Voters fed up with negative political messages
In all the years I have been a voter, I have never dreaded an election campaign more; I will have to endure six weeks of opponent- bashing. I wish this were illegal. Attack ads are an insult to the intelligence of the voter.
Politicians should only be allowed to campaign on their platform and allow the voters to listen and make up their minds accordingly.
Attack ads are manipulative and voters know it. Tell us what you’re going to do if we vote you in and allow us to make up our own minds. We’re smarter than you think. ANGELIKA DAWSON Abbotsford
One isolated example cannot prove a general statement. Therein lies the flaw in attack ads, because this is what they try to do. An ad is repeated in the hope the public will accept this logical fallacy as the truth. In this way the target is demeaned and all he or she says is rendered toxic in the public eye.
Democracy requires fair debate on issues that affect us all so we can make an informed choice on election day. After a successful attack- ad campaign, this democratic essential is destroyed.
If truth is on your side, all you need do is present your ideas to the public. Purveyors of attack ads lack merit and do not deserve our vote. GRAEME GARDINER Sidney
I am writing in regard to the negative political advertising on television.
Many people I have asked are against this form of electioneering because it makes the whole election process negative. I am also concerned it models poor behaviour to our younger generation.
A petition has also been started on Change. org that asks our government to ban this type of electioneering.
We cannot make change unless we let people know that we demand it. IRENE WILLIAMS Smithers
Firefighters can lend support on the sea
Re: Heart attack death: victim waited 40 minutes for help; With Kits’ closure, paramedics had to catch a lift from VPD, April 13
Last week’s death of a sailor in English Bay was truly very unfortunate.
The Kits station, we all agree, should never have been closed, but sadly our federal government has much different priorities.
The lengthy response time last week’s incident raises a very serious question as to why either of the fire department’s two boats weren’t dispatched.
When minutes and seconds can often make a difference in life safety, why then were firefighters, who are dispatched on land to cardiac incidents, working side by side with paramedics, not dispatched directly?
The other obvious scenario would have been for paramedics to have met firefighters at either fire boat, saving considerable time, and negating the waiting time. Two boats dedicated to safety on the water, combined with medical equipment, and neither were dispatched?
The Emergency Services both civically and provincially do an incredible job on behalf of the public and to not use an available resource when fully available puts people at risk unnecessarily, and that’s just wrong.
We head into a busy marine season which will see an increase to traffic on the water, increasing the likelihood of the need for emergency services to respond to a variety of incidents. Will all of the resources available for the safety of our public be utilized or sadly will we see another tragic loss on the water? GORD DITCHBURN President, Vancouver Fire Fighters Union
RBC merely following global business model
Re: RBC isn’t an employment agency for Canadians, Opinion, April 13
Thank you for publishing this delightful confession by William Watson, teacher of economics.
An entire lesson in corporate economics was laid out in plain text: A corporation’s purpose is to make money, no matter what it takes; and, don’t complain about lost jobs, because in exchange you will enjoy better access to cheap imported goods.
Better yet, Watson articulates what might be called the meta- economic lesson: RBC doesn’t owe Canada or Canadians anything. Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation, would likely be astonished to learn that an apologist for the money industry could express the heart of Bakan’s thesis so clearly with a couple of sentences. Please publish more enlightening articles like this. GEORGE STEPANENKO Sechelt
Oh my God, the big bad bank is outsourcing IT functions. How could this be?
This is Canada, isn’t it? Have these whiners been asleep for the last 25 years? News Bulletin: Canadian manufacturing has moved to the Third World. Have they tried phoning Telus customer support lately?
Governments sanctioned this outsourcing policy long ago by reducing tariffs and trade protections that helped preserve these industries.
You can like it or not, but this train has left the station. Big bad banks; indeed. GREG HALE Coquitlam
Gordon Nixon, the president and CEO of the Royal Bank of Canada ( RBC), tells us “delivering returns to shareholders” is really what his job performance is about; all the rest is corporate public relations.
It was the directors of RBC who recently rewarded Mr. Nixon with a $ 11.1- million bonus ( on top of his $ 1.5- million salary) along with $ 10- millionplus rewards to two other senior RBC executives for delivering a 22- per- cent return to the shareholders ( that also includes Mr. Nixon himself, whose bonus included $ 6.6 million in stock).
These executives are now at the “compensation” levels they reached before the Great Financial Crash of 2008. These special people are paid 500 times what tellers make; this is neither right nor fair, especially when RBC made $ 7.5 billion in profits.
Getting caught was the only “mistake” in the eyes of RBC and the other supporters of the corporate world view. HERB SPENCER Surrey
Honour those who helped Canada at Vimy Ridge
Re: This day in history, April 12
The general perception seems to be that the capture of Vimy Ridge, April 12, 1917, was an exclusive Canadian operation, but the fact is Canada received invaluable help.
During early 1917, the Allies deprived the Germans of aerial reconnaissance of Canadian positions, but at a steep price: for every German plane destroyed, nearly four Allied planes were shot down.
In his book Shock Troops, Canadian historian Tim Cook carefully notes the battle could not have been won without “the full support of the British in logistics, in gunfire, and in fighting on the ridge.”
While Canadian military skill, initiative, and courage were paramount aspects of the western Allies most spectacular success of 1917 ( though the capture of Vimy Ridge did not change the strategic situation of the war) it is important to note the help the Canadian Army received. BOB BURGEL Surrey
‘ Shameful’ changes to school’s program
I have been privileged to be a volunteer for 18 months at an inner- city school that has had a high profile on The Sun’s Adopt a School program.
I want to shine a light on a decision April 8 by the Vancouver school board to close a very successful program established in 1995.
The Learning Disabilities Behaviour Disorders program which integrates vulnerable, fragile children into a positive environment will be no more at the end of June. This program has a waiting list. It is a model for success with its participants belonging to sports teams, clubs and being integrated into regular classrooms. It is the “heart” of the school.
The children will be uprooted from their school community and moved to new schools in an attempt to save money and centralize service. Two of the schools these children will go do not have breakfast or lunch programs while their current school does.
Two outstanding teachers will be lost to the school. One of 18 years service who is a renowned mentor to difficult children; the other, a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Service this year.
This action of the school board was taken without consultation with teaching staff or the parents. This would never be tolerated in west side schools. A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. All of us should feel shame by standing by and letting this happen. ANN STURROCK North Vancouver
Too many ER visits over reactions to prescriptions
Re: Big pharma, big secrets; Warning: These pills may contain side effects that even your doctor doesn’t know about, April 11 and Province is experimenting with how to boil a frog; Penny- wise but poundfoolish strategies have led to an avoidable crisis in B. C.’ s emergency rooms, Opinion, April 11
The Sun’s April 11 edition was so ironic, with a front- page story about the lack of knowledge many doctors have about the effects of prescription drugs, followed by a column by Dr. David Haughton about how much more funding must go into emergency rooms due to the workload.
Statistics are all over the map, but they show that between one and 25 per cent of emergency room visits are due to adverse drug reactions.
With children, it is primarily adverse reactions to antibiotics.
With seniors, it is primarily because the average senior is taking between five and 15 prescription drugs a day.
Before asking for more resources, it is incumbent upon the medical profession to get the iatrogenic ( caused by medical treatment) diseases under control. ROGER PRATT Nelson