LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Fight climate change on the home front first
I watched city council on Sept. 23 and listened to all of the climate change presentations and how Peterborough should declare a climate emergency.
I want to be clear where I stand on the issue. I do believe we need to address the global warming issue and we all have a responsibility to try and reduce our footprint.
What I take exception to is the preconceived notion that if you don’t listen to us today, you are wrong.
I would ask all of the presenters to take a look at the labels of their shirts and pants. I am willing to bet that they will find a made in China, Taiwan or Indonesia tag. Look at their shoes: made in India, Korea. Look at your socks, undergarments, etc. How many people have iPhones and iPads made in Japan? How many people drove down to city hall to speak? How many had their parents drive them?
China is the No. 1 emitter of greenhouse gases at 23.43 per cent. India is at 5.7 per cent, Mexico at 7 .9 per cent, Japan at 3.61 per cent, South Korea at 1.75 per cent, and our closest trading partner, the U.S., at 14.69 per cent.
Where is Canada on this scale? No. 11 at 1.57 per cent.
We can’t rely on or expect any level of government to solve a problem that has been created by people, people who do have the power to solve the issue themselves.
My point being if you really believe we are in a crisis, the best way is to walk the walk.
Start by not supporting the biggest polluters in the world and rewarding them with your hardearned money.
Think local and act global.
Dave Haacke, Carriage Lane
Councillors could set a climate example
The Examiner quoted Kemi Akapo as saying that “If we declare a climate emergency tonight, I would expect every councillor to put their money where their mouth is.” Good call. And since you each got a $3,000 (?) a year raise, for doing absolutely nothing but being sworn into office, then attending two or three get-to-know-eachother meetings — back in January, was it? — you would each get a tax receipt for making such a donation to the Peterborough climate change charity that council created. It’s a start.
Then when such and such a steering committee reports back in two or three months, maybe they’ll have a suggestion for what green purposes those $33,000 can go toward.
J.A. Szakony, Greenlawn Avenue
Cabinet should be based on experience
So Justin Trudeau declared, while in town, that Maryam Monsef has brought Peterborough issues to the cabinet table.
Perhaps she can tell that to all the homeless folks living in tents on church lawns.
Whoever forms the next government, please, appoint the cabinet on these three points: First and foremost, the ability to meet that cabinet requirement. Second and third (both way back), ethnicity and gender.
The political penchant espoused by Trudeau and his handlers, the disasterdriven Gerald Butts and Katie Telford (think Ontario’s Kathleen Wynn), for gender and ethnicity has resulted in a disorganized and ineffective cabinet, diffusing political efficacy.
Martin C. Pick, Cavan
Canada might need a ‘boogeyman’ like Ford
In Ontario, Justin Trudeau seems to be running against Doug Ford. Good governments run on their records, bad governments make excuses, failed governments attack their opponents. Trudeau is doing none of these. Trudeau is running against an imagined bogeyman, who, if anything, is a creation of the Liberals.
People need to remember that we have Ford because of the colossal disaster that the Liberals made of Ontario. Someone needed to fix this. Ford put up his hand and said he would give it a try. The fact that some people don’t like the outcome is more a testament to the magnitude of the mess that the Liberals left than it is to Ford.
People also need to remember that the same people that were advising the Liberals in Ontario — Gerald Butts and Katie Telford — have been/are advising the Liberals in Ottawa. The Liberals in Ottawa have already demonstrated the same disregard for openness, transparency, honesty, ethics and fiscal responsibility that the Liberals in Ontario did. If we give them another term in office, we can reasonably expect the country to turn out like Ontario. We will need the equivalent of a Doug Ford to fix it — and we may well not like the consequences.
Jim Mason, Lakefield
Housing should be a bigger election issue
Dear Justin Trudeau: First, I wish to express my gratitude for your positive actions during your term thus far. Increases in my pensions have most affected me; I find I am better able to pay down more of my mortgage debt. The increased benefits to parents is a blessing for my grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Recently, I have been concerned about the outrageous cost of housing: both apartment rental costs and the ridiculous prices of houses. What ever happened to regulations governing rents? Why have home prices increased so drastically? More importantly, what are you going to do about it?
I thought I might sell my condo and give my children their inheritance now, when they could use it, rather than wait till my death. My income supports me well in my condo with all its extra costs like taxes, hydro, and internet expenses. I had hoped I could take a one-bedroom apartment with internet and hydro included, and still live comfortably. But the rental rates and availability of housing in my area, Peterborough, are truly out of this world.
This situation has come to a head over the summer when our homeless shelter closed for renovations and our city park filled with tent-dwellers, who had no place to go, even with the full assistance of the city staff endeavouring to find each one of them suitable housing. Plenty of new developments are in the works, but the outlandish cost, either to rent or to buy, will leave the situation just as dire as it was this past summer. I do not need a home — I have one. But so many do not. This, in a country such as ours, is unforgivable.
Your opponent, Jagmeet Singh, has proposed 500,000 new affordable housing units. Why can you not match this proposal?
I’m sure, as I close this letter, I will think of other concerns I have, but these are obviously top of mind. I look forward to hearing some improved strategies from your campaign.
Bev Miles, Omemee