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Jeff Green | Jan 05, 2006

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Letters to the Editor

Appreciation for Roads Department

I would like to start the New Year on a positive note by commending Central Frontenac Roads Department for their courage and devotion during our holiday season.

It takes excellent operators to manoeuvre the trucks loaded with sand around our roads. Sure, they had a few mishaps, but thankfully no one was injured. In my opinion, we have one of the best crews in the region. People should understand that it takes time and skill to do the roads and streets and remember that these drivers are only human and get tired out also.

How many of us would be willing to risk our necks at 2 or 3 a.m. in an ice storm to take a large vehicle down an ice covered road when you are the only one up at that time and you are alone?

I say to everyone, stop criticizing our roads department – their holiday season was interrupted too.

- Paula Levere

Harper Fan

I’ve got to hand it to Stephen Harper andthe Conservatives -they’ve tuned in to the needs of real Canadian families. We all know that the Conservatives believe in tax cuts, and that we’ll actually get them if we elect Conservatives. But now we are also hearing some really tuned-in family support policies.

The 2% GST reduction will be direct savings on everything I buy, and here’s hoping that there will be further reductions.

The annual $1200 Child Care Allowance will be great because, aside from helpingour familyfundour child care, it also says thatwe aretrusted to know what’s best forour kids.

And now there’s the tax break for sports activities for kids. Obviously Harper knows how important physical activity is for the health and motivation of kids, and how expensive those activities can be.

The choice for my vote could not be any clearer.

- Brent Cameron

North Frontenac Township Services? – An Update!

The majority of North Frontenac Council probably viewed my November 24 Letter to the Editor regarding township services as just another bit of belly-aching from that Ompah guy again. The reaction throughout the township however has been just a little more engaging than that.

More than thirty residents have contacted me either by phone or at various volunteer and holiday functions to say they agreed with the letter, the general comment being that I was 'right on' with all the issues and irritants I had pointed out. I have urged these folks to take further action -- to phone a councilor or phone the township office, or take up a petition, or visit the mayor or even write their own letter to the editor saying the complaints are real and should be dealt with. The truth is that township services are meagre and our citizens want things to change.

I was pleased that, as a response to the letter, two councilors did have the courtesy to discuss it with me. Both felt that my complaints were valid and said they were as frustrated as I am as to why some township services are so poor. I wonder what they will have to say at the next few council meetings or during the next election? Interestingly enough, neither the mayor nor either of the two representative councilors from my own ward bothered to call.

One final and very positive note: Considering the horrid weather conditions, the roads In the Ompah- Snow Road Ward have been well maintained, ploughed and sanded during December. Trucks have been out every day, early and often and we all appreciate it.

- Leo L Ladouceur

Where is Christmas?

Seasons Greetings Canada, Christmas is cancelled. The politics of Christmas have gone askew. The proof is in the vocabulary of December. It's holiday carols and Seasons Greetings for you mom.References to Christmas are becoming non-existent and nativity scenes are rare. Christmas as we know it is dying and soon Jesus will be the holiday infant. Canadians are so accommodating, laid back and politically correct that our culture is disappearing. Happy Holidays Canada. You are a weak pudding, not the magical Merry Christmas hot plum pudding you once were. Is it the end of Merry Christmas in Canada? It is not the downplaying of Merry Christmas that threatens Christmas, it's the apathy. Soon the only place we'll see Christmas is on the calendar. I love you Canada but it's beginning to look very little like Christmas in December in this strange land.

- Dave McCourt

Good news for Seniors!

The Conservative Party has just announced that they will not only protect all our critical retirement security programs (Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement, Canada Pension Plan), but that they will double our pension tax deduction. Moreover, and perhaps best of all, they will create a Seniors’ Council, not of their choosing, but made up of individuals from our own seniors’ national organizations. I’ll bet that like me, most seniors have sat on the phone for hours just trying to get to talk to a live government bureaucrat, let alone trying to actually sort out our pensions, or answer some of our questions. Now that is, indeed, good news!

With a Conservative Government, we Seniors will finally have a voice at the table, and we will no longer be just a tax source.

- Val Crandall

Re:Beer and Popcorn

Election after election (since 1993), the Liberals have promised a Child Care Program and failed to deliver. Yet when the Conservatives announced a deliverable Child Care Program, the Liberals attacked it, insulting Canadian parents by saying that they would spend the money on beer and popcorn. The Liberalsbelieve that yet another massive government program (like the Sponsorship program, perhaps), is better able to care for children than their own parents. I disagree vehemently!

Looking back to when I was raising my children, I had good care-givers, but always felt I would have preferred to care for them myself (and take exception to the idea that some-one else – even a professional – could do it better!). Many parents feel they have no choice – other than to work outside the home. I was one of those parents and any, even a small, incentive may have made the decision to stay home easier. Sometimes I feel that it is only by the grace of God, that my children turned out O.K.!

Perhaps Paul Martin cares more about Liberal electoral fortunes, than the real needs of Canadian children and their parents?

- Janice Rheaton