LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

We must all respect differing views

Throughout my political career, I have always had strong beliefs. I don’t, however, expect that everyone shares them.

Canadians live in a free society where we are free to believe what we wish. Murray Mandryk’s Sept. 24 column on me ridicules anyone who does not share his, or the majority, view. In particular, he takes issue with two of my views: the rights of parents in regard to sex-ed courses, and that there is discrimination against proponents of traditional marriage.

I believe that parents have the right to share with and teach their values to their children. Indian residential schools were an attempt at cultural genocide that saw children taken from parents, often by force, in an attempt to replace a “savage culture” with a “Christian culture.” First Nations people were not savages, and what was done to them was not Christian.

Consistently, I have stated that the situation at residential schools was not, by many orders of magnitude, similar to what’s going on with the Ontario sex education curriculum; my point is that parents in both situations have seen their rights overridden by a government.

On traditional marriage, my position that Trinity Western University was discriminated against is buttressed by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. Ruling in favour of TWU, it said, “Requiring a person to give up (religious freedom) in order to get his or her professional education recognized is an infringement of religious freedom.”

The court agreed with my opinion. I give this as only one example of many.

Canadians should feel comfortable disagreeing with me. But they should feel uncomfortable when I and millions of other Canadians are called intolerant because we hold these views.

I am running for the Conservative leadership because I believe I can help make this a better country. If you vote for me you will know exactly what you are getting — no secrets, no hidden agenda, no surprises.

If you disagree, that’s fine. I still respect you. We are, after all, Canadians. Brad Trost, Saskatoon-University MP

Space was available

In the letter, Time to drop idea (Sept. 26), K.R. Alexander indicated that there was no land available in downtown Saskatoon in the 1980s for an arena. This it totally incorrect.

The entire City Yards site — with its multiple radiating streets and even an LRT railbed — could have been made available, as the relocation of the yards was being considered at that time.

This option was presented to city council in about 1982. However, council opted for a “sweet deal” from the provincial government, and the arena ended up in its current (and problematic) location. Ken Wilson, Saskatoon

Gormley should talk to scientists

In his Sept. 23 column, John Gormley urges David Suzuki to just fly past us the next time.

Suzuki’s trips to Adelaide, South Australia, informed him of Mike Rann’s work as state premier, Ian Hunter’s as environment minister and that of world-renowned climate expert, Tim Flannery. Suzuki passes on the work of others in the movement to renewable energy.

Other scientists, such as professor Tzeporah Berman, with environmental studies of York University, have made reference to the Leap Manifesto as a vision of what’s possible.

Premier Brad Wall is suspected of being a climatechange denier in his slowness to develop solar, wind and hydro energy sources, and Suzuki is right to call him out on it.

Suzuki, who spoke under a PotashCorp banner, respects this extractive industry that makes a product invaluable to feeding people around the globe. Its extraction technologies do risk impacting the environment adversely, so it needs to look to scientists such as Suzuki to deal with this challenge.

A Global Institute for Food Security conference in June in Saskatoon debated emerging technologies, leading international experts to conclude that both GMOs and advances in biotechnology are required to guarantee food security, to feed the world population of 9.6 billion by 2050.

To suggesting, as Gormley does, that a PhD and 50 years of research have little currency, flies in the face of esteemed scientist George Sofko, professor emeritus of the Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, who spoke to the Canadian Club on Sept. 14 about The Dying Solar Cycle. This account of our harsh global reality was most sobering.

Gormley would do well to interview such scientists on his very doorstep. Pat Funk, Saskatoon