Your Letters to the Editor (en francais)

Letters to the Editor

(A weekly round-up of Conservative Supporters 'Letters to the Editor', from across Canada. Send your local letters to bluebloggingsoapbox@gmail.com)

July 4th to July 9th

Canada to blame for brain drain

Re: My comments on the July 4, Canadians worried about the brain drain. Well what a surprise. Right now if I could, I would exit from Canada. I'm sick of the high taxes and the government bureaucracy.

If you are going to school to be a medical laboratory technician, or a medical laboratory technologist, and if you are an immigrant, you can get this education with little difficulty for free from this government.

If you're a Canadian, born and bred in Canada, and a loyal taxpayer who has -- like most of us -- supported the system, you're out of luck, especially if you have paid for your own upgrading in the past.

How the government looks at it -- as it has been explained -- is that you would be able to get two or three part-time jobs in the area that you are currently in. None of these would pay benefits or can support a house payment and a car payment.

You know, the stuff that keeps the economy going.

Now for the people who want to pay for their own way, let's not forget that when the formal schooling is done, you have to do placement -- on-the-job practice.

This placement is done for free, you do not get paid. You do not get to pick the hospital, and you have to find your own apartment, not to mention paying for the parking at the hospital. Technologists have to do eight months of this, and technicians have to do two months of this.

Let's discuss the RNs, and why so many of them move and/or work in the United States. By the way, good for you.

On the United States side, Henry Ford Community Hospital will train you as an RN in two years; some training hospitals will let you work for them during the summer months with pay, thereby building up your work experience, and employability, in this chosen field. You can apply for a Bachelor of Science degree, and if all the criteria has been meet, then the hospital will pay for your education, in return for two years of paid work, for every year of paid schooling.

On the other hand, let's look at Canada. It takes four years to receive an RN degree, and you cannot get work in the field in between school semesters.

Placement again is for free with the same conditions stated above. Not to mention the sick shifts you are given, working three weekends every month, never knowing when your free days are going to be. I have been informed that they give you shifts at their fancy.

So, in conclusion, it seems the only people who have their stuff together is the educators, and the education system. Good for you.

Oh, and by the way, when the colleges and universities put out the census on the jobs available after placement, keep this in mind -- that census consists of any job.

The normal person is led to believe it is a job in the field to be studied, it is not. If you worked as a gas station attendant before school, and you have got to go back to this job after school (because you could not get the three different jobs to mesh on the same time schedule), they count that as employment, and it is stated as a 100-per-cent job placement in the college or university handbooks.

It is scary where this country is headed. The taxes are strangling the normal household. The harder you work in this country, the harder the government pounds you.

All the different levels of government do not always know what each one is doing, or even get along; example, the proposed new bridge.

So I bid you goodbye.

To all the nurses and doctors who are thinking of leaving Canada, just remember this. I heard California is nice. Have fun.

Belle River, Windsor-Star


Underwear should not be priority for customs

Re: The Star's editorial, Let Customs Do The Real Job.

As I sit out here on the B.C. coast, I totally concur with your conclusion that customs officers have better things to do than worry about how many pairs of underwear are worn by returning Canadians. Bravo.

Gibsons, B.C., Windsor-Star


Liberal mismanagement to blame for health care

With regards to Dr. Albert Schumacher's recent guest column in The Windsor Star: The position of the Canadian Medical Association does not require clarification. Dr. Schumacher and the CMA represent clear logic on the health care delivery argument.

The availability of doctors has gotten worse, and waiting times haven't improved. This is the current crisis.

The Liberals talk about the Conservative hidden agenda when, in fact, the Liberal hidden agenda has been to destroy Canada's health care, based on their ideology, which is preventing Canadians from receiving quality and timely health care.

When the Liberals took power, waiting times for surgical procedures were eight weeks. Now they are four months.

When the Liberals took power, there were no private clinics. Now, private clinics operate in four provinces in violation of the National Health Act. In fact, the prime minister attends a private Montreal clinic for his annual checkups.

It is the Liberals with the mismanagement of our health care that have the hidden agenda.

The Liberal solution is to throw money at this problem, hoping that the provincial governments will find a solution to long waiting times and a shortage of health care practitioners.

