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Each year Calgary city council has a limited debate on how much increase should be added to our municipal taxes. Is it not possible for council to review programs and services which are not operating effectively or efficiently in order that these taxes could be reduced? It would certainly be an interesting exercise for council to initiate next year .
JG Gilmour, Calgary
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I’m confused. The mayor and council say they want affordable housing. They then crank up property taxes by 7.8 per cent that makes housing less affordable and most definitely forces landlords to increase rent. They provide money to developers to create affordable housing and the first project rolled out has $1,800 month, 600-square-feet one bedrooms. Too small for a family and hardly affordable. Then they spend $2.25M on an art structure that looks like it belongs in a cartoon theme park. Do they spend their own money like this or is it just ours they spend like this that?Darrin Hopkins, Calgary
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Does the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) believe that a rambling column about class sizes will spur the government to action? The government has been clear that public education and especially the teachers’ unions are the problem. With Bill 1 in this legislative sitting being a bill to require all future tax increases to be approved by referendum, they have also made it clear that they will not be increasing funding for public education. It sounds like an exaggeration, but Jason Schilling’s recent column simply proves that the government’s policies are working as intended. The ATA needs to accept that this is how public education is treated in this province and use that as their basis when planning a strategy for meaningful changes.
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Greg Schmidt, Calgary
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Last week, I watched Mayor Gondek doing a photo-op at a Calgary Food Bank drive. The number of Calgarians relying on the food bank has become overwhelming. So, while I drop a twenty to try and help out, as do fellow citizens, I’m left to wonder how politicians can look at themselves in the mirror, as they give the nod to a $40 Million upgrade to Olympic Plaza, whether it needs it or not, while the most valuable assets in this city, our people, go hungry. They may think that the high percentage of malnourished Calgarians, who are mostly women and their children, are simply collateral damage to our country’s inflationary problems, but I guarantee that when the next election comes around, I will not forget.
Norm Woodhouse
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Anybody who believes Danielle’s AHS reorganization is anything other than a smoke screen to further her agenda of privatization, hasn’t been paying attention to her history or her libertarian beliefs. Some surgeries are already slated for defunding.
Mary King, Calgary
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This is in reference to the Nov. 18 editorial “Financial literacy a crucial tool in navigating rising cost of living.” You can’t get blood from a stone. Financial literacy, in and of itself a valuable thing, if taught to the impoverished should be taught in equal measure to the wealthy, families, governments, and corporations who have a hand in keeping the impoverished poor.
Unattached, working-age adults ages 18 to 64, AKA singles, are one of the largest groups within the “family” who face poverty because they are excluded from financial formulas. They have been made to be the “chattels” of those who make the financial and legal rules. (Merriam Webster definition: an enslaved person held as the legal property of another).
Lin Gackle, Cochrane
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Hopefully the measuring and monitoring noted above will be continued as we Albertans want to continue to have the opportunity to evaluate our healthcare system particularly to evaluate whether the “fix” improves the metrics and measures in place….As this is our healthcare system we want to understand how the government plans to measure accountability now that the “fix” has been implemented.
Laurie O’Neil, Calgary
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MAID is indeed a very sensitive subject. The desire to prevent suffering by assisting in someone’s suicide comes into direct conflict with the belief that human life is sacred. The conflicts grow intense because not everyone agrees on what takes priority. But what really raises discord to high levels is when inflexibility takes over and different beliefs are not tolerated.Modern palliative care can insure that pain will be considerably reduced for the terminally ill. People and doctors in particular should not be forced to participate in MAID in any manner if they choose not to. There are other ways to achieve MAID for those who want it.I find it ironic that Catholics are often accused of being dogmatic and then I read that people like Cynthia Clark want Catholic health-care facilities to be forced to offer assisted suicide. Who is really being dogmatic?
Peter Mannistu, Calgary
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Although he probably didn’t mean to, Mr. Mahony (Opinion Nov. 14/23: UPC policy proposals on MAID worth a second look) supplies a great example of democracy in action. He points out that “many Canadians opposed the legalization of assisted suicide”. He’s right – many did, but more didn’t. According to an Ipsos poll done last June, support for Medical Assistance in Dying (which is the program’s actual name) remains strong at 84 per cent.
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Later in the article, Mr. Mahony regrets that Bill 207, which would have given healthcare workers freedom of conscience by law, didn’t pass. Again, he is correct. After the bill passed first reading, MLAs were bombarded with outraged letters and emails… Over a period of two weeks, public outrage led to the bill’s demise. It was redundant in any event because conscience rights for health care providers who do not agree with MAiD are already protected under the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta Standard of Practice regulations that state that a member is not required to provide a service to which s/he objects, based on his or her Charter rights regarding freedom of conscience and religion.
I for one am proud of a country that supports democracy and choice. That is what MAID is – a choice. And it should be a choice available to all Canadians in all publicly funded health care facilities, as long as the patient meets the stringent requirements (one of which is that they must not be coerced). As for the relief that some patients may feel knowing “they will never be offered death as a so-called ’treatment option’”, many more might welcome knowing that it IS an option. Then they can choose for themselves.
Kerrie Hale, Calgary
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