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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- February 28, 2006
To The Editor;
As a follow up to my Letter last week regarding the Princeton Town Council's desire to establish a Town Square, the plot thickened at an hour long meeting before the regular Monday night Council meeting.
It appears to me that Council wants to make a change in the core of the downtown area. I recommended that the place to start such a plan would be to research the safety measures needed by closing off the Bridge Street end of Vermillion Avenue and eliminating all the present parking spaces in order to expand the Cenotaph Park.
I questioned what would happen if any patrons of the established businesses on Vermillion had a heart attack or an accident resulting in a broken leg or a fire broke out in a building. That aspect should be the first step of their survey.
I asked what their motive was because the proposed construction of a fountain and a gazebo-like band stand could be put elsewhere for the public.
Mayor McLean stated it was to enhance the entertainment for the downtown business section so it must be in the new Town Square.
Lyle Thomas spoke twice about the change that was accomplished with the Canada Trail Project. Pam Jones made reference to the big City of Vancouver closing off Granville Street. She failed to mention the disaster that created for the police and social workers when the hotels became a breeding ground for the pimps, prostitutes and druggies.
I well remember the chaos when living in the Kerrisdale area in the 60's and raising our children. That change ruined the established businesses and only attracted the undesirables. Even that change did not affect the Cenotaph at Pidgeon Park in downtown Vancouver.
To me, neither of those two references were not relevant. Mayor McLean asked what the Council could do, do nothing? He wants suggestions so I have one.
The Town Council could purchase the lot next to the Town Hall and construct the band stand and fountain on their own doorstep and deal with the vandalism as it occurs. The parking lot behind their building can be utilized by those who wish to be entertained at the new Town Square.
That would prevent a problem for motorists, emergency vehicles and the existing businesses.
- Kay Hardy, Princeton
Dear Editor;
When we voted in the federal election last month, how many people who voted Conservative or Liberal realized that they were voting to continue childhood poverty at record levels? Yes, instead of voting for change we voted for more policies that will do nothing to change the way our federal governments have done business since Canada became a country in 1867.
The promises that were used so fast and loose during the election, even if it implemented will only serve to supply band-aids for broken bones. In other words the system is not working for our children. We will likely not find these statistics anywhere in the popular press. The media keeps telling us that Canada is the best country in the world in which to live, while the facts (for our children at least) prove otherwise. But if we search the internet, we find that governments with no left wing influence have the highest incidence of childhood poverty in Europe as compared to North America. The numbers reflect directly on the amount of left wing influence in government.
- Canada 14% - has had a small amount of left wing influence
- USA 25% - no influence at all from the left
- Sweden 2.4% - substantial left wing influence from the left than Sweden, but more than Canada
There are many more examples but those that I have mentioned above should be adequate to prove my point.
Even Sweden and Belgium do not measure up to my idea of an ideal country for children. In my ideal country there would be zero childhood poverty.
Near to full employment and a more equitable distribution of wealth along with higher minimum wages is what works for children in Sweden and Belgium. What I find greatly disturbing - with a newly minted Conservative government in Ottawa we can look forward to a continuing escalation in income disparity and even greater child poverty for our entire nation.
- Sincerely, HP Toews, Princeton
