VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

RIGHTS AWARD WRONG

We were surprised to see the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission award Rana Zaman for addressing systemic poverty, sexism, racism, bullying and other human rights issues.

Rana should be commended for her work in the stated areas but not with recognition by an organization that protects against all forms of racism. Anti-Semitism is racism. Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany was deemed to be racist by the NDP when it dropped Zaman as a federal candidate in Cole Harbour for making that comparison. Her initial reaction to being dropped drew the following response: “Activism has its price, I'm willing to pay.” Later, she apologized and stated that she “would not compare Israeli actions to Nazi Germany in the future.”

The federal government adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antiSemitism to include “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

Yet, in a tweet by Zaman on Dec. 8, 2019, Zaman states, “not every Jewish person agrees with the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and many realize it's a way to muzzle criticism of Apartheid Israel and supporters of Palestine.”

Draw your own conclusion as to whether Zaman has changed her antiSemitic views. Let's award those who consistently defend against racism and who refrain from promoting their preferred racist ideologies.

Rabbi Yakov Kerzner,

Beth Israel Synagogue, Halifax, and Rabbi Gary Karlin,

Shaar Shalom Congregation, Halifax

UNFAIR TO EDU-ASSISTANTS

I must respectfully disagree with statements made by Penny Doherty in her Dec. 9 letter, “Scaled-down services,” concerning the qualifications of educational assistants.

On any school website in Nova Scotia, you will find a list of qualifications stating that post-secondary education is a requirement for the job of educational assistant. Educational assistants have post-secondary education in many forms, such as university degrees and college diplomas in various fields including early childhood education and recreational leadership and nursing. Additionally, they are trained in specific areas, such as autism, ADHD and trauma. They are also required to be trained in first aid and non-violent crisis intervention techniques.

To state that a student does not reach their potential because of educational assistants is grossly inaccurate, unfair and very disparaging towards these hardworking employees. They are helping students on a daily basis to excel and reach their highest potential. Deborah Jamieson, Eureka

FERRY COLUMN LEAKY

In his Nov. 23 column, Bill Black makes a very weak argument for eliminating the ferry from Yarmouth to Maine. He points out that the number of U.S. tourists was flat, despite the ferry not running this past season.

But he bases that on an increase in traffic to Halifax, which made up for those who couldn't take the ferry. Americans who go to Halifax are very different travellers than those who go to your coastal towns. It would be like comparing Canadians who go to New York City to those who prefer Cape Cod or the Carolina beaches.

If he is going to try to use facts to support his argument, he should have also included the recent study that showed each U.S. ferry traveller was worth $2,500 to Nova Scotia. He left that out.

Further, he should have also reported on the fact that the ferry could have run this past year, from Portland to Yarmouth, except for the notable incompetence of the company running it, and those who oversee the government end of it. Both had to know that Bar Harbor would not be ready and Portland could have easily been extended one more summer.

Mr. Black appears to be shaping his facts to push a preconceived storyline. Instead of reporting that the numbers were “flat,” he could easily have shown the year-over-year increases, due to the ferry, and reported on what could have been another annual increase.

The ferry business was never going to be built over a few years. It takes time to build bigger traffic, especially given the lack of any marketing in the U.S. Hopefully your reporters can soon bring a new, complete set of facts to the table, rather than leaving it to the opinion writers to shape a misleading agenda.

Michael Clemente, Garrison, N.Y.

MSI RANKS LAST

Re: Jim Vibert's well-written Dec. 12 column on the Canadian health-care system being debated by U.S. Democratic

presidential primary candidates. Over the past 15 years, I have personally experienced employer-paid, personally paid and Medicare health insurance in the U.S. From 2009 to 2012, I returned to live in Nova Scotia for a while and fell under MSI during that time.

Rank-ordering those experiences, in my view, yields Medicare first — kicks in at age 65, attracts a small current premium but the bulk of premium contribution is funded by payroll deductions during one's career — followed by employer- and personally paid private health insurance, with MSI a very distant fourth, barely visible on the health-insurance horizon.

Why? Timely access to services, mostly. Cost is hard to compare, given the range of funding methods from direct premiums to a working lifetime of payroll deductions to sales taxes, perhaps. And central planning of this type of system seems to unavoidably lead to the usual array of bureaucratic inefficiencies and snafus.

I noticed during my three years back in Nova Scotia (in Cape Breton and Halifax) that the system seemed overburdened by people with very minor complaints — a danger with any service that is perceived as being “free.” Having lived under both systems, I think that each has something to teach the other. Using either system as a cudgel is neither appreciated nor appropriate. Bruce F. Evans,

Prescott Valley, Ariz.

I’LL DO MY OWN THINKING

In a free and democratic society, I find the ever-increasing blurry lines between news and opinion troubling. Sometimes, it is even not so blurry at all.

Maybe some people like that approach, and the media are just feeding a demand, but for my part, I'd prefer if you all just reported the facts and let me do my thinking for myself.

Jim Inglis, Halifax

WHERE TO BUY C.B. BOOK

It was nice to see the Dec. 7 write-up on Ron Caplan's annual collection of Cape Breton Christmas stories (proceeds going to Feed Nova Scotia).

I thought people looking for a good Christmas present should know where in Halifax they can buy this book. It's available now at Bookmark, on Spring Garden Road, Carrefour, in Historic Properties, and will soon be at Chapters book stores.

Taiya Barss, Halifax