Here’s how to merge onto Deerfoot
Re: “Wait to merge; it’s best option,” Tom New, Driving, May 20.
Zipper merging might work in the U.S., where drivers are usually polite and cooperative, but in Canada, it is a great way to get yourself killed. Many drivers here take a competitive approach to the road and will do their best to block anyone wanting to change lanes. Wait until you reach the choke point and you are likely to have to choose between stopping and waiting for an opening or hitting the barrier, neither option being safe.
Signalling a lane change invariably encourages vigorous acceleration in your destination lane by someone determined to keep you where you are. Here’s how to merge on the Deerfoot: pick the earliest available opening well before reaching the choke point, then hit the gas hard while not signalling until you begin crossing the lane divider.
Garth Klatt, Calgary
Business margins Re: “Impact of unprecedented minimum wage hike disputed,” May 22.
I have long held the view that a low minimum wage, one that does not allow a person to live on it, results in a condition where the person receiving the wage must also receive some type of outside assistance to live.
That assistance comes out of the public purse somewhere and means that the public is effectively subsidizing the business paying the low wage. The argument goes that if the wage is higher, the business will fold. So be it. If the business is operating on that low a margin, it’s not much of a business. I support raising the minimum wage as the NDP proposes.
Greg Hollingsworth, Calgary
Level the field
Wake up, people. The OECD has figured out what the NDP has also figured out — that if you give the poor a decent wage, they spend it on quality education as well as improving their health.
So the rich end up with a better consumer and the country as a whole gets an improved GDP.
Roger Campeau, Calgary
Reverse the roles Re: “Rookie Calgary MLA regrets offensive photo,” May 22.
I truly wonder if many citizens would be so sanguine about Deborah Drever posing for highly questionable photos, had the successful NDP candidate in Calgary-Bow been the man wielding the bottle in the album photo.
Michael Poland, Calgary
Sunday defiled Re: “Notley’s NDP removes link between swearing-in RSVP and donations,” Don Braid, Opinion, May 22.
It seems the new government does not respect Sunday, recognized by Christians as the Lord’s day. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and render unto God the things that are God’s,” Jesus said.
Being sworn in on a Sunday certainly sends the message that the new government will be the new God. I can see the preamble to the Alberta Bill of Rights being the first thing to be changed.
It states: ”Whereas the free and democratic society existing in Alberta is founded on the principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God...” I hope this is not a foreshadowing of things to come.
Cathy Smith, Medicine Hat
Neutrality Re: “Pipelines are a priority,” Editorial, May 21.
I fully support Rachel Notley’s decision to withdraw from the pipeline cheerleading squad. Governments and their regulatory agencies must be — and be seen to be — fair and neutral arbiters.
When government leaders become advocates for private-sector projects, decision-making processes which should be governed by economics and regulatory compliance become politicized. This is to nobody’s advantage and may prove counterproductive.
The Keystone XL circus, in which our federal and provincial leaders have played an active role, provides ample evidence of this phenomenon.
Why anyone would want our incoming premier to continue this ineffectual advocacy is beyond me. The Alberta government is not in the pipeline business. I want our new premier and her ministers focused on the job of governing.
Leave the question of pipelines to their corporate sponsors and the relevant regulatory bodies. The pipelines should ultimately get built — or not — based upon their merits. Jonathan Skrimshire, Pincher Creek
Inconsistencies Re: “Parked during a streetsweeping ban? How does a $120 fine sound?” May 19.
Your story says the noparking signs will be out 12 hours before work begins. Last year, there were signs on our street, but not the avenue south of us. Everyone moved their cars to the avenue, but the sweepers tried to clean it on the same day and were mostly unsuccessful due to the parked cars.
This year, a water truck came down my street followed by three street sweepers. Some of us rushed out to move cars, but a lot of people were at work. Fifteen minutes later, a crew showed up and put up the no-parking signs.
Colin Macleod, Calgary
Conundrum Re: “Federal NDP say they would halt plan to eliminate home mail delivery, if elected,” May 21.
In the last few months, Calgarians have had issues with the locations of the community mailboxes. There are quibbles about where they are being located, pending litter problems and traffic concerns.
I don’t understand why Canada Post would place a community mailbox right across the street from a residence, yet the resident has to go to the next block to collect their mail. Because of foot and leg injuries, when I saw the community mailbox go in across the street, I was a happy camper. But, I got my keys this week and the keys are for a community mailbox way around the corner.
Canada Post needs to get it right by allowing people to voice their concerns directly, before the damage is done.
Diane Wynn, Calgary
Struggling Re: “First Nations lack representation in Canadian boardrooms,” Deborah Yedlin, Opinion, May 20.
The industry is having difficulty dealing with First Nations as they try to lay oil and gas pipelines to the coasts and build off-loading facilities. Now the cry is out to have a stronger First Nations presence at the corporate level, with the hope this may get the facilities built and the lines through to the coast.
Let’s just start with the simple concept of employing more aboriginals in the workforce, including those of us who believed industry’s cry to go to tech school and enrol in a program designed to fill a gap the industry claimed.
I got a technical education (energy asset management) at SAIT. I am trying to add to the representation of women in the business, and an aboriginal woman at that! Looks like my timing couldn’t have been worse with the slowdown due to low oil and gas prices.
Is the industry that shortsighted it cannot offer some of us summer jobs so that we both can be prepared for the next upturn?
Taryn King, Calgary
The new government will have to be heavy on experimenting, managing risk, failing early and often (and at lower cost), and exploring as-yet-unrealized competencies and situational realities. David King