Sound Off -- Dec. 19, 2012

More conflict of interest going on here

People are so quick to accuse the mayor of conflict of interest but what about councillors McCrae, Blight and Fawcett? Of course they are against Bill 7 and affordable housing because their businesses depend upon high-end housing. So are they not in conflict of interest by voting on Bill 7? When will people realize affordable housing does not mean “giving” housing away, it means building smaller, less expensive homes so people don’t have to give up food and clothing to have a roof over their heads. Shame on you, city council.

Affordable rentals — not home ownership

Corrupted city officials? You’re kidding, right? Please tell us why any government should put up our cash (taxpayers) to put people into brand new houses? Is this the NDP way of thinking? Mr. McCrae has it right when he said that the focus should be on affordable rentals not affordable home ownership. Sure as heck no one helped the majority of us buy our houses!

Better ways to get support

So law-abiding citizens are forced to detour on the highway on icy roads and law-breakers who are blocking the highway get to keep going. They should have all been put in jail. I do not know what they thought they were accomplishing but this is not the way to get public support.

How much did this cost us?

How much time and taxpayer money did it take the RCMP to deal with the native blockade at Portage? Maybe everyone else should blockade the reserves so we get the same tax benefits, tax credits and privileges that the native people get. But we would probably be arrested.

Thanks for the entertainment

Kudos to the Vincent Massey Chorale group who entertained the Hydro retirees at their annual Christmas party on Dec. 5. It was an enjoyable evening with a great dinner, fellowship and the excellent choral group.

Slow down and make it there safely

I think most accidents are caused from being too much in a hurry, speeding and following too closely. Please people, take note of this.

Hang on to your purse

To all the women who leave their purses in their shopping cart and then wander around the store forgetting all about their purses, do you know I could have stole your purses 10 times — but I am not that kind of person. But just think of the kind of opportunity you are providing for the kind of person who does.

Here we go again

Another ruling taking consideration of a lighter sentence because of the thief’s aboriginal background. No doubt his great-grandfather went to a residential school so the whole family is scarred for another 10 generations. I lived in a town with a residential school and although I sympathize and find it hard to imagine children removed from their families at six years old, I never heard any other complaints from aboriginals that I went to school with. As for abuse, they received the same corporal punishment that white kids got. The Home Children were not only removed from families, but their country. Many were abused far more severely than the aboriginals, but have survived and flourished. Give me a break. Support the children and families of those who were abused and ignore the phonies who will play the victim card ad nauseum. They give the others an undeserved bad name.

Honest appreciation

I would sincerely like to thank the person who found and returned my cane which I had recently left in a cart at Superstore. Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated. Please accept my sincere thanks again.

Leave our traditions alone

When are the people who are paid from the public trough are going to realize that the majority of taxpayers are very happy with our traditions and don’t need to be changing our traditional celebrations? We took Christ out of Christmas and made it Xmas, now you are looking at making it Happy Holidays, once the celebration of Christ’s birth is watered down to a unrecognizable day, will you start working on Good Friday?

No excuse for abuse

There’s a guy who lives near us who has a dog who lives outside. He has a bare doghouse. This dog is chained, never walked and has two metal dishes for food and water. I wonder why he has a dog at all! This guy has air between his ears. The dog is very friendly and is starved for attention and affection. We sneak over and give him some healthy dog treats through the fence. For Christmas, we are going to give the dog a big crunchy dentabone.

Bah Humbug

To the higher-ups in both the UFCW and the local food processing plant. Thanks for negotiating a full shift planned for Christmas Eve. Wonder if any of you will be working that evening?

We all need to drive more safely

You want to talk about road safety? How about people in Brandon actually learning how to drive? That doesn’t cost anyone any extra money and it’s the right thing to do.

Take it to the other side

So it seems the flood of the century has whacked a billion-dollar hole in the Manitoba budget. It is Mother Nature and could not be helped. It seems Hydro would like to give the budget another billion-dollar whack, except this one could be avoided by routing the Bipole III line down the east side of the lake. It is doubtful the money lost to eco-tourism because of no UNESCO designation would ever amount to a billion dollars.

Now who is being the bully?

Interesting ... the Selinger government has passed legislation to reduce bullying in schools. They are now showing that bullying is alive and well in the province by forcing small municipalities to amalgamate, with no prior consultation, no discussion with the residents and certainly no mandate as this was hardly an issue in the last election. Maybe they should try to walk the walk.

Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition December 19, 2012