Letters: Nov 14/13

Nov 14, 2013

Re: Edward Kennedy

I appreciated the glimpse into the thinking of a White Folks Champion (Frontenac News, Letters, Nov. 7/13). Would be interested to hear Mr. Kennedy’s views on other social policies, such as Native land claims, Refugee Immigration, etc. Do his views represent conservatism at its purest, or something else masquerading as such?

Stephen Duggan

Lest We Forget: Letter to Scott Reid:

Thank you kindly for your postcard encouraging my attendance at a local memorial ceremony this coming Monday. Since you showed such interest, I thought I should let you know that I will be travelling to my hometown of South Porcupine, Ontario, to commemorate Remembrance Day. I'll explain further into this message, why that may be a prudent decision on my part.

Lest We Forget - Let me first suggest that as a member of the government of the day, I believe that you and your colleagues have already succeeded in forgetting the debt owed to our veterans young and old alike.

I'm sure I don't need to attach a copy of the video produced by the Rick Mercer Report program this past Tuesday (5 Nov). If you haven't watched the video at least once, and thought about how you could rationalize such deplorable and shameful treatment to our young Afghanistan veterans, you have many more problems than even I am aware of. Forcibly releasing damaged veterans in order to avoid paying them an indexed pension of 2% per year for 10 years of service is absolutely shameful. Let me just briefly remind you of your fully indexed pension that you qualified for after 6 years and which you shall receive at 3% for every year served. Shame on you and your colleagues.

It becomes a target rich environment as I seek other similar injustices perpetrated on veterans young and old. Let me remind you of a letter I wrote to you a few years ago, requesting that you support a private members Bill to reverse an injustice that has long been levied on aging veterans. All Canadian citizens who have supported the CPP, when they attain the age of 65, qualify to draw a CPP cheque. Veterans can also draw a CPP cheque; however, the government claws an equal amount of money back from their pensions. You were diligent enough to respond to my request but your letter advised that you do not support my position and you would not be supporting the Bill. Shame on you, Mr. Reid.

The last major injustice that I'll lay out on the table, I won't have to explain for you either. You will have heard the same song from several other veterans. "The New Charter" for injured veterans virtually takes thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars off the table for veterans who can afford it the least. To simplify for this forum, the bottom line is the fact that the New Charter replaced the old method of providing veterans with a lifetime pension compensation for injuries. The New Charter only benefited the public purse and certainly not the injured veterans. Of course, in recent days we have witnessed how those dollars saved were simply channeled into the same trough where political hacks feed to excess. Shame on you and your colleagues, Mr. Reid.

I promised an explanation for why it's probably prudent that I leave this jurisdiction to commemorate Remembrance Day. I believe that November 11 is all about veterans who have served admirably and honourably. It's not a time to make a political statement, no matter how badly that statement needs to be made. I fear that if I were to encounter you or your colleagues at a ceremony, I would feel hard pressed to shake your hands knowing that you have long since abandoned the veterans you so callously sent into harm's way.

Politicians love irony. It makes for good story telling. What is truly ironic is the fact that if those soldiers, before deploying, knew that you would leave them behind, they'd go anyway. Sir! That is called honour!

DL Winney, Major (retired), CD

Hydro One

When I reported the cute but chintzy method Hydro One uses

to squeeze more dollars out of its customers, I didn't realize they were going to outdo themselves. This month, they charged us for exactly TWICE as much electricity as we actually used. The Hydro guys on the ground and up the poles are terrific, but Hydro management is so venal, they make senators look like honest citizens. If we consider that they accept that a 100% inaccuracy on a simple thing like figuring out how much electricity has gone through their lines is quite OK, can we really act surprised when over 2/3 of our bills go toward paying for their ineptitude regarding supply and delivery? Forget “Smart” meters; get us some “smart” Hydro managers who might dump these business practices that are more suited to a banana republic than Canada.

Glen Pearce

Re: Edward Kennedy

It is unfortunate that Mr. Kennedy does not see the difference between a discussion about political scandals and a discussion about the future of the Senate. If he did, he would not make irrelevant comments about death threats to Caucasians in the U.S.A.  (Frontenac News, Letters, Nov. 7/13) in response to Mr. Green's editorial about the future of the Senate . Intelligent participation by Mr. Kennedy in a debate about the future of the Senate would be welcome.

Wolfe Erlichman