Letters to the Editor: December 28, 2024

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Time to go, Justin

Justin Trudeau must think Mark Carney is a real dummy, offering him the job as finance minister. That would be like accepting the position as cruise director on the Titanic. Justin, you better get off that party ship. It’s headed right toward an Iceberg.

Jeff Small, Aylmer

Province can fix homeless problem

Homelessness started when the provincial government decided to close the psychiatric hospitals.

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They abandoned responsibility for the mentally ill, addicted, poor and all manner of the other socially disadvantaged to the municipalities.

They then cut funding, so the cities were forced to deal with the problems with little funding.

They then told the cities they couldn’t use property taxes for social issues. The cities had to rely on charities, private non-profits, religious groups, and private and corporate philanthropy. Generally, an inefficient patchwork of the well-meaning working at cross purposes.

Homelessness is universal. Municipal governments do not have the tax tools, expertise, or funding to fix a universal problem. They are not structured to band together for mutual support or collaboration.

The sooner the municipalities tell the provincial government to fix what they broke, the sooner the homeless, addicted and mentally ill will be helped. The province has the power and the finances to effectively do this if they choose to.

PC’s giving out a $200 bribe to buy votes won’t fix this. Making strong mayors won’t fix this. Legislating the removal of tent cities and fining or jailing the occupants won’t fix this. Piecemeal band-aids and passing the buck won’t fix this. Invoking the notwithstanding clause won’t fix this. Increased municipal policing won’t fix this.

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The province admitting this was wrong and taking back responsibility will start to fix this. It will also end up being less expensive and cause less harm in the long run.

Please give the disadvantaged a Christmas present and lift this crushing weight off the necks of the municipalities. They have proven they cannot deal with it no matter how hard they are whipped.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and promise to do less harm in the new year.

Robert (Bob) A. Patrick, London

Plenty to see and do in downtown

Regarding Roy Hudson’s letter to the editor, Downtown hard sell (Dec. 7).

You must not be a music, concert, or sports fan. In the last few years, we have taken in: Abbamania at Centennial Hall; The Bee Gees and Queen at London Music Hall; and Simon and Garfunkel and Boney M at the Aeolian Hall. These are, of course, tribute bands, but are still quite entertaining.

Not into music? Check out Labatt Park for great ball games, Canada Life Place for exciting hockey and basketball, plus a variety of concerts, as well.

If you look, you will find lots of entertainment downtown.

Garry Green, Ilderton

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Know the rules to walking safely

Look both ways before crossing, use designated crosswalks, make eye contact with drivers, avoid distractions like phones, wear visible clothing at night, obey pedestrian signals, stay on the sidewalk, be cautious at driveways, don’t listen to music, don’t assume drivers see you, wait for cars to stop fully, avoid crossing between parked cars, listen for vehicle sounds, watch for turning vehicles, walk facing traffic if there’s no sidewalk.

Andrew McