Sound Off — March 1, 2016

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/03/2016 (3830 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Paying more school taxes for what?

The latest Manitoba Teachers’ Society ad will have us believe that all is wonderful with public education. My business consistently hires current and former high school students. The poor writing skills many of these applicants have is concerning. The lack of knowledge on civics and economics many of these applicants have is concerning. The poor math skills many of these applicants display is concerning. The stories these applicants tell me about their time in high school is concerning. Even they know that students are rewarded for simply showing up. Tell me again what a yearly increase in education taxes is accomplishing? Is it fair that the only kids who get a decent education are those who have parents who can afford private school with non-unionized teachers?

Change can be good

Well, here we are getting closer to the provincial election and are certainly seeing more ads on our “local” (Winnipeg) TV stations from some of the big unions — nurses, teachers and provincial government. They all seem to have the same message. If you vote for “change,” you are voting for “cuts” to everything pertaining to government departments, medical services and educational services. I certainly hope that the population of our province is smarter than these “union” people think we are. Voting for a change in our provincial government is not going to make it impossible for us to receive proper medical care or educational services for our youth or make our government services not available to us. Perhaps voting for change in provincial government might just make all of these things more viable and robust and cost-effective. To think that we could actually streamline our medical, educational and governmental services and still have quality services delivered by conscientious, qualified people who actually care about the people they dedicated their lives to and the quality of the job that they do? What a concept!

What will Pallister do if elected?

Many people want Brian Pallister to state what he plans to do if he is elected premier. Who knows what he will do if he was to win? All he knows is that he will be inheriting a major mess. Is Manitoba not already paying $1 billion a year in interest to service our debt? That’s troublesome.

Former mayor deserves some credit for flights

The recent announcement by WestJet of non-stop flights between Brandon and Toronto this summer is a testament to those in Brandon who have worked tirelessly to see it happen, even as naysayers said the city was wasting its time. I agree, and Shari Decter Hirst, the former mayor of Brandon, stands out alone as one of the most influential and persuasive leaders to make it happen where others tried, and failed. Recognition is overdue for this accomplishment. Make it so!

people should keep their thoughts to themselves

Here’s what I love about social media — nothing! Anyone can post anything — truth or not! Anyone can post any ridiculous thought that comes into their heads — cruel or not, demeaning or not, bullying or not! Over this past couple of weeks, we have witnessed the mentality of the general public with their comments on stories in the media. I am totally shocked to think that this is the level of intelligence that makes up our society. Remember when kids used to have a diary to write all their inner most thoughts in? Yeah, and they kept it under lock and key so no one else could see them! Not such a bad idea, I’d say.

Pipelines beneficial, but at what cost?

Regarding the Letter to the Editor from Feb. 24. Of course, pipelines bring national benefits. No argument there. However, when oil-carrying pipelines leak and contaminate our water sources, they also bring disastrous pollution to the essential liquid that we all must have to survive.