ROASTED & TOASTED

TOAST: To recent roast and toasters and the Herald for the quality of roast and toasts lately. The items lately have been thoughtful and interesting. Good job!

TOAST: To everyone at the Lethbridge Herald, particularly Dave Sulz, for organizing Roasted and Toasted. Maybe some people reading this most popular column do not realize that this gift to the people reading it is not common in journalism today, where the message is dictated to by people in cahoots with those seeking to control vast swaths of the population. Thank you all for democracy, warts and all.

TOAST: To Dreke J. Butler for saying it like it is. In his letter dated June 30, re: “Focus on drug pushers” — they should be charged with murder in the first degree!

TOAST: To the Commissionaires. Since the new parking zones have been established, they are taking the time to help those who are parking downtown and to explain the new procedures to the drivers. Thank you.

TOAST: Former Mayor Rajko Dodic, your factual letter to the editor (June 28) is excellent. Too bad some of your good understanding and common sense did not linger in the mayor’s chair when you left office.

TOAST: To Bernard Tichler for the article in the June 21 Herald. My gas bill for the same period was $43.12 for cost of gas $1.18. Somebody is making a lot of money off us. With the high taxes we pay, you wouldn’t think it would be the city charging us like this.

TOAST: To Mr. Buker for his letter to the editor, right on. We need more rational people to stand up against some of these excesses and blatant waste of tax dollars in the name of political correctness.

ROAST: To the stores that keep asking for donations. You used to ask for a loonie, now it is $2. My favourite colour is purple, it used to be blue. Now you know what to ask for when I want you to ask for donations.

ROAST: To City Council for spending taxpayer money sending three people to some small town in Ireland to exchange a scroll. Why would one person not suffice? And why would you pay for it and not expect those organizations to use their own travel budgets to go? My daughter’s cheerleading group has talked to the City many times about funding for travel as the kids represent Lethbridge and we are told over and over that the City doesn’t pay for travel. Apparently they just need to skip City staff and go right to City Council.

TOAST: To dog owners who walk their dogs on leash.

ROAST: To those who carry the leash in their hands while their dogs scamper on ahead while they explain “he’s friendly!” I no longer walk my 50-pound rescue dog on a leash around the park. He is welltrained and behaved on leash in parks and at the off-leash. Dogs on leash don’t respond well to dogs running free. It’s one or the other, folks!

TOAST: To the U.S.A. for buying Alberta oil. Our fellow Canadians buy from dictatorships who care little about the environment or human rights. Thanks as well for approving the Keystone as we seem unable to get anything major accomplished anymore. Good luck with putting an end to the old Soviet supply side management system of dairy and poultry which allows Quebec to control the outcome of any federal election. As an Albertan I envy your elected Senate in which each state has the same number of senators.

ROAST: To employers who do not appreciate your long-term employees but new employees don’t get their work done and constantly are on their phones seem to get all the perks and manage to keep their job. Hard work isn’t even a valued trait it seems. Furthermore, a huge

TOAST: To my husband and two sons who do work hard and put in the long hours.

ROAST: To the recent B.C. judicial ruling. Since when did religious law take precedence over criminal law in Canada? To me there are so many things wrong with the recent ruling over two male polygamists. For one instance, how could minor girls having to submit to these men not be considered worthy of having these men given more than “nothing but house arrest.” Also, they get to keep on doing these deeds. Will they be stopped from continuing on as they were? Will there be more underage girls having to marry and bear children? This whole situation is so just not right.

ROAST: To the PGA. The turnout was so bad — where were all the tourists who were supposed to come here for the $250,000 we spent? All I saw were 100 golfers and I am sure none of them spent $2,500 while they were here which would have meant a break-even event. And there are two more years of this? How many smaller events could you have helped with that money, like Love and Records or Street Wheelers, that really do draw visitors?

TOAST: To the Canadian government for imposing tariffs on a wide range of American products to counter American tariffs. Hopefully it will encourage us to buy Canadian as much as possible. In many cases we will have to absorb the higher prices, because alternative products will be difficult to find. Our best hope is that these trade disputes will be resolved as soon as possible. Sadly the consumer gets caught in the middle!

TOAST: Well put, Dreke J. Buker (Saturday, June 30 letter in Readers Forum). I’m sure you speak for the majority of Lethbridge citizens; and TOAST: To the Lethbridge Police Dept. for doing the best job you can do with all the limitations you face with this problem.

TOAST: To Dreke J. Buker — letter to the editor, “Focus on drug pushers” — very well said; I agree totally!

ROAST: To City Council for always giving Japanese Garden money — seems like every time I turn around they are asking for money. Why aren’t our other tourism places always coming forward with a hand out? They

need to learn to live within their means, like every other not-forprofit.

ROAST: To the worst president the U.S.A. has ever had and to the terrible things he is doing to us and also what he is doing to the American image in the eyes of the world.

TOAST: To Geoffrey Capp for his letter to the editor on “Rights must be balanced.” “The Supreme Court of Canada needs to consider and follow the Charter of Rights and Freedoms adopted by Parliament in 1981 as religious freedoms are written in Section 2.” The court, to quote Mr. Capp, “assumed the dangerous power to add whatever it wants to change and override what’s in there.” “How can a right that isn’t written there override a right that is? That is not democratic, not freedom.” TOAST: To Woody Neely letter to the editor, “City should make board application all inclusive” — very well said! ROAST: To Trudeau for giving $2 billion to back the steel and aluminum industry. If these said companies are foreign owned isn’t that like giving in as the money will just go out of the country and we will still be paying the tariff. Lose-lose for us. ROAST: To all the articles on cannabis legalization which fail to mention the possibility of a person who uses it being denied entry to the U.S. in future.

TOAST: To Dreke Buker. You nailed it! Your commentary basically summed it up, what most everyone is thinking and knowing to be the truth.

TOAST: To those that believe in their hearts that accommodating the addicts is such a do-gooder wonderful thing to do!

ROAST: To those that endorsed it, advocated for it but are in hiding now and not putting their face near this burnt political hot potato! It’s better and easier to lecture now on wearing life jackets in the midst of our anticipated heat wave than dare talk about the real crisis by such a failed project that Lethbridge will suffer from for likely decades to come or at least until all the addicts are gone.

TOAST: To Dr. Krud and staff in the Milk River Clinic and ER. Great patient care you give to your community. We’re lucky to have you. Always going that extra mile for your patients. Thank you.

TOAST: To Mark, the physician assistant. Keep up the great teamwork, guys.

ROAST: To City Council. Medicine Hat purchased oneof-a-kind stone sculpture commissioned by an Alberta sculptor for $17,000. A huge buffalo. Lethbridge commissioned an outside sculpture for $250,000 for a donation. This tells us we can top anybody! With our tax dollars. ROAST: With the legalization of cannabis to follow in a few months it may be wise to warn all females to abstain from all risks that the drug poses. This legalization of marijuana by our federal government brings with it the chance for pre-term birth, low birth weight as well as lower IQ and hyperactivity after a child is born. The House, the Senate and all who voted in favour of this deserve a kick in the pants. The final step backward for the Liberal government.

TOAST: To the contributor who commented on “uninformed and outrageous” roasts. I totally agree. Protests against the new downtown parking meters are the most recent case in point. I appreciate some readers find these roasts entertaining but I find them infuriating. The Lethbridge Herald is a very important thread in the fabric of this fine city but in future, I’m giving the roast and toast section of the paper a pass, thereby helping to keep my blood pressure in check.

TOAST: And many thanks to Dr. Topping. She delivered our little girl on June 9 and is an absolutely fabulous doctor.

TOAST: To Dennis Pollock and Associated Law Peoples for all your support. Thank you and please keep up the great work.

ROAST: How is it that the project management firm operated by the spouse of the Economic Development Lethbridge CEO coincidently happens to be working on the large new projects in Lethbridge (i.e. Cavendish Farms)? ROAST: To our mayor and council for turning a blind eye to this obvious conflict of interest. ROAST: To Premier Notley, Joe Ceci and the whole NDP team, the results are in and they are not good. $42.4 billon in debt. Last year the Alberta debt increased by a staggering $10.1 billion and next year is slated to increase by $10.9 billion. Notley borrowed $3,072 for every man, women and child in Alberta. Hopefully the $10.9 will be their swan song. Goodbye!

ROAST: To the other nine provinces saying we should all act as one country in the face of tariffs. Since when did the others support Alberta in our big issue of a pipeline east or west? Too bad for industry in central Canada. Why should Albertans support you or any of the other provinces? Too, too bad. Count us out.

ROAST: This is to all of the drivers who still text and drive. Resist the urge and concentrate on being a conscious driver.

ROAST: To still allowing campfires within city limits! Do we have to endure another full summer of backyard wood burning and air pollution?

TOAST: To Mother Nature finally bringing us a real summer feel!

TOAST: To all the Herald letter writers. It’s valuable and informative to hear the varied opinions in our community. Whether you agree or disagree

with what they’re saying, it helps paint a picture of our citizens’ concerns.

TOAST: To the Canada Day fireworks this year!

ROAST: To the pro-life group who won’t give up their pursuit of tasteless advertisements. This is already two strikes! Get the hint! TOAST: To those advocating and working on harm reduction strategies, thus actually doing something to deal with the opioid crisis, rather than the keyboard ninjas who spout a ton of complaints but offer zero solutions.

TOAST: To all the great summer events in Lethbridge. There is something going on every weekend and it’s great to see people come out to support them.

ROAST: How do these pro-life ads keep getting approved? Money talks, I suppose.

TOAST: To Shakespeare in the Park. What a wonderful little production!

TOAST: A tremendous toast to all fine people that come to visit car shows and use respect and don’t touch or scratch the beautiful vehicles on display.

ROAST: To all the parents of young children, people on bikes, in wheelchairs, etc. who do not respect the vehicles at these car shows.

ROAST: To the new parking meter monsters. It used to be so convenient to run into a store for a short stop and drop one or two nickels into the meter. The new ones are inconvenient and confusing. It’s very common to see a user stand for over five-10 minutes trying to figure them out. ROAST: It’s like flogging a dead horse but the new marijuana laws are going to cause nothing but trouble. Don’t eliminate pot, just lower penalties for simple possession. The laws have always been ridiculous in this matter. Keep allowing it for medical reasons.

ROAST: While I admit that I don’t fully understand the drug crisis in this city, I do know that you have to be total irresponsible to chuck needles away where little kids can get at them.

TOAST: To Lethbridge’s Indian Battle Park. Absolutely beautiful. The fort, the nature centre, the river and walking paths are fantastic. Climbing up those stairs without passing out lets me know I am not a complete physical disaster.

TOAST: To Frederick Lee for his letter! I agree 100 per cent with him. We were also taught that actions have consequences! Please teach that to your children also!

TOAST: To Frederick Lee’s letter to the editor, “What happened to experiencing consequences of your actions?” I totally agree! Society has got to the point where every one has a right and no one has a responsibility, which is very wrong. ROAST: And not a big surprise, I am guessing with the price of gas jumping another $0.10 per litre, a huge roast to all the national gas chains for ripping off the consumer and an even bigger ROAST: To the federal and provincial government for getting exactly what they want with the carbon tax, making it unaffordable to drive and lowering our standard of living.

ROAST: To the City of Lethbridge leaders who keep bragging about curbside recycling and the good it’s going to achieve when the bottom has fallen out of the plastics market and all we will be achieving is building another landfill to accommodate the paid-for-bycitizens monthly $14 hit and no backup plan.

ROAST: To non-profit charities who survive off the citizens donating items for resale out of the goodness of their hearts and who when you check in the establishment never seem to have the item on the floor for sale.

ROAST: What the hell is wrong with you lowlife people that throw your used needles in places that can harm people? It’s not bad enough you get your fix for free, but you abuse your privileges.