It's time the federal government recognizes that the provinces have difficulties:

1. Attracting medical students. We must fund more medical schools and license foreign medical professionals.

2. We must co-ordinate change among medical professional groups across the country, eliminating waste.

3. When only three cents of every dollar gets to the patient, we must increase that amount to ensure patients are properly cared for.

Amherstburg, Windsor-Star


Layton and NDP haven't contributed anything

Jack Layton, the quasi-Liberal, spoke of new hope for democracy after the passing of the recent budget.

May I remind Jack that just because you have the word democratic in your party's name, does not make you such. If you're such a stickler for the will of the people, let's have a referendum on Bill C-38. The truth is, the NDP has (little) of the popular vote and, thank God, because they haven't found a province that they couldn't bankrupt yet.

Jack, Joe, Brian and the whole socialist crew played political puppetry with Liberal corruption and gained nothing for Canadians.

While the socialists accuse the Conservatives of siding with the evil Bloc, there isn't any other party that votes more consistently with the Bloc than the NDP. Check the stats.

This budget included nothing for medicare, so get used to waiting and dying while doing so. I think Jack Layton's solution to the military might be 100 vestal virgins armed with daisies. It may sound humorous, but opposing armies are not subject to comic relief. Canada can't even defend its sovereignty, let alone its borders.

This budget also took away the promised tax brakes to businesses that employ Canadians. How do you spell unemployment? While Layton rides a float, hugs a tree and your incumbents sit silent on serious issues, is your Canada any better than three years ago? Where is common sense and solutions for common Canadians?

Windsor, Windsor-Star


Same sex is OK, smoking is not

What a country. A man can marry his brother, but no smoking at the reception. What next?

Harrow, Windsor-Star


Where was democracy on same-sex bill vote?

Where is freedom and democracy?

In the front page Windsor Star article of June 29, Same-sex Bill Passes 158-133, Prime Minister Paul Martin allowed backbench MPs to vote freely but ordered his cabinet ministers to support the government.

So much for freedom and democracy.

LaSalle, Windsor-Star


How did we ever elect the politicians we did?

Anybody who has ever read the Bible, knows that same-sex marriage is an immoral act. But Prime Minister Paul Martin is so busy trying to force this on Canadians in order to appease the minority, that he, and even some behind the pulpit, have turned their backs on God and the Bible.

They have also turned their backs on an issue that is vital to Canadians and people around the world. As the government goes on vacation, they should spend it like most of us -- that is inhaling polluted air during smog alerts, or laying on the sand with a no-swimming sign staring at them because of water pollution.

Laws have been passed to keep people from smoking in public areas, but who has ever had the backbone to pass a law to stop big business from sending toxic smoke into the air or to stop pumping waste into our waterways?

If the bureaucrats had to wait as long as the rest of us in the hospital waiting rooms, have their swimming pools polluted like our lakes, fight truck traffic waiting to go through customs, or inhale the stinky air, then there would be no bickering or drawn-out assessments on what to do.

If a law had to be passed, it would go through government like a lightning bolt. But for the rest of us, it's hurry up and wait, take what is handed out and like it.

Sometimes it's a wonder why they were even elected in the first place.

Harrow, Windsor-Star


Border is the No. 1 issue
"Letter of the Day"

Re: Gord Henderson, Calgary Gets a Fix. One by one, reporters, elected officials, business leaders, non-profit organizations and average citizens have spoken out about Windsor's No. 1 issue. We each line up and take our swing, but who's listening? Are the voters? Because the ball is now in your court, folks.

Gord's June 25 column, I found 28 words of particular interest: "It begs the question, what crime did Windsor commit apart from electing a couple of New Democrats, to deserve the hosing its receiving from the Paul Martin regime?"

Paul Martin will not support Windsor unless Windsor supports him. With all the stories of scandals, vote-buying, appointments and turncoats, is it that hard to believe that we are being punished for not voting Liberal?

Windsor wants in. Gary McNamara may have sold his soul, but I will not vote Liberal. The NDP will never form the government. We have made our point, now let's get back in the game. Vote Liberal or vote Conservative.

I agree with your prediction of a David and Goliath struggle between the City of Windsor and an all-powerful federal transportation bureaucracy headed by the federal Liberals. The Conservative party policy clearly recognizes the jurisdictional authority of the province of Ontario. The province supports the local solution. The Conservative party has stated that a Conservative government would support the local solution.

