OpinionLetters
Monday, Nov. 3: A $3-billion giveaway to each taxpayer in Ontario by Doug Ford subsequent 12 months is one more potential election bribe, a reader says. You’ll be able to write to us too, at [email protected]
Printed Nov 04, 2024 • Final up to date 15 hours in the past • 10 minute learn
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Premier Doug Ford shakes arms with Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy after the minister supplied an financial replace this week at Queen’s Park. Ontario taxpayers are every getting a $200 rebate. Picture by Nathan Denette /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Doug Ford is simply attempting to purchase our votes
Re: Ford says $200 cheques going to Ontario taxpayers at value of $3 billion, Oct. 29.
He’s at it once more! Fairly an irritating development.
Why did Premier Doug Ford determine to forfeit mega-dollars in income by ending automobile licence registration charges? Why is his ongoing pricey and insufficiently researched effort to broaden alcohol merchandising areas a precedence? And now: promising a $3 billion giveaway of presents to each taxpayer in Ontario subsequent 12 months as one other potential election bribe.
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Unique articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, meals evaluations and occasion listings within the weekly e-newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Workplace.Limitless on-line entry to Ontario Chronicle and 15 information websites with one account. Ontario Chronicle ePaper, an digital reproduction of the print version to view on any gadget, share and touch upon.Day by day puzzles, together with the New York Instances Crossword.Help native journalism.
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All that while not attending to the crises in well being care, schooling, senior help and different important wants.
What number of souls will keep in mind, when the election does happen, his plethora of misguided efforts, together with new compelled decrees on how Ontario mayors lose their proper to handle their very own distinctive visitors stream challenges?
Moe Wright, Kanata
Ship your $200 to the meals financial institution
Wow, Doug Ford is sending $200 to every of 15 million Ontario residents. That can improve our deficit by $3 billion. Who do you assume goes to pay the curiosity on the extra debt? Every one in every of us, both by increased taxes or cuts in providers.
Nicely, I plan on giving my $200 to the native meals financial institution and encourage all Ontario residents who will not be in dire must do the identical. You’ll be able to declare a tax deduction and ship a message to our cynical premier that votes will not be purchased with our personal cash however with sound insurance policies that really profit society, resembling coaching and hiring extra basic practitioners and nurse practitioners, and adequately funding hospitals and colleges. Any takers?
Pierre Belanger, Orléans
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Don’t blame sufferers for lengthy ER wait occasions
Re: Ottawa sufferers proceed to face longer than common emergency waits, Oct. 26.
Premier Doug Ford thinks sufferers and sick persons are responsible for ER wait occasions? Final August, I waited for eight hours earlier than seeing the ER physician and one other six hours for the specialist. In between, I had blood work, a CT scan and IV antibiotics. I had a kidney stone and no household physician.
There are 2.5 million folks and not using a household physician, Mr. Ford, and belief me, if I might have prevented the emergency room, I might have. Possibly if there have been extra concentrate on this concern and fewer on paper luggage and tunnels, we’d be higher off.
As for “little Johnny,” any dad or mum could be scared if their little one had been injured, and the primary thought is perhaps to go to the hospital. It’s insensitive and ignorant to place the blame on us in an already annoying scenario.
Tanya Massari, Nepean
Metropolis authorities spurns wants of the disabled
Re: Letter, Church parking misplaced to bike lanes, Oct. 25.
A number of years in the past, in the course of the debate as as to whether e-scooter leases needs to be authorized in Ottawa, varied teams such because the Canadian Nationwide Institute for the Blind, non-public residents and town’s accessibility committee beneficial that metropolis authorities not approve them. Council voted to approve them.
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The letter from Richard Lauzon relating to bike lanes inhibiting accessibility was revealed a day after I addressed some members of council relating to accessible parking on metropolis streets. Regardless of many inquiries on my half, I nonetheless have but to get a coherent reply as to why Ottawa has no accessible parking on metropolis streets. Because it places such spots in parks and group centres, one would have thought the civic synapses may make the logical step to avenue accessible parking.
I share the letter-writer’s frustrations with the inanity that seems to be our civic authorities. Convey up accessible parking and the “there is free four-hour parking for the disabled” mantra is trotted out. The explanation accessible parking is outsized is to permit for the deployment of mobility aids. Then there’s the “parking allowed in no parking zones” ploy, besides principally that is inside 5 metres of a nook, which garners a ticket.
Lauzon’s letter comes on the heels of a criticism from Waterloo metropolis Coun. Chantal Huinink, who wrote a slightly scathing letter to Ottawa Council concerning the poor accessibility options on this metropolis. The disabled make up about 22 per cent of the inhabitants. In no different place would the rampant discrimination the disabled face be acceptable.
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David Prichard, Vanier
The case for hospital effectivity
Re: Why we will’t run hospitals like companies, Oct. 30.
Because of this you shouldn’t let bureaucrats run organizations. The author means that being environment friendly isn’t value it as a result of it prices extra. As with every statistic or numbers, you may put collectively a compelling argument for or in opposition to one thing.
At first look, the argument put forth is logical, however after a pause, it turns into illogical. It’s true that if effectivity permits for a larger variety of sufferers to be seen throughout a given interval, there can be further prices in provides and assessments, and so forth. However these are variable prices and are based mostly on the variety of people handled. The biggest prices, resembling buildings, staffing, warmth, gentle, communications, and so forth. are fastened and don’t change whatever the variety of sufferers seen, as a result of effectivity dictates that you need to have the ability to do extra for much less.
So, prices do improve marginally, however being extra environment friendly considerably reduces the general value per affected person when all the things is factored in. As taxpayers, we should always demand that our well being care system turn into much more environment friendly and never much less, so it will possibly deal with extra sufferers in a well timed method.
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Greg Weatherdon, Kanata
Competitors has no function in well being care
Michael Bilodeau’s article makes glorious studying. Nonetheless, I discover myself doubting that competitors drives prices down. So long as maximization of revenue in any case value stays the mantra, greed will all the time take priority.
We all know of many examples, resembling oil corporations fixing costs; the upselling of providers and items; public suspicions of grocery chains working in live performance to repair costs; and, most just lately, of landlords allegedly utilizing the YieldStar app to repair rental costs. With Ford pouring extra funds into well being care, we’ve realized of for-profit enterprises charging rather more than the general public system for a similar service throughout peak durations. That’s higher? How?
Well being care is a service that each particular person at one time or one other will want; it have to be obtainable to all. Public well being have to be maintained to fulfill all circumstances: gradual durations, busy durations and durations of unimaginable exercise and stress. We weren’t ready when COVID struck. It’s throughout such occasions that the price of preparedness for all eventualities is value it.
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With public well being, we’re the buyers; do it proper, we turn into the happiest of beneficiaries. Correctly maintained and invested in, public well being care, whereas maybe costing extra within the brief time period, additionally prices a lot, a lot much less in the way in which of stress, hardship, turn-aways and failures, and gives superior outcomes in the long term. These are pluses.
Frank A. Pelaschuk, Alexandria
Why ‘bubble zones’ are a nasty concept
Re: Council votes to review a bubble zone bylaw for Ottawa, with reservations, Oct. 30.
The proposed “bubble bylaw” is a nasty concept.
First, the 100 metre-sized bubble is the size of a soccer subject in all instructions, thus de facto nullifying the precise authorized protest. Second, these in help of the bylaw appear to check the worst situations, slightly than the extra frequent peaceable, or usually silent, protests. Legal guidelines in opposition to disturbing the peace and noise legal guidelines can already be utilized as wanted. Third, there are already legal guidelines regarding hateful messages.
Fourth and most significantly, this proposal is another extension of the “cancel culture” used in opposition to peaceable residents who supply different views. And denying the proper to verbal disagreement can result in violence.
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Individuals have many issues they want to specific publicly, for instance: some features of Shariah; components of the LGBTQ+ agenda; wars; environmental issues; racial points; abortion; well being mandates; or church teachings. There are additionally contentious strikes or different kinds of labour actions.
It’s straightforward to see that free speech shouldn’t be all the time agreeable, however I urge you to think about that the choice has all the time resulted in some type of violence. If such a bylaw is taken into account needed because of failures of different strategies, it needs to be as particular as attainable and be completely minimally intrusive on our Constitution rights.
David Morse, Ottawa
Bike lanes are useful for us all
Re: Doug Ford’s bike-lane laws is about politics, not security or visitors stream, Oct. 17.
Blaming congestion on bike lanes is a cop-out to keep away from making the significant modifications our transport programs want. Bike lanes will not be only for cyclists; they improve the general security of our streets for vehicles, bikes and pedestrians alike. Eradicating bike lanes will put extra lives in danger, and improve congestion — the issue their elimination is claiming to unravel.
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Put up-pandemic, Ottawans are biking and strolling greater than ever. For me, bike paths are probably the greatest components of residing right here. They permit me to entry inexperienced house and work together extra intimately with our metropolis, all with out compromising effectivity. As a substitute of utilizing bike lanes as a scapegoat for congestion, we should always concentrate on discovering official options for cyclists, vehicles and pedestrians alike.
Marika Wechsler, Ottawa
Ford’s bike-lane coverage is appropriate
What an idea: requiring precise knowledge associated to the necessity for bike lanes earlier than going forward and spending thousands and thousands of taxpayer {dollars} on their set up.
I do know that such an strategy is troubling for our metropolis officers, who see no motive why they need to be required to justify their choices with empirical knowledge. And it’s doubly annoying for the NCC, who would slightly merely ignore any requests to clarify its actions, resembling closing our driveways and parkways.
However as one of many residents obliged to fund these bike lanes whether or not I wish to or not, I actually haven’t any objection to our provincial authorities’s proposal. It makes good sense.
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John Arbuckle, Ottawa
Does distant work serve the general public? Nobody requested
Re: Working from residence full time would lower public service emissions considerably: report, Oct. 29.
Protection of “remote work” by public servants has relied nearly completely on the voice of public servants, and on knowledge supplied by public servants. The general public, which expects to be served, has been absent from the dialog.
The place are the interviews with individuals who have waited hours to ask a easy tax query, or weeks, even months, to resume a passport?
Research of work-at-home productiveness could rely Zoom calls and memos as manufacturing, however that misses the variety of residents who’ve slammed down the cellphone after losing hours of “your call is important to us … ” episodes when it clearly isn’t.
Your article claims that full-time earn a living from home would slash emissions, a declare based mostly on a survey of 1,500 public servants. It doesn’t admit that many federal jobs can’t be completed from residence: security inspection for instance, lab scientists, customs and immigration. It’s a protracted checklist.
Reducing emissions is necessary for us all. Nevertheless, there are methods to do it with out closing the door on taxpayers who deserve higher service.
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Shut authorities parking heaps maybe, and use the house for downtown housing. That will take plenty of vehicles off the highway. Then, enhance funding for public transit to get staff to the workplace quicker with fewer emissions; that might be a public service for all, slightly than free passes for presidency staff, which was advised within the article.
Little doubt higher transit would value cash. However higher transit is a extra economical resolution than constructing and sustaining roads. Sure, authorities staff discover it cheaper and extra handy to earn a living from home. However the remainder of us need to cowl the price of connecting these residence workplaces, and Canada will lose tax income when residence staff declare their work house as a deductible expense.
Charles Lengthy, Ottawa
A particular place for leaf blower inventor
Re: Deachman: Leaf blowers — the autumn assault on Ottawa’s eardrums is properly underway, Oct. 23.
So, what does the person on the street consider these leaf blowers? Thanks, I’m glad you requested.
I simply occur to know there’s a particular place in Hell for the inventor of these infernal gadgets, and there he shares a cell with the one that invented “auto-correct” and the idiot chargeable for these little sticky labels everywhere in the tomatoes.
Jack Pyl, Ottawa
Right here’s to fearless Citizen reporting
Re: Postmedia reporter says KGB allegations are ‘ridiculous’ and ‘entirely false’, Oct. 25.
I’ve extra confidence in David Pugliese than in a former Conservative politician with an axe to grind. Bravo to the Citizen for standing up for fearless reporting. It is best to invite the accuser to make the identical accusations outdoors of Parliament.
Peter Larson, Ottawa
Really useful from Editorial
Right now’s letters: Protest bylaw in Ottawa would shield the harmless
Right now’s letters: Leaf blowers are environment friendly, not evil
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