LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Better care for our vets needed

Well, another Remembrance Day has passed us by and we are still barraged by the politicos of the day with their platitudes and their “heartfelt” gratitude and appreciation for our military men and women who served and died to preserve our freedom and way of life.

In the reality of today both our main principal parties continue to deny benefits and decent pensions and their rightful support for our veterans after they return from the horrific combat zones our “fearless” leaders have sent our brave military personnel into.

I am tired of listening to this garbage when really their prime motivation is to limit the cost of caring for these damaged heroes after they lay their lives on the line.

These men and women deserve the same respect and care we accord to our firefighter and police forces. The cost is a moot point. The only relevant point is our military personnel and their families must be supported when they return from deployment to danger zones.

I am certain all Canadians would support all necessary steps to welcome our veterans and wounded home and care for them as they so ably represented Canada in areas of conflict and provided help to all countries less fortunate than we.

My message to the ruling party and the other parties hoping to gain power is we Canadians are justifiably proud of our military and demand they be cared for as they admirably preformed their duties regardless of the dangers and political apathy.

John C. Duquette

Port Colborne

Restoring Welland’s historic fire station

On behalf of the Welland Central Station Education Initiative I would like to extend our sincere thanks to all the volunteers who helped make the Central Station Restoration Celebration on Sept. 29 such a wonderful success.

Whether you did some of the pre-event cleanup and heavy lifting (literally), flipped burgers, manned the barricades, provided the entertainment, donated your products or services for the day, brought an antique fire truck to display, shared your memories of the fire hall with visitors or did any of the myriad other tasks that made the day run smoothly, we are so grateful for your participation and support.

Along with our invaluable volunteers, we would like to thank our sponsors and partners. They include: Niagara Region’s Niagara Investment in Culture, City of Welland, Downtown Welland BIA, Quinn’s Custom Motorcyles, Welland Fire and Emergency Services, OAN Architect, The Velvetones, James Takeo, Painted Turtle, Central Music, DJ Joe and Bev and local media such as The Welland Tribune, Niagara This Week, 91.7 Giant FM, CKTB radio, Erie Media and mywelland.com.

In addition to preserving Welland’s

1920s fire hall, the Central Station Education Initiative strives to stimulate activity in downtown Welland. Our celebration Sept. 29 provided a taste of the role we can play.

We hope you will continue to work with us as we move forward to raise the funds needed to restore this downtown heritage landmark so that the building and its artifacts can demonstrate the story of Welland’s firefighters and emergency services to both residents and visitors to Welland. Nora Reid, president

Central Station Education Initiative

Make highways safer

The population of our world is on the rise, people are living longer and this leads to an important subject: car transportation.

Most people rely on their cars to take them where they need to go. The QEW is congested as transport trucks, vans and buses are travelling in ever greater numbers and accidents are becoming more common. Drinking and driving also remains a concern.

If I go to Hamilton, I try to take Highway 20 as it’s a more peaceful journey. GO Train expansion and making more use of the seaway, which could divert goods from being transported on highways, could help reduce some of the heavy traffic and make our roads safer.

Roscoe Reilly

Welland