LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

No Grit support for the environment

Re: Emissions rules lacking for LNG project: critics, Sept. 29. The prime minister and the federal Liberal party have just demonstrated that their concept of environmental protection and reducing CO2 emissions is just so much hot air! Marcia Falconer, Nepean

Do not abandon green energy, please

Re: Green cuts will curb hydro hikes, Liberals say, Sept. 28. I was shocked that the Wynne Liberal government announced on Tuesday it was cancelling $3.8 billion in green-energy plans. For years, scientists and environmentalists have warned us about climate change.

Shortly after the last federal election, the government’s first major international event was participation in a climate change conference.

It is absolutely crucial that we invest in green energy and undertake the transition to a new economy based on renewable energy, weaning ourselves off fossil fuels as soon as possible.

Nothing less is satisfactory, and future generations depend on it.

Minister Glenn Thibeault’s claim that we don’t need the power is not realistic. Everything we do requires energy. It is not just that we need it, we need to get the clean stuff and ditch the dirty stuff. If it helps, we can negotiate putting the wind turbines and solar panels in my backyard.

We just survived the hottest summer in recorded history. I would much rather we return to historic norms instead of continuing to set harmful precedents. Let’s get with the clean energy program! Andrew Kavchak, Ottawa

Why do we need these solar panels?

The Ontario government has announced it is cancelling contracts with solar, wind and other renewable energy sources as the province doesn’t need the additional power.

Previously, it had proudly announced that Ontario’s electrical supply is almost entirely carbon-free. On Sept. 21, Hydro Ottawa, with the support from Mayor Jim Watson, announced a plan to install more solar panels to generate electricity that will reduce greenhouse gases and generate income for the city. There is a disconnect here.

According to the province, the system is already carbonfree and there is an abundance of power, yet Hydro Ottawa reports there is a demand for more power and that in supplying solar power, greenhouse gases will be reduced, presumable by reducing the need for electricity produced by carbon-based generators.

We need an explanation of the discrepancy between what the province is reporting and what taxpayers of Ottawa are being told. Jeff Reeves, Kanata

The mob shouldn’t set country’s rules

Re: Following the usual rules just isn’t enough in politics, Sept. 23.

I disagree with David Moscrop’s views on expenses by politicians and their staff when he says that “rules are less important than the public’s perception of what is right, reasonable and fair.” Taken to extreme, this is rule by the mob rather than rule by law.

If many citizens (and not just the indignant and outspoken) truly think that someone’s moving expenses, for example, are too high, the proper course is to pressure the government to put upper limits on said expenses, not to publicly shame those whose expenses were honestly incurred and legitimately claimed. John Hills, Ottawa

Fashion shouldn’t trump the news

With so much important news going on in the world, why would your paper devote more than six square inches depicting the two “stunning” dresses that the Duchess of Cambridge recently wore in British Columbia? Is the Ottawa Citizen now affiliated with the National Enquirer? Bruce Engel, Ottawa

Give Monsef a break on her birthplace

Re: Monsef faces calls to step aside, Sept. 23. I am appalled at the fuss over where Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef was born. So what if it was Iran? Her family is Afghani. It is possible that she was given misinformation by her family.

My mother was from Greece and emigrated to the U.S. at a young age. She had no birth certificate, was told her birthdate by her mother and swore to that when she obtained her U.S. citizenship. When she vacationed in her birthplace in her 50s she learned her real birthdate was a year minus a day earlier. Let’s not act like the “birthers” in the U.S.! Joanne Cameron, Ottawa