9 published comments

Change Afghan culture
Re: Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan growing, says U.S. general, Oct. 1.

The tribes living in remote mountainous regions are solitary people with distinct cultures which they are determined to preserve at all cost. The problem in Afghanistan is no different than those in Tibet and North East India. China is resolving the problem by diluting the indigenous population by mass immigration while the Indian army has been fighting for 50 years without resolution. Our soldiers will die in Afghanistan until we give up -- unless the West can devise a strategy to change Afghan culture. Unfortunately for the U.S. general, changing ancient cultures takes time and needs peace to develop infrastructures for education and transport.
(Ottawa Citizen, 12/10/09)
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Breathing room
Re: "Alberta faces long road to clear $7B deficit;Top economist predicts province will continue struggling for five years," The Journal, Oct. 9.
While I have a great respect for the ability of economists to predict the future, I do not believe that putting Alberta's resource-based economy with low taxes in the same basket as Ontario's highly-taxed industrial economy makes sense. If the royalty situation does not improve in spite of higher oilsands production, Alberta has room to reinstate health-care premiums and introduce a sales tax; if deficits persist, they will not break the back of citizens.
Unfortunately, Ontario does not have additional tax capacity and will continue to suffer from deficits.
(Edmonton Journal, 11/10/09)
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Emulate Ernie
Re: "Energy report finds power ratio at three times demand," and "More cracks in Tory club wall," Don Braid, Opinion, Oct. 7.
Enmax is in the business of supplying electricity and if they don't see the need for power lines, who will use them when they are built? It seems to me that the massive victory in the last election has gone to the heads of Ed Stelmach and his ministers, and whether it be health, power, royalties or education, they know it all and Albertans have to live with whatever they decide. It is time the Tory MLAs took a cue from Ernie Isley and bolted the party. There is no other way to bring these dictators to their senses.
(Calgary Herald, 08/10/09)
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Speaking of disparities
According to the annual United Nations Human Development Report (Canada Ranks Fourth In Quality Of Life – online, Oct. 5), “these gains [by migrants] often directly benefit family members who stay behind as well as countries of origin indirectly.” I suggest that it is the educated and enterprising people who emigrate and that these direct gains do not make up for the contribution they would have made to the developing countries if they had stayed behind.
(Globe and Mail, 06/10/09)
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Power’s the goal
Monte Solberg ("Elections are about issues, nor power," Sept. 15) is repeating the mantra of Preston Manning when he founded Reform. Whatever his pretension, Solberg knows elections decide who will wield the power and that discussion of how the important issues of the day would be tackled by different parties is important only because it helps voters make a choice. The solutions presented during the election are not binding and the winners often handle issues differently than they promise. The proper forum for discussion is Parliament, where issues are debated in every session, not the pressure cooker of elections. Elections are interesting because power is at stake -- power to deal with issues as much as the rewards of power, not because any party propounds novel solutions for issues of the day.
(Calgary Sun, 17/09/09)
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Fix Bosco, don't close it
Re: "Youth home to shut down; Announcement comes three months after Bosco runaways charged in murders," The Journal, Sept. 10.
It must have taken a lot of public money to establish a facility like Bosco Homes. I can understand the concern over the circumstances that led to two youths being charged in connection with the deaths of two neighbouring residents.
Given our society's problems, troubled youths are not going to disappear and will need some place to stay where they can be treated for their problems. I would have thought that it would be better to fix the problems at Bosco Homes than to close the facility.
(Edmonton Journal, 9/11/09)
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Emissions compromise
Re The Costs of Climate change (Sept. 7)
Both India and the developed countries have valid points. Blaming each other is not going to solve the problem. The solution may lie in setting emission standards based on either the population or the area of each country, or some combination of both. This way the developed countries will have to reduce their emissions while the developing countries will have an incentive to develop with efficient technology.
(Globe and Mail, 08/09/090
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Self-defeating
Re: "NDP may try to keep Tories in power, party's national director says," Herald Online, Sept. 2.
The story makes it clear that Michael Ignatieff is barking up the wrong tree if he believes the NDP and the BQ will support him to bring down the Tories. These parties run their polls too, and they know when it will be in their particular interest to bring down the government. They will be in opposition whether it is Stephen Harper or Ignatieff who calls the shots. While it may not be critical for the BQ, it will be foolish for the NDP to bring down the government when Tory support is holding and the Liberals are ahead in the polls, mainly at the NDP's expense. Jack Layton may be a socialist, but he has no wish to commit political suicide.
(Calgary Herald, 05/09/09)
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It is all in the lag
Since the Canadian economy suffered the least over the past year, it's to be expected that it has much less to recover than other developed economies (Canada To Lag G7 economies: OECD - online, Sept. 3). Therefore, rather than worrying over the lag, we should worry that other economies are not recovering faster and that the lag is not as large as it should be.
(Globe and Mail, 04/09/09)
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