It's time to get the message out. Paul Martin has proven he won't help Windsor. The NDP can't help Windsor. Only a Conservative government will.

Do not be fooled, the border is the No. 1 issue for Windsor and Essex County. Our jobs, our families' future, our standard of living are all directly connected to the action or inaction taken on the border file in the next few months.

Nick Kouvalis
Windsor, Windsor-Star


Government should have let voters decide

This year the Canadian government passed legislation that would redefine the definition of marriage for same sex partners. I wonder why the government was so fearful to pass a bill that would allow the Canadian voters to decide. Could it have been the overwhelming amount of mailbags received that expressed our opposition to such legislation?

By passing this legislation the Canadian government has dishonoured the Lord God Almighty, the creator of male and female; they have defiled the Church, the bride of Jesus Christ and they have grieved the Holy Spirit.

Belle River, Windsor-Star


Private health care needed for survival

In response to Erin Brennan's letter, Two-Tiered Health Care Not Optimal System, June 16: The Supreme Court decision saddens the writer, who takes that decision to heart.

Why take to heart that decision when there is no evidence before the court to support that the private health care system degrades the public system?

The decision of the highest court is the final verdict on the health care system. Brennan knows very well and agrees that on the eve of election in 2003, Liberals made promises to provide a helpful health care system. People voted them to power -- hoping for a change for the better. Nevertheless, the system remains the same.

Notwithstanding that situation, Brennan urges the Liberals to think about the consequences of privatization and urges Canadians to press them to keep their promises to Canadians to improve public health care without privatization.

Slashing long waits can be done by increasing spending to have more surgeons, more operating theatres and more medical staff, which the Liberals have failed to do. Consequently, the ailing health care system forces patients with chronic diseases and severe bodily injuries to languish at home -- waiting for timely access to health care. The question is, why should they wait to die?

Brennan is probably not aware that WHO experts, who five years ago evaluated health systems of all countries, assigned Canada 30th place.

In Britain, private health care and the public health system have long co-existed. Germany, France and Sweden have regulated their private health insurance schemes to reduce inequalities. To my mind, Canadians need a private health care system for self-preservation.

Windsor, Windsor-Star


Voter has lost faith in Liberal party

It's a sad day here in Canada. The crazy government voted to give full rights to gays and lesbians. It's pretty bad when a minority makes the rules for a majority of people who do not want this bill.

This will be the death of the Liberals. I have lost all the faith I ever had in them, which was slim, but now is none.

Windsor, Windsor-Star


Liberals sold their souls with same-sex law

With the passing of the Liberals' same-sex marriage bill, I look back at last year in great shame.

I proudly volunteered for them and voted for them. I thought I was helping the best party and was proud of my work with them. I never thought I'd be forced to pick between religion and a political party.

But with the passing of Bill C-38, there is simply no way I can support this government anymore. It was a government that was brought to its knees by the Conservatives and forced to accept an NDP budget that hardly follows Liberal ideals. They basically sold their soul to stay in power. And now, they sell out a Catholic tradition, which this country was built on - for no reason at all.

This is not about equality, this is about public relations, trying to get more voters and nab headlines. And all it cost those who voted for Bill C-38 was their very souls.

With the majority being part of a religion that does not support gay marriage, this bill is an insult to the integrity and dignity of not only this country, but all its citizens.

As a proud Catholic, I will never acknowledge a same-sex couple as married. Instead, I will abide by the laws of the Roman Catholic Church and stand by the word of the Bible. And for good measure, I will never vote Liberal again and I am encouraging everyone to never vote Liberal again. Maybe, just maybe, things can be right again.

LaSalle, Windsor-Star


Proof of socialism's value evident around the world

Mr. George is absolutely right. You just have to look around the world to see how successful socialism is.

Really, how could a system that penalizes the hard-working and rewards the not-so fail?

Windsor, Windsor-Star


Health care, border crisis parts of dismal picture

It may not be immediately obvious, but our health care crisis and our border crisis have much in common, and their solutions await leadership from the same fumbling fingers.

The Supreme Court recently ruled that our government cannot impose a monopoly health system that does not work. Some 100,000 Canadians a year have to cross borders out of desperation, while many who cannot afford that solution risk their lives on waiting lists. The system needs repair.

The court has shown that Paul Martin and his health minister - fixers for a generation - have no clothes. When private services mushroom, the debate should be about who will pay, not who will provide. Why should any Canadian foot the bill for critical medical procedures which our health fixers could not provide, when our tax load is already one of the highest in the world?

This is where our border crisis connects to this dismal picture. Only economic prosperity can ensure that whatever the source of our health services, our federal government can guarantee coverage. Paul Martin is dithering that prosperity away, as well, by ignoring the vital trade link between Windsor and the U.S.

"What did Windsor do?" asks Gord Henderson. We continue to elect NDP to Parliament, who can't convince Martin to do anything. When they had their chance to leverage action in the recent budget vote, they blew it.

Martin will continue to punish Windsor for daring to reject his Liberals; continue to play politics with an issue of enormous economic consequence to all of Canada, and continue to put our ability to fund future medical needs at grave risk.

Rick Fuschi
Tecumseh, Windsor-Star


Government ignoring Charter, God's supremacy

Is the Canadian government ignoring the supremacy of God on the same-sex marriage debate and vote? In the preamble in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms it's written ". . . whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law . . ."

This preamble invites the Canadian people and their government to recognize the principles and the rule of law that are in harmony with the supremacy of God.

For thousands of years in all cultures and all religious traditions it has been recognized/believed that marriage is between male and female, and husband and wife. When the marriage takes place there is the groom (male) and the bride (female) who come together to make a covenant, hopefully in the presence of God, to be married.

Same-sex marriage may be legalized and ordained by man, but same-sex marriage never has and never will be ordained by God. This is the supremacy of God. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms invites all those who recognize the supremacy of God on the subject of same-sex marriage to be heard and counted.

Calgary, Alta. - Windsor-Star

June 27th to July 2nd


Some information should be kept from public eye

Re: MPs Are Too Eager to Amend the Access Act, June 18. In a democracy, information is supposed to flow freely and horizontally from all sectors of society - the government, businesses, universities, think-tanks, newspapers, the courts, private individuals and so on.

But even in this type of society most of us understand that some things have been kept secret for national security reasons, for the purpose of not alarming the public and to protect innocent people and individuals' privacy. Occasionally these dichotomies find themselves at polar opposites.

And then the question becomes, who should decide what the general public has the right to know and when to know it? And what criteria should be used for making such weighty decisions? An ideal system would avoid both the McCarthy-type investigations of the 1950s that were based on fear-mongering, and an environment prone to coverups where regular abuses could flourish unchallenged.

The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham believed that governmental policies/legislation should be dictated by what would achieve the greatest good for the greatest number.

If we apply this maxim to the federal government's latest initiative -- to keep whistleblower information about wrongdoing in its ranks secret for 20 years like Bill C-11 proposes -- what, if any, societal good will it bring to Canada?

Canada's Information Commissioner John Reid raised some excellent points of concern in his guest column featured in The Windsor Star. I hope that our federal policy-makers and citizenry alike will pay attention and act on them soon.

Windsor, Windsor-Star

Carley's Law defeated by our own charter of rights

Did you know that a bill called Carley's Law was defeated in the House of Commons? Did you know that this bill was the result of a repeat drunk driver who, in 2003, ran over and left a teenager to die? Did you know that the bill, sponsored by two Conservative MPs, would have set hefty minimum jail terms for hit-and-run drivers? Did you know it was defeated 194-94 by the Liberal, Bloc and New Democratic parties because they said that the legislation was too harsh and would have likely run afoul of the charter?

Please read the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the B.C. teenager who died that night. Please reread it to all the parents who have lost loved ones to drunk and/or hit-and-run drivers over the past years.

If the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives more rights to the criminals, then burn the thing, because it is killing this country, one group at a time.

Spruce Grove, Alta., Windsor-Star

Martin government guilty of mixed-up priorities

With the Liberal government in Ottawa continuing to hold power only by committee, it is inevitable that an election cannot be far off. At that time, let us not forget that Mr. Martin's government is prepared to move mountains to pass the same-sex legislation, while at the same time allowing the binational committee on the border crossing issue to move at a snail's pace.

This committee, which our federal government has endorsed, has taken countless months, if not years to present its first meaningful report. However, rather than focusing and distilling the issue to a few viable alternatives, it has widened the debate by identifying over a dozen potential sites. Most of these sites have either been already discounted by everyone who is seriously committed to solving the problem or are just downright silly.

Is this the leadership the Liberals promised the country? Is this how a native son treats the city he says he holds special? Can there be any doubt the Liberals have totally lost their decades-old power base in Essex County?

I wish our government would spend as much effort on issues that affect the entire country and threaten its economic lifeblood (like the border issue) as focusing on passing a law that affects a minority whose human rights are already protected and codified. Everything in its time and place. I just believe the Liberal government's priorities are wrong.

Remember that on election day. It is coming sooner than we think.

Windsor, Windsor-Star

NDP on wrong side of law-and-order debate

Unbelievable. Joe Comartin, justice critic for the NDP, leads the charge to prevent criminals from forfeiting the proceeds of their crimes. All three federal parties supported a bill that makes it easier to forfeit to the Crown the assets of convicted gang members and drug traffickers. This bill will now have to be studied until next fall when it will finally be voted into law anyway, with unnecessary delay.

Liberals, Conservatives and the Bloc all supported the unanimous consent of this bill, but a party that has fewer than 10 per cent of the seats in the house stopped it dead in its tracks. Let's be clear on what side of the law-and-order debate the NDP stand next election, and it is not the side of justice. Joe Comartin suggested going even further, decriminalizing marijuana and making it legal; a move that the U.S. ambassador stated would shut down Windsor's border.

An NDP MP introduced legislation for legalized brothels and prostitution, the same NDP wants prescription heroin clinics. Can you even imagine the drug-addicted Americans and other foreigners who would flock to Canada to use heroin legally?

These drug addicts would then take advantage of our already over-burdened health care system. Why do we keep electing representatives from Windsor who take these pro-drug and lax law enforcement positions? Continuing to elect them in Windsor will mean that we're all finished.

Windsor, Windsor-Star

Martin Liberals should listen to majority

Paul Martin: I read the article in The Windsor Star June 22 regarding Tony Vlaeri's attempt to keep Parliament in session in order to pass Bill C-38, same-sex marriage. His is declaring it a matter of national interest. According to all the polls I have read, it is a matter of national interest, but the majority of Canadians are opposed to it. Maybe, sir, you and your party need to wake up and listen to the majority of the people and not just a few vocal groups.

All along, the polls are showing the views of the people, but unfortunately, your party is too busy trying to hide from the sponsorship scandal than listen to the voters. If the Liberals would put as much effort into running this country as they are hiding from the Gomery inquiry, they might just be able to listen to everyone's opinion.

Let's hope, come election time, the majority of Canadians being ignored will remember that at the polls.

Leamington, Windsor-Star

Same-sex couples have ability to safeguard rights

As a Christian, I believe marriage was instituted by God in the beginning of creation to propagate his creations. I believe He and only He has the power to change what marriage was instituted for. I have no malice against people of like sex who have a relationship and share their lives together.

I believe there are methods in place to guard their rights to a life together and if they need protection to cover each other after death then that can be arranged.

I am appalled that our government, who we voted in to go to Ottawa and govern our country, would spend all this time and energy to legislate something I feel they should have no mandate to even consider.

Our health care system is in trouble, our farmers across this great nation are in trouble, our air and water are polluted beyond belief, our transportation system is a mess, and don't forget our need here for a border crossing.

And Parliament is sitting overtime to pass a law for same-sex marriage.

I hope every voter in this nation makes a note to remind their representative what they are in power for and when you vote next time, asked the hard questions. I am sick and tired of the nonsense that happens in Ottawa and hope and pray someone will soon come to their senses.

Harrow, Windsor-Star

June 20th to the 26th

Re: Gord Henderson, Calgary Gets a fix

One by one, reporters, elected officials, business leaders, non-profit organizations, and average citizens have spoken out about Windsor’s No. 1 issue. We each line up and take our swing but who’s listening? Are the voters? Because the ball is now in your court folks!

In Gord’s Saturday column, I found 28 words of particular interest:
“It begs the question. What crime did Windsor commit apart from electing a couple of New Democrats, to deserve the hosing its receiving from the Paul Martin regime?”

Paul Martin will not support Windsor unless Windsor supports him. With all the stories of scandals, vote buying, appointments, and turncoats is it that hard to believe that we are being punished for not voting liberal?

Windsor wants in! Gary McNamara may have sold his soul, but I will not vote Liberal. The NDP will never form the government. We have made our point, now lets get back in the game. Vote liberal or vote Conservative.

I agree with your prediction, of a David and Goliath struggle between the city of Windsor and an all powerful federal transportation bureaucracy headed by the federal liberals. The Conservative party policy clearly recognizes the jurisdictional authority of the Province of Ontario. The Province supports the local solution. The Conservative party has stated that a Conservative government would support the local solution.

Its time to get the message out. Paul Martin has proven he won’t help Windsor. The NDP can’t help Windsor. Only a Conservative government will.

Do not be fooled, the border is the No. 1 issue for Windsor and Essex County. Our jobs, our family’s future, our standard of living are all directly connected to the action or inaction taken on the border file in the next few months.

Windsor - Windsor Star


Who should you vote for?

Think about what your job means. The average person without a job can’t have a nice house, a nice car, or a nice vacation. Without a job you can’t provide for your family. Provincially and nationally, people without jobs do not pay taxes, which mean less money for healthcare, education, and safe communities. Jobs that are secure and pay well mean that we can provide for our families; a modest home, a vacation, and savings for our children’s future.

Every significant player in the auto industry has said that we must make an investment and take real action on the border crisis or face the consequences. The bi-national process is taking so long that we risk losing thousands of jobs in Windsor.

Paul Martin is from Windsor and fully understands the desperate situation. When he was here two months ago he did not lay out a plan to speed up the bi-national process or make any financial commitment for our number 1 issue. The Liberals have committed 26 billion dollars across Canada. The Liberals continue to prove that they will not support Windsor unless Windsor supports them. The NDP will never form the government and therefore never be able to fix the problem. The Infrastructure Critic for the Conservative Party was in Windsor and stated that a Conservative Government would support the local border solution. A Conservative Government would certainly get along better with our neighbours and best be able to fast track the bi-national process. A Conservative Government would reduce taxes for Canadians and businesses which would attract investment and stimulate the economy.

Vote Conservative or vote Liberal, but do not vote NDP. Joe Comartin and Brian Masse are nice guys but they do not pay my bills. Will they pay yours?

Windsor - Windsor Star

Electoral process reducing democracy

Canada doesn't need a nice guy for a prime minister. What this country needs is a hard-nosed, straight-forward leader who isn't afraid to take on the task of eliminating wasteful spending and corruption in the government.

Stephen Harper's barbecue tour is a perfect representation of the Canadian voters' apathy toward becoming educated and informed. Rather, it seems that we elect our prime minister based on whether his necktie complements his eyes. This criterion may suffice for a high school student council election, however, it weakens the democratic process and Canada suffers.
It is sad that the electoral process has been reduced to a mere popularity contest with the winning contestant getting the power to run the country.

Our politicians can better serve us by spending hours devising and executing positive plans to improve the state of our country instead of wasting their time polishing their nice-guy image.
It is this nice-guy attitude that Canadians try to maintain that has turned us into spineless patrons in the first place and permit the corruption of the government to continue.

Windsor - Windsor Star

Vote Conservative to protect jobs

The NDP record, is more or less intact. Thanks to the incumbent, nothing will happen in Windsor as long as no one is speaking. Brian Masse and his sidekick have done nothing to place interest in this city and county.

They could have forced the confidence vote to get funding for Windsor and our lifelong border issue. But it appears Brian is still on council making decisions on the arena. He cannot stand up to Paul or Jack.

The two of them will ride the Liberal bus, dance the dance and repeat what others tell them to say.

So go head vote NDP. You will get nothing again. They only need your vote for the one day anyway. And others will tell them what to say. They even clap on cue.

It's time to let the Conservatives show you just what the Liberals and NDP have gone and done. I think the Conservatives can keep your job from leaving the city. Heaven knows, Brian and Joe Comartin aren't doing it.

LaSalle - Windsor Star