Re: Letter: We are bombarded with misinformation
The author of that letter said she wasn’t aware of any referendum replacing CPP and OAS. That’s the point. We have a provincial government which wants to replace those pension plans with its Alberta Pension Plan, and I have suggested that Albertans should decide on the matter with a referendum, not politicians.
Does our premier need a “cash cow” (CPP and OAS) because our government has poorly managed our Heritage Trust Fund? Our premier claims that Alberta is “entitled” to half of Canada’s CPP. Strange since Alberta’s population is 16 per cent of Canada’s total population. Must be the “new math” she is using, eh?
Important matters that affect the lives of our citizens should not be left up to politicians because politicians are told to vote a certain way by their leaders, and if a politician goes contrary to the desires of the party or the party’s leader, he/she may become a “backbencher” or is kicked out of the party and forced to sit as an independent. You may recall the sudden departure of two women from Trudeau’s government when they refused to go along with his position on the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
Bottom line: Can we trust a government that has developed a reputation for ignoring the advice of doctors and medical scientists during the COVID-19 pandemic? As soon as she took office, she fired the chief medical officer. Why? When was the last time our premier mentioned anything dealing with vaccines concerning the new viruses? We had “free” vaccines for COVID-19, but we don’t for the new viruses affecting young children and senior citizens. Why not?
Did she consult with doctors, teachers and constitutional lawyers about introducing legislation on gay students? Do we allow our government to “stigmatize" a minority? Do we allow a government to legitimize discrimination and persecution of a minority? We have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms in our Constitution to protect us from politicians who may think authoritarian rule is more important than democracy.
Remember: In America, southern states fought to keep slavery, and those same states fought to keep segregation. Now many of those same states are banning abortions, including banning abortions to women who have gotten pregnant through rape and incest. Those very same states are banning books in schools and libraries. Banning the discussions of racism, bigotry and persecution of women, gays, blacks, Jews, Muslims, Mormons, Asians, Hispanics, migrants, immigrants, etc.
“The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavoured, the accused, the incarcerated and the condemned," said Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer, social activist, and professor of law at NY University. He helped with the creation of the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, a museum dedicated to the history of slavery in America from 1619 to the end of the end of the American Civil War, and the history of of segregation, Jim Crow laws, Black Codes, “sundown towns” and the KKK in the southern states from the 1870s to the the 1960s.
George Thatcher,
Olds
