Canadians need intellectual PM
Dear Editor:
Watching the first part of the meeting on CBC between Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump was the first step toward a new beginning.
Following that, Mr. Carney took questions from reporters from the rooftop of the Canadian Embassy where all questions were answered. From the get go it was clear Mr. Carney was the right person to be dealing with Mr. Trump.
Listening to the many political analysts, politicians of all stripes and reporters evaluating this meeting, they all came away with very positive reviews.
It became very clear to me, and I am sure to a majority of Canadians, that Mr. Carney was by far the right person to be at the White House for this very important meeting. It also became abundantly clear that Pierre Poilievre would have been way over his head intellectually. Canadians needed an intellectual there and that was Mark Carney.
Ian MacLean
乌鸦传媒
Were shutdowns really mandatory?
Dear Editor:
During the pandemic, the government allowed stores they considered 鈥渆ssential鈥 (liquor stores, wine shops, fast food outlets, as well as corporate businesses that could afford being closed) to remain open, while small independent businesses like mine were made to close.
Those who survived the lockdowns are still suffering, as business has not returned to pre-COVID times.
We were told to 鈥渂e kind鈥 to one another鈥 for health reasons I am unable to wear a mask and on many occasions was mistreated verbally and even 鈥渂ody bumped鈥. One particular store which I had supported for 18 years, refused to serve me and told me to 鈥渨ait outside鈥 where they would come and get my order.
It was minus-15 degrees outside that day. I have never returned. Another business, where I鈥檇 purchased fish for 20 years, said they couldn鈥檛 serve me unless I wore a mask. The owner was standing close by. When I questioned him he looked straight at me and said, 鈥淪ee Ya鈥.
Asking customers their vaccine status as they ordered coffee was ludicrous -- we never did. However, those who believed all the hype about the vaccine, were offended and have never returned to our business.
I am not a 鈥渧accine鈥 denier and have had many vaccines. Calling the COVID vaccine a 鈥淰accine鈥 was misleading. it was no different from a 鈥渇lu shot鈥.
Back to mandatory closures. I had an employee who called my manager on a Friday, to say they had tested positive for COVID and had to stay off work for 14 days. The following Monday I received a call from the Vancouver Health Department asking why we were still open. After 30 minutes back and forth (we had just reopened from the first lockdown and wouldn鈥檛 survive another) he said it was only a 鈥渟uggestion鈥 that we should close. We remained open.
My question is: were shutdowns mandatory, or it merely a 鈥渟uggestion鈥.
The government didn鈥檛 say it was a 鈥渟uggestion鈥 so we shut down. It made no sense that customers who came to our bakery-cafe with a mask on, took it off when they sat down to eat, but had to put it back on when they went to the washroom.
Usually in a time of distress or trouble, people help each other, but we were encouraged to report on people who were not following the 鈥渞ules鈥, rules with no science behind them, but wanting to do the right thing we complied. It not only affected small businesses, but school, colleges, hospitals, doctors/dentists. People had been scared by what they heard from the daily news briefings, and to protect themselves would act aggressively towards those they felt were not 鈥渙beying the rules鈥.
We live in one of the most beautiful places in 乌鸦传媒 and can only hope that in time the kindness and acceptance our community once had for one another will someday return.
Colin Broomfield
碍别濒辞飞苍补鈥
President Trump by the letters
Dear Editor:
Lately, 鈥淭he Donald鈥 has been featured on the news. Much has been said by him and much has been said about in him in social media. Much of what is in social media is the truth.
Some of what he says personally has a smidgen of truth to it. It is becoming more difficult to separate truth from fiction when Trump opens his mouth. If one were to character analyze Trump it might go like this:
T is for: Totalitarianism -- a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state. Simply put, 鈥淢y way or the highway!鈥
R is for Rationale -- a set of reasons or a logical basis for a course of action or a particular belief.
Simply put, 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 like my gate; don鈥檛 swing on it!
