Justin Trudeausa国际传媒 fantasy world
Dear Editor:
If people don鈥檛 know what a blundering financially incompetent politician looks like, they need look no further than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Based on his record of screw-ups, his advisors must be a bunch of spineless lackeys.The consequences of the Liberalsa国际传媒 so-called 鈥楪ST/HST Holiday鈥 is another attempt by this economically inept politician to bribe Canadians with their own money.
He doesn鈥檛 care about the costly, time-wasting inconvenience he is causing thousands and thousands of small business owners. I guess funding food banks for the needy would have been too simple.
Apparently there are no limits for what this ego-driven man is willing to do in a desperate attempt to stay in power. Wasting taxpayers鈥 money is of no concern to him. Trudeau is getting his self-indulgent photo-ops, but they only reveal his true character: a thespian living in a self-delusionary fantasy world.
Lloyd Atkins
Vernon
A suggestion
on our utilities
Dear Editor:
Can anyone explain why Fortis Inc., when it is upgrading its gas service lines on Lakeshore Road in sa国际传媒, doesn鈥檛 have the foresight to bury its overhead electrical power lines while the trench is open and following exactly the same right of way?
Fortis Gas and Fortis Electric are one and the same company after all.
Perhaps the City of sa国际传媒 or the Province should have a say in this. Every service is safely buried underground in sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 newly-developed neighbourhoods.
Seems like common sense, when you look at the long term gain versus short term savings.
Roger Hume
sa国际传媒
What happened to promises?
Dear Editor:
David Bucknasa国际传媒 letter of Dec. 7 (Todaysa国际传媒 question for Mayor Dyas) raises an interesting, if not serious question. What is the public to make of campaign promises?
During his 2022 mayoral campaign Dyas stated, 鈥淩esidents have told me that they expect their next Mayor to fight to save sa国际传媒 Springs, and thatsa国际传媒 what I will do.鈥
Tom Dyas also promised, and I quote directly from his campaign webpage: 鈥淥ver the past 8 years property taxes have increased 29%, inflation over the same period was 14%. We need to rein in spending at City Hall and ensure your money is being spent efficiently. With extraordinary tax increases, you deserve extraordinary improvements. Itsa国际传媒 time to respect your hard-earned tax dollars. As sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 next Mayor I will: Conduct an independent third-party audit of the Citysa国际传媒 finances to find efficiencies and savings 鈥 without reducing services.鈥
Dyas went further to say that his Administration will be open, honest and transparent with the public. I interpreted this comment to include Dyassa国际传媒 support for and encouragement of a respectful exchange of contrarian points of view; an environment in which well thought out and discussed ideas rise to the surface.
However, once elected Dyas made it crystal clear that he, and only he 鈥渟peaks for council.鈥 This leaves me wondering what other councilors actually think about public policy issues. If councilors are silenced, why are they there at all.
Which brings me back to the original question. What are we to make of campaign promises?
Bill Shumborski
sa国际传媒
Iceberg! Iceberg! says Trudeau
Dear Editor:
Justin Trudeausa国际传媒 shuffling of the Federal Cabinet should prove to be about as effective as it would have been to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic after it had struck the iceberg.
Fred B. Woodward
sa国际传媒
Humanitarian work of Trudeau
Dear Editor:
Change in Syria dominates the news. Some of us remember the wee Syrian boy, dead on a Turkish beach, before Canadasa国际传媒 2015 election.
Significantly, since 2015, more than 100,000 Syrians, fleeing the brutal Assad dictatorship have been extended humanitarian settlement in Canada by the Liberal government.
Consider the number of entitled Canadians advised against travel by Health Canada at the height of the pandemic , who ignored that advice, bleated to be taken home from COVID-infested cruise ships, and were, by our government, but then vehemently complained of being quarantined.
All is seemingly eclipsed, now, by Donald Trumpsa国际传媒 illiterate insults, intended to belittle Canadians and our prime minister. When Pierre Trudeau learned that Richard Nixon had called him 鈥渁n asshole鈥 he memorably commented, 鈥淚鈥檝e been called worse things by better men.鈥 You may recall Nixonsa国际传媒 less than pristine legacy, while Pierre Trudeau, in 2004, as well as Tommy Douglas, was voted The Greatest Canadian. Both Trudeau and Douglas advocated for a just society for all.
Truly 鈥渢he evil men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.鈥 (Shakespeare)
The benefits that Justin Trudeausa国际传媒 Liberal team have provided citizens of Canada cannot be underestimated. When you tell yourself a measure is of 鈥渘o benefit to me鈥, remember Martin Niemoller, of Nazi Germany, who wrote, 鈥淔irst They Came鈥, which concludes: 鈥淭hen they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me.鈥
If thatsa国际传媒 too 鈥渨oke鈥 for you, maybe itsa国际传媒 time for you to wake up. The hostile invective, and personal attacks of Pierre Poilievere will not ever be a legacy to admire. He can spend untold sums of money on videos pretending hesa国际传媒 a nice decent fellow with only the plight of impoverished Canadians at heart. We鈥檝e watched. We鈥檝e listened. We know better.
Zoltan Lawrence
sa国际传媒
Christmas is the birth of Jesus
Dear Editor:
In search of Advent graces, I read the Life of Jesus by Francois Mauriac, Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 1952.
He was recognized for his 鈥渄eep spiritual insights and the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life鈥.
He said: 鈥淲hat gave me the courage and confidence to write the Life of Christ more than anything else was just that need of finding again, of touching in some way the living and suffering Jesus whose place is empty in many hearts鈥. He resisted all efforts to minimize the human element in Jesus of Nazareth.
Certainly, Jesus has become a diminished figure in Church life. Yet the Christmas story continues to fascinate. It is the most dramatic, essential, necessary for god to cloth and joy filled of all Biblical births. The Christmas crib that originated with Francis of Assisi continues to capture for us the great excitement of those who first welcomed him. But there was another power at work; Satan was particularly alarmed by this birth and put it into the heart of Herod to destroy him.
Mauriac proclaims: 鈥淔or me to believe, it was necessary for Christ to cloth himself in humanity. If Christ had not said, Our Father... I should never have had this sense of sonship. The Lord prayer, that invocation, would never have risen from my heart or lips鈥.
How many efforts are made to obscure the divinity of Christ? Then those who betray him can sleep in peace, their faces turned towards nothingness. If Jesus were not for me the Son of God, sent to save us from all evil, then I would find an immense emptiness in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, after its costly renovation. Christmas would to me be much ado about nothing.
And this is why a believer, however weak, however ill qualified he or she finds them-selves, is duty bound to reply to the eternal question: And what sayest thow of this Man?
Fr. Harry Clarke
sa国际传媒
Thanks veterinarians
Dear Editor:
The Veterinarian Assistant brought the cage to the reception area from a back room, and when she lifted the covering, there was my best buddy wrapped up like a Christmas gift. Being a Hahnsa国际传媒 Macaw, Chico has brilliant green plumage with red shoulder pads, and now his right wing was covered with a bright red bandage. Chico gave me a welcoming squawk, as I told him his medical dressing resembled Willie Nelsonsa国际传媒 trademark bandanna.
He had experienced quite a day; driven to the Vet about seven hours earlier, diagnosed with a tumour in his armpit (wing pit) that had to be removed, and undergoing the surgery, anesthesia and all. Really traumatic for this little bundle of feathers, who had been adopted my my wife and me 23 years ago when he was only six weeks old. Since being widowed seven years ago, Chico and I have become closer than ever; we are truly best buddies.
While watching television in the late evening on Dec, 16, Chico climbed up onto my hand, and there was a drop of blood on my finger. Thought he鈥檇 pricked me with his claws, but that was not the case as found the underside of his right wing was bloody. There was a swelling on his little body that had been bleeding, but he wouldn鈥檛 let me clean any of the blood from his feathers. Checks on Google gave me options that were scary and frightening, and early next morning started phoning veterinarians for assistance.
I was directed to the Island Animal Hospital in Nanaimo, about 45-minutes down the highway; Doctor Ken Langelier is in residence there, and Chico was so fortunate to be cared for by such a renowned Avian Expert on Dec. 18. He said the tumour was quite large for such a small bird, and though it went quite deep, was satisfied that all was removed and sent for examination. Chico is now home on medication with a follow-up appointment scheduled two days before Christmas, then sutures removal later.
Christmas came a week early this year for Chico and me, with the wonderful Dr. Ken Langelier and staff playing Santa and Elves saving Chicosa国际传媒 life. To paraphrase Charles Dickens鈥 Tiny Tim, we gratefully say 鈥 God bless them, every one鈥.
Bernie Smith
Parksville
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