LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- July 17, 2007
To The Editor;
President George W. Bush's promise that he and his dog Barney would be the last to serve in Iraq has precipitated a crisis in the White House.
Now that the time has come, Barney won't serve. He's bolted his dog house door.
President Bush has to remain in the Oval Office to give Barney a 'Presidential Pardon.'
The entire Arab world including Al-Qaeda refuse to accept Vice President Cheney as their replacement, considering he and his 'Quail gun' a worse hazard that Sadaam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction.
They have convinced Vice President Cheney to use his experience in military deferments and invoke 'Executive Privilege" and remain hunkered down in safe oblivion.
As for the Iraq War and the Afghan turmoil -- it will disappear in their way of life in sands of time.
In the meantime, Barney has relocated in Coalmont, BC suburbia. The last straw came when a press release stated: "The situation in the US Presidential race is such that even a DOG could win it (shades of the caveman)."
Barney is very active in the "Otter Lake Canine Benevolent Society" whose commendable aim is a fire hydrant on the corner of every block in the resort communities of Coalmont and Tulameen.
They hope to have their first float ever (a giant fire plug for all seasons accompanied by the leading dogs of the day) in the 2007 Tulameen Daze Parade on BC Day.
- Joe Schwarz, Princeton
Editor's Note: Below is a letter written July 12th to the Minister of Foreign Affairs by BC Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko.
Hon. Peter MacKay, PC, MP
Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Dear Minister;
The summer holiday season is here and Canadians need their passports to travel, yet the situation at Passport Canada has not improved; it has only gotten worse. Canadians in rural areas like BC's Southern Interior have to wait an average of four months for their passports once they have applied, unless they drive hours to the nearest Passport Canada office in Vancouver, Surrey or Calgary.
I appreciate your efforts to simplify the passport application process. Your recent announcements regarding a Simplified Passport Renewal Program and Simplified Guarantor Policy sound as if they will make things easier for Canadians. I look forward to seeing the results from those initiatives. However, the announcements do nothing to help the citizens in my riding get their passports in a timely manner now.
Your announcements also included an initiative to hold a series of Passport Clinics across the country with special focus on border areas far from large urban centres. This is a great idea. My staff and I are waiting for your officials to advise us when the clinic will take place in different centres throughout the riding. We are after all, border communities and therefore see our area as a priority for these clinics.
Another measure in your announcement that is of great interest to my riding is that you are opening 65 additional Receiving Agents in border and rural communities at participating Canada Post and Service Canada centres. Since this measure describes our area exactly, it is my assumption that a Receiving Agent will be set up in the West Kootenay region as part of this measure to improve passport services to Canadians. Please ask your staff to advise me when this will take place.
The present difficulties faced by Canadians trying to get a Passport need to be fixed. It is my sincere hope that your recent announcements will be the start in solving the backlog that Canadians have been facing for over seven months now.
I look forward to hearing from your officials soon in regard to the Passport Clinic and Passport Receiving Agent in the BC Southern Interior.
Sincerely,
Alex Atamanenko, MP
BC Southern Interior
