letters

Who to start with?

The city council of Charlottetown is intent on ridding the city streets of people that panhandle for money. At the same time they give themselves a large pay raise and hire Peter Kelly as the new CAO for the city. Kelly comes with a history of some very questionable acts of conduct.

But hey, first things first, get rid of the panhandlers! Then we have the provincial government, they are generous to a fault eh? Poor old Homburg needed a loan.

Probably one of his private jets needed an oil change. No problem says Ghiz, hows about around $40 million, will that tide you over. No need to worry though, the present deputy premier defended this loan. He tells us he spent time on the treasury board while in the Ghiz government and any loans that came through were given due diligence. Remember the deputy premier (Alan McIssac) was elected by the toss of a coin.

Plus, we really should be grateful to Homburg, didn’t he recently donate one million dollars of our money to the Confederation Centre so they could re-name it the Homburg Theatre?

So folks lets not be petty, let’s pay attention to the things that are important and rid the streets of our capital city of panhandlers. My only question, “do we start with the young panhandlers on street corners or do we go after the big time panhandlers in government?”

F. Ben Rodgers.

Abram Village

An educational drugstore

Recently, I visited the Provincial Learning Materials Distribution Centre; it houses support materials for the public school system. Most orders are “school-sized” so it is not a place that has many visitors; while there, I picked up a copy of the curriculum guide for Grade 10 Math. I’ve often perused curriculum guides on the provincial website but I find it useful to have an actual copy to look at when talking with others about the subject.

Although not in the retail business, they are able to sell directly to people: parents may find the curriculum guides useful when helping their children, especially on subjects that children find difficult. That got me thinking about the availability of supplementary learning resource material, material used by an earlier or later grade, or something not used in the system at all. I know materials are available online but I wonder if there is a place where people can actually handle the material? In asking the question,

I am visualizing an “education drugstore” where parents, grandparents or students themselves browse and even purchase education products; if traffic warranted, it could even be staffed by a specialist, equivalent to a pharmacist. I know that bookstores often carry some resource material but they are not referenced to the school curriculum. The “education products” function, except for books, is not a part of the sector that we hear much about.

Don Glendenning,

Charlottetown

Heading down wrong road

I wish to express my gratitude to Gail Shea for her many years of faithful and dedicated service to the province of Prince Edward Island. On the morning of April 6, I listened attentively to CBC Radio as Mrs. Shea discussed her years in public office, describing with such wisdom and foresight, both the successes and limitations of her public service and her political party. Although I know Mrs. Shea on a limited basis, I truly believe that she is an amazingly compassionate, wise and Christian woman, all attitudes that seem to be desperately lacking in most of our public officials.

Her steadfast willingness to defend the rights of the unborn is truly commendable. Furthermore, she so clearly understands that taking our province and nation further into debt in order to temporarily satisfy the desires of loud, aggressive citizenry who possess insidious, selfish agendas, is unwarranted and dangerous. I hope and pray that I am mistaken, yet remain convinced now, more than ever, that both our beloved Island and country are headed into an even more grievous social and economic environment than we have yet experienced. Although individuals such as Mrs. Shea are well aware of this, it appears that we, as a democracy, are hell-bent on choosing convenience, wickedness and financial recklessness over compassion, righteousness and fiscal management.

Garth M. MacKay,

Kensington