Sheila for PM!
When it comes to fairness and objectivity, I have more faith in former auditor-general of Canada, Sheila Fraser, and in the current chief electoral officer, Marc Mayrand, than in the arrogant Conservative Minister of State for Democratic Reform Pierre Poilievre.
Whenever I see or hear Poilievre denigrating an upstanding Canadian who has had the courage to express a sincere concern about the government’s so-called Fair Elections Act, I can’t help imagining him clicking his heels together each time he meets with his authoritarian leader, Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
We must not forget, nor forgive, Harper for condoning and encouraging Poilievre’s outrageous partisan behaviour. The grassroots supporters of the Conservative party are allowing Harper to trample on the very fabric of our democracy.
Harper has shed his professed Conservative-based principles and has shamelessly adopted a new doctrine: Retain power at any cost.
Lloyd Atkins, Vernon
Incinerator insanity
The Cache Creek Landfill has got to be one of the best-kept environmental-disaster secrets of all time, or at least one of the best examples of stupidity.
In the past, the fly ash produced from burning waste at the Burnaby waste-to-energy facility was commingled with the regular fill — not good. Then to guard against toxic leaching, they separated the ash, treated it with lime to lock in the heavy metals and placed in an area of the dump that had a membrane for an extra layer of protection.
In the summer of 2012, 1,800 tons was dumped, then later, as the testing was behind the dumping, it tested positive for cadmium and lead, inside the membraned dump. Ironically, in the past, up to 35,000 tons was dumped commingled with no testing.
So they come to the conclusion that the testing was faulty, and that there was no worry for us in the future concerning leaching heavy metals. How convenient.
So they’ve shut down that part of the landfill and now everyday they drive a truck full of toxic (stabilized) ash to a facility in Edmonton. The fuel it takes to drive there and back every day would produce almost the same amount of electricity as what is produced producing toxic waste at the incinerator.
The landfill is set to close in 2016, when it will be capped and fenced off for eternity. Burnaby’s waste-to-energy facility should be renamed the waste-to-wasteland facility.
Art Green, Hope
Double standard
I think the severance paid to former B.C. Lottery Corp. president Micheal Graydon shows the B.C. Liberals’ double standard and culture of entitlement — as does the $14-million in total raises to top management while telling school boards and community services to work within budget.
Most of us remember how the Liberals treated paramedics and Hospital Employees Union and Health Sciences Association members. How many low-level workers who sell tickets at the lottery booths get eight weeks of severance pay or a 10-per-cent bonus?
Try telling your employer you are working your last day but you want eight weeks of severance and see how it works out for you!
Andre Mollon, Langford
Thanks Quebecers
The Parti Quebecois’ loss in Quebec shows that Canadians will always stand up for the rights and values that unite us. With the proposed charter of values and talk of separatism in Quebec, the past year or so has been uneasy for Canada. Our country is a place where people of any background can live together peacefully.
While Ahmadi Muslims are slaughtered in Pakistan, women are oppressed by the Taliban and Coptic Christians suffer in Egypt, Canada has provided refuge and freedom to thousands of minorities. As a French-speaking Canadian-born Ahmadi Muslim, I’ve always loved the diversity of Canada. But the thing that unites us is that before anything else, we are Canadian.
Big thanks to Quebecers for standing up for what’s right.
Raza Shah, Saskatoon
Carbon scams
Re: Op-ed, Social costs of CO2 are a climate-change scam.
It’s nice to read an opinion that is based more on facts then enviro hysteria.
Last week the U.N. Environmental report came out with the same fear mongering stats that they have trotted out the last 10 years.
I think they just sit in an office, compile stats that agree with their thinking, and never actually go out in the world to see if what they preach is actually happening.
Hal Genzel, Delta
Heed the climate-change warnings
Rather than continue to cling to tiny shreds of information that can be misinterpreted to allow us to ignore climate change, this op-ed convinced me to look to the evidence. I urge readers to do the same.
An hour or so on reputable websites will convince anybody that now, more than ever, we need to tell our MPs to stand up for us in parliament and tell Prime Minister Stephen Harper to act for us on the environment.
Cathy Lacroix, Toronto
The editorial pages editor is Gordon Clark, who can be reached at gclark@theprovince.com. Letters to the editor can be sent to provletters@theprovince.com.