U is for: Unrelenting -- not giving way to kindness or compassion. Simply put, 鈥淚鈥檓 right; they鈥檙e wrong and I ain鈥檛 quittin鈥!鈥
M is for: Manipulative -- characterized by unscrupulous control of a situation or person. Simply put, 鈥淗e乌鸦传媒 a liar, a bully, a hypocrite and has a penchant for minimalizing people.鈥
P is for: Pontification -- to assume pompous and dignified airs, issue dogmatic decrees. Simply put, 鈥淗e is so full of himself that he thinks he乌鸦传媒 Godlike and can do no wrong!鈥
It is hard to believe that so many Americans buy into his rhetoric and would support him to the end of time irrespective of any shortcomings, transgressions or rash, bombastic, braggart actions.
Yet, they do. The big question might be 鈥淲hy?鈥
That乌鸦传媒 anyone乌鸦传媒 guess.
鈥淭here are none so blind as those who will not see!鈥
Stay tuned folks, as the Trump saga continues. Where it goes is anybody乌鸦传媒 guess, possibly even Trump himself isn鈥檛 sure!
Ron Barillaro
Penticton
Trudeau cost Carney a majority
Dear Editor:
The reason for Canada乌鸦传媒 newly weakened bargaining position with Donald Trump can be summed up in two words: Justin Trudeau.
However, Trudeau could not have alienated so many Canadians on his own. He surrounded himself with a cadre of self-interested lackeys who didn鈥檛 have the guts to force him out earlier. Trudeau, who became so despised by so many, nearly destroyed the Liberals Party of Canada.
Mark Carney, a man globally respected for his financial expertise, didn鈥檛 have enough time to convince disaffected Canadians that he would bring about meaningful change in Ottawa. Trudeau乌鸦传媒 self-indulgent arrogance has prevented Prime Minister Carney from leading a strong majority government to insure Canada has a future.
Lloyd Atkins
Vernon
No, we won鈥檛 become 51st state
Dear Editor:
Donald Trump continues to beat the drum, claiming we would be better off as a U.S. state. Don鈥檛 think so Donny. Let me explicate it for you.
Your infatuation with guns alone, makes for an undesirable fit. Your fixation with money. Your need for lawyers. Add more guns. Your compulsion for aggrandizement of everything.
FOX News is a big deterrent and to add one more item to the justification of not joining arms, is your idiotic and corrupt system of government that allows for MAGA politics to thrive.
Just won鈥檛 work!
Paul Crossley
Penticton
This Canada of mine
Dear Editor:
This Canada of mine
With crashing ocean bookends
This Canada of mine
With fishing people in the East
This Canada of mine
With the St. Lawrence and Mount royal
This Canada of mine
With towering bluffs and thundering falls
This Canada of mine
With prairies golden and wide
This Canada of mine
With Rocky Mountains, white capped
This Canada of mine
With towering Pines, swimming salmon
This Canada鈥︹ is mine
Bill Peckham
乌鸦传媒
Council should stay shorthanded
Dear Editor:
Here we are again, Penticton city council finding it necessary to fund yet another byelection for a council seat because a political party pulled a sitting council member off to run in a 鈥渉igher level鈥 election.
Both ex-councilors and their parties have decided to not contribute to the byelection costs triggered by their actions.
With less than two years to the next full municipal election, is there really any need for this byelection?
Penticton council is not divided into wards or districts, so no portion of the city is lacking representation at council. The most recent by election cost approximately $80,000; assuming a population of 50,000 people (per Stats Canada,) that is an extra cost if $1.60 per person.
These byelection costs are unbudgeted expenditures. The city has already been through one byelection in 2025. I fail to see the value of a second.
Jerry J. Deroo
Penticton
The cost of a byelection
Dear Editor:
Having Pierre Poilievre running in an Alberta byelection once again saddles taxpayers with the cost of political parties playing musical chairs.
The MP who quit before even being sworn in, or his political party, should have to cover the cost of this by-election. Running for public office should constitute an agreement that, if elected, the candidate will serve till the next election.
If the office holder chooses not to fulfil that obligation they should have to cover the cost of holding the byelection to fill their seat. Only when politicians are held responsible for this pointless waste of government funds will this game of political musical chairs come to an end.
Steen I. Petersen
Nanaimo
Take that Mr. Trump
Dear Editor:
I am absolutely delighted that our King Charles will open Parliament on May 27.
What a message to prove to President Donald Trump that Canada is a sovereign nation!
God save the King!
Judith Branion
Victoria