included)! I hear that GM has a great student promotional deal.

- J. R. Miller

Re:Municipal funding for Sydenham WaterMs. Dombrowsky generalizes too much when she says “Sydenham is the community of interest for much of South Frontenac where children go to school, and people go to shop, worship and recreate.”

I doubt anybody from the Bedford District goes to Sydenham to do any of these things: We have schools, shops, churches and recreational facilities right here in Bedford, Verona, and Westport. What does Sydenham have that we don’t have? Why should we pay for a water system that half the people of Sydenham do not want?

I can’t recall that the township ever thought it necessary to help the farmers, who had a tough time last year, as, I imagine, even Sydenham knows. And now they are asked to pay for a water system they never will use.

If there was a place where one could donate to help the people in Sydenham, such as for a disaster, I would certainly contribute, but I resent being told that I must pay for it because it is for my benefit, when it is not.

And don’t tell me that everything the government does is worth emulating. There is our Mr. Martin taking a sightseeing trip to the Tsunami disaster area. He did nothing useful there, and the money he wasted there would have paid not only for the waterworks, but also for the sewage system in Sydenham.

- A. Thonigs

Corruption the story of Martin's LiberalsCorruption, cronyism, mismanagement, non-existent ethics, scandal... this is the story of the Paul Martin Liberals. They’ve been trying to persuade us that this is just a legacy of the previous Liberal regime (it is), and that all will be well when Paul Martin takes over. Well, Paul Martin took over (feebly) two years ago but the corruption, cronyism, mismanagement, non-existent ethics, and scandal continue unabated.

The latest example of the Liberals’ non-existent ethics and cynicism is the resignation of David Dingwall as president of the Canadian Mint after being exposed as a spendthrift and cheapskate (in 2004 almost $1 million in salary and expenses including a charge for a packet of chewing gum) - all on the taxpayer’s purse. This, after billing hundreds of thousands of dollars while working as an unregistered lobbyist (I think that’s illegal?).

If we’re not appalled yet, then how about the Liberal Government giving Mr. Dingthem, uh, Dingwall, a great big golden handshake (like $500,000) for resigning under a very heavy cloud!

And let’s not forget that Dingthem, Dingwall is now the fifth Crown Corporation President to resign under a cloud since Paul Martin came to power!

Wake up Canada - we’re being had.

- Michael Monk

Seniors in povertyFlora McDonald says that Canada has more than 600,000 seniors living in poverty.

Now it is a different world – oil, gas and food prices will certainly make things worse. It’s a safe bet that at least half of the poor seniors live alone and heat lots of space they don’t use, and eat badly because its hard to cook for one.

We all found out how hard it is to change whole groups of people, and I know that this group has very deep feelings about “What would people think” of two or three men lived together or two or three or four women in one house, or God forbid one guy and three women, etc. etc.!

Well, the most important thing we can give the young is a chance to travel – so why not swallow our pride and save the oil and gas, so that they will be able to afford to travel and learn as our generation did.

It is also likely that we could save a good many millions just by doubling up and taking care of each other’s diets and general health, and staying out of hospitals.

I have no idea how this could be done but maybe Flora could suggest something to the Government to encourage people to share their homes (whenever possible and pleasant.) Also, maybe the readers have ideas.

- Carmel Gowan