Re: Member of Parliament Earl Dreeshen's summer update mailout to residents:
What do you mean by “the unjust transition of the oil and gas sector”? Are you saying we, the taxpayers, should continue to support the energy sector, with more subsidies and more tax cuts? When do we “wean” the energy sector from the teats of the taxpayers? After more than 70 years of financial support from provincial and federal governments, we should stop “bottle feeding” the energy sector.
After all, most children are weaned from their mothers after a couple of years, calves and foals are weaned from their mothers after a few short months, and we encourage our children to get lives of their own after they graduate from school.
Do you think the leader of the Conservative party behaved in an “unethical manner” by supporting the trucker convey folks who blockaded the border at Coutts and Ottawa? Canadians have a “right” to protest peacefully and legally, but they are not “entitled” to ignore or to break laws and rules they don’t like. We can’t have democracy if individuals believe they are “entitled” to do whatever they want.
On the subject of taxation, we have politicians who talk about lowering or even cutting taxes. If we eliminated generous tax cuts and generous tax loopholes for the super rich, we would have sufficient money to pay for our public services (health, education, social services, police services, defence, roads, bridges, rail lines, airports, prisons, waterways, etc).
Plus, we should stop funding private interests with taxpayers’ money (stop “robbing Peter to pay Paul”) unless it’s in the national interest, such as in war time.
Furthermore, we should be punishing political and religious extremists/zealots who continue to attack (physically and verbally) women, non-whites, gays, Jews, Asians, Hispanics, Muslims, migrants, indigenous peoples/Indians, etc. because they are not “entitled” to impose their beliefs on others.
Lastly, our politicians should not be copying the extreme political views that we see in America today. We don’t want haters and spreaders of conspiracy theories ruining our country.
P.S.: Canada was ranked number 2 in the world by U.S. News & World Report (It’s a conservative periodical). Canada is not perfect, but it sure beats our southern neighbour in many ways, ie: health care, education, law and order, environment, social, economic, and political stability, protection of civil rights, etc. Plus, no mass shooting on a daily basis.
George Thatcher,
Olds
