I am thankful that I live in Alberta, Canada, and not in America.
Canada is not perfect, no country is, but it ranks in the top 10 in the world every year for its democratic institutions, health care, education, welfare of its citizens, public education, environment, political stability, etcetera.
However, my ex-country, the U.S., has been rocked by one political controversy after another. One conspiracy theory after another. One vote re-count vote after another, and continuous battles over control of the U.S. Congress.
Some folks would lead us to believe that we can “bury our heads in the sands,” and the problems would got away, and some folks would lead us to believe that we can “pray” our problems away.
However, I am of the beliefs that we need to keep informed about the issues that affect our province and our country so that we don’t let our politicians get away with implementing laws which may ruin our province or our country.
Below are some issues that I should be addressed by popular vote (referendums) since too many of them are too important to be left up to politicians.
We should not allow our universal health-care system to be undermined by some of our politicians who would like us to believe that ‘private health care’ is more efficient and less costly than our present system.
If that situation were the case, how come Americans' private health care system is more costly and less efficient than the universal health-care systems in western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etcetera?
We should be pumping more money into our system, not into private health care. If folks want private health care, or private schools, or private energy companies, they should pay for them themselves. Stop subsidizing private businesses at the expense of public services.
Of course, some folks, including some politicians, know that there is ‘gold in them hills’ by going private. Just look at the health-care system in the States, where a ‘three-trillion-plus-dollar cottage industry’ benefits private doctors, hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and the lawyers who defend them.
A system where millions of Americans are excluded from receiving adequate health care, and where 60 per cent of all bankruptcies are attributed to health-care costs.
We should be asking our new premier how much her new government is costing the taxpayers. How much does each MLA earn, plus per diem allowances? How much does each cabinet minister earn above their base MLA salary? How much for each staff member in their office, etcetera?
After all, our politicians want the public to know about teachers and doctors, so we should know how much our top public servants, elected officials, make.
We should also have referendums on the introduction of a provincial police force, or the establishment a provincial pension fund, or the funding of private schools, etcetera. Unless our politicians can prove that putting money into any private business (private schools, private health care, private energy companies, etc.) are a necessity to our society such as we did during the Second World War when we subsidized companies that produced military equipment.
The public should have a vote on the introduction of any new curriculum proposals by our politicians, such as the one being floated by our education minister. Do we want ‘American-style' education introduced in our province? If America’s education system is so good, how come it is behind Canada, the western Europeans, Japan, and China in the four core subjects (math, science, social studies/history, and language arts)? Why are American companies and universities hiring foreigners instead?
The public should vote on any new measures that would allow for the introduction of ‘American-style’ gun laws (open carry; concealed weapons permits; sale and ownership of military weapons such as assault rifles, bump stocks, etcetera). Do we want ‘gun-toting people,' such as we see in some ‘red states’, openly walking around in public?
Will new provincial gun laws make us safer? If that were the case, America would be the safest country on earth. Unfortunately, that is not the case since the U.S. suffers nearly two mass shootings per day, with at least four or more people killed or wounded per incident. No place is safe in the States, not in schools, shopping malls, concerts, athletic events, weddings, funerals, highways, churches, etcetera.
How come most western countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, etcetera, aren’t plagued by the gun violence that we see in the States?
Don’t let the gun lobby use the argument that registration of guns will lead to the demise our democracy. Why? Do we register to vote? Do we register our cars? Our businesses? Are we required to obtain insurances and licences for our vehicles? Does AHS register our vaccine records. Are we not registered when we obtain a passport? Or when we fly commercial airlines or board cruise ships?
We should be allowed to vote on issues that lead to the break-up of Canada. Should we allow a minority of people to decide the future of our province and our country?
George Thatcher,
Olds
