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Today's Poll Commentary Email the Editor Tell a Politician Suggestions?

Do you take unemployment numbers into consideration when looking for work?

Emails To The Editor should be no longer than 300 words, and must bear the writer's name, full address and phone number for verification purposes. All emails are subject to editing. Not all emails received will necessarily be published. The views expressed by letter writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TheCornwallDaily.com, or Corus Entertainment.

Except for special circumstances, writers will be limited to one email per calendar week.

Stop the fear mongering

The Dippers are out in full force with the latest ramblings from 3rd place finishers Leclerc and MacDonald. It's the regular natterings... jet fighters... blah blah blah, tax cuts for big corporations... cue the violins. Then they do what they do best and try to scare people. This time it's seniors. Come on Mario and Elaine you know better. When OAS was created people only lived long enough to collect it for a few years, if ever. Now we live far longer and funding the damn thing needs to be addressed. Stop the fear mongering.

John R. Bolton
Strathmore, Alberta

Expand the Canada Pension Plan now

Prime Minister Harper recently announced proposal to raise the age limit eligibility for the Old Age Security from 65 to 67. This is a move apparently to help to reduce costs.

Yet months ago they decided to spend money on new fighter jets to the tune of $15 billion and now that has ballooned to some $35 billion and to spend some $40 billion on warships.

The reality is that 40 percent of Old Age recipients are making less than $20,000 a year. And what about the impacts this would have on those persons age 65 who are in poor health, and cannot continue to work?

The right way to deal with this looming crisis is to expand the Canada Pension Plan now to raise incomes for seniors in the future.

Sadly, this represents a direct attack on the most vulnerable citizens of our country.

Mario Leclerc
Former NDP candidate, SD&SG

Threats to Old Age Security

The Harper government is crying poor on pensions for seniors while it lavishes $13 billion in tax cuts for big corporations that don’t need the money. What’s wrong with this picture? They can’t afford to staff the EI phone lines so workers can access benefits for which they’ve paid, they can’t afford to maintain meat inspection levels that were instituted after the listeria outbreak, they can’t afford the non-taxation of veterans’ disability benefit, they can’t afford to let the ecoENERGY Retrofit program run its course till March, even though less than half of the budgeted funds have been allocated, and they can’t even think about a national childcare, homecare or pharmacare program.

But on January 1, 2012, the corporate tax rate was cut to 15%, right on schedule. It’s hard for a government to cry poor when they are shoveling money out the back door. It’s high time tax expenditures were reviewed like all other program spending. The Conservative government of Canada is using the Eurozone crisis as an excuse to inaugurate a spiral of diminishing support for and investment in the programs that people count on. Canadians understand the need to economize and manage shared resources, but a tax cut program that is depleting the common treasury just looks like a cynical and opportunistic attempt to minimize government and shrink public services.

Harper’s plan for the OAS is a way to download cost and responsibility to lower levels of government which will have to pay out more to support seniors who are forced into poverty. Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement are inadequate now. The right way to deal with a looming retirement income crisis is to expand the Canada Pension Plan now to raise incomes for seniors in the future. Income supports for seniors need development, not diminishment.

Elaine MacDonald
President, Cornwall & District Labour Coucil

City responds to sidewalk clearing criticism

With more icy weather in the forecast this week, the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Works Department is asking for the public’s patience and understanding with its sidewalk clearing efforts.

When a winter storm hits, the City’s Municipal Works Department responds in a timely fashion to ensure sidewalks remain safe for pedestrians. But with more than 175 kilometres of sidewalks to care for, digging out can be a challenging task.

There are a number of factors that can impact snow clearing operations, including the severity of snow and ice accumulation, time and available resources. Typically, sidewalks on primary and secondary routes with schools are cleared first, followed by the balance of the residential sidewalks.

Under normal conditions, most of the sidewalks in the winter will have a hard packed snow cover. This year, due to the spring-like fluctuations in temperature, it has been difficult to maintain a flat walking surface. The hard pack snow base on most of the sidewalks has turned to ice. What’s more, the smaller and lighter sidewalk clearing machines are unable to scrape the sidewalks in the same way that a street plow or grader can.

“This in turn forces us to sand and salt most of the sidewalks all winter until we get to a bare surface,” said Jean Cousineau, Division Manager of Municipal Works. “Also, in the winter, most sidewalks are unable to drain into the road because of the snow-packed boulevards that exist between the road and the sidewalk.”

It is important to note that salt is not an effective tool when temperatures are extremely low or when there is a significant build-up of ice. The City applies a sand and salt mix to the sidewalk to try and improve the walking surface for pedestrians.

“We continue to scrape or plow the sidewalks and treat them with a sand and salt mix,” said Mr. Cousineau. “We thank residents for their patience as we continue to deal with this matter.”

Other factors that can impact sidewalk clearing efforts include vehicles that are parked in driveways over the sidewalk or garbage cans and recycling bins being left in the path of the machine.

“When operators encounter these situations, they have no choice but to back up and move around the obstacle,” said Mr. Cousineau. “This leads to parts of the sidewalk being left untouched until another run can be completed in the future. In addition, it slows down our overall sidewalk clearing efforts.”

“We would ask residents to help out our crews by keeping these points in mind the next time a storm hits,” he added. Residents who have a specific question or wish to report an area of concern are asked to call the Municipal Works Department.

Jean Cousineau
Municipal Works Manager, City of Cornwall

Shafia family should be deported after serving jail time

I am very glad that finally the Canadian Justice System has convicted the Shafia family in this terrible crime. There is no place in our country or any country for that matter of "honor killings." Our government must make sure that whoever comes to our country knows that their culture must conform to ours. If these immigrants cannot conform then they should not come here or even be allowed to stay here. Once these killers have completed there full sentence they should be deported as there is no place for them here. And, no, this is not racist. Many immigrants come to Canada and adapt to our culture.

Richard Kake
Lancaster

Slippery sidewalks

The City of Cornwall's sidewalks are a mess. Slippery and poorly kept. This is winter! The winter goes on 24/7 it seems like the City of Cornwall does not realize that in working with their road and sidewalk crews. I feel sorry for all the people that have fallen and hurt themselves. I know I have fallen. I can not imagine how much it has cost the hospitals in the area because of the people that have hurt themselves with these dangerous sidewalks. The hospitals are overworked and underfunded with out a peak in injuries from people falling on our city's sidewalks. The weather was okay for clearing for a while. Now with the freeze, I have not seen the sidewalk crews out putting down their salt and gravel mix. That was a big success a few years ago. You can tell it is not an election year.

Steve Forrest
Cornwall

PM 'off the rails'

The Canadian Prime Minister has gone off the rails in Switzerland in his latest speech regarding Western pensions. The Harper Valley hooligans are now planning on gutting the expected pensions of that half of Canada which works for minimum wage, to poverty levels, creating a desperate generation out of thin air with nothing up their sleeves. This is an unpleasant magic trick. I would prefer the pension plan that matches a one dollar pension contribution with five dollars from the Royal Mint. Our Members of Parliament know best in this one matter, it works well for them and we should follow their example.

Roy Berger
Cornwall

McGuinty government continues to spend without understanding

What's new? For the last eight years this government has been spending money like it grows on trees. They have no common sense and use no logic at all. They do not understand, you cannot spend more money if you have less coming in. Is that so hard an economic reality to understand or are they acting stupid? In the long run we the taxpayers (some of us) elected this government one more time too many. We just cannot wait for a change in government! The sooner the better.

Albert O'Connell
Cornwall

No to waterfront building but how about a boardwalk?

I happen to agree with the lone voice so far who had the courage of his convictions to denounce the waterfront committees planning to erect a 3 to 4 story building (of any nature) on the east parking lot next to the Civic Complex. Perhaps due to not being on a lawn was the catalyst for this poor decision. Better they go east of the Marina 200 on the hill behind the old Rates Nest facility at Legion Park would have more appeal. Our pearl of a park would be badly served in particular of the view of our waterfront. I still feel that a 10-12 foot wide boardwalk extending from Marina 200 winding along the waterline to the RCAF Wing pergola at the boat launch area with the bicycle path moved up a few feet above it to the north side of it would be a major tourist attraction for leisurely strolls out of the way of bicycles and senior carts.

Dave Windsor
Cornwall

Waterfront proposal is poor planning

I am opposed to the City of Cornwall Waterfront Development Committee’s proposed three to four storey condominium project on the city’s waterfront between the Civic Complex/Aquatic Centre and Marina 200.

This is very poor planning which will deny our residents full access to our downtown waterfront parkland. The city’s prime downtown waterfront parkland should remain as parkland for the enjoyment of the people of this community and visitors to our city. Furthermore, there are many other places in Cornwall that are available to developers to build private residential and commercial buildings.

If this ill-considered proposal by the Waterfront Development Committee is approved, it will open the door to other private developments on our downtown waterfront parkland, including a hotel. We should learn from the experience of other Ontario cities that have paved over their waterfronts as a result of private developments such as condos and hotels.

We should not give up our beautiful downtown waterfront parkland which has been a gathering place for the enjoyment of our residents and visitors since 1974.

Brian Lynch
Cornwall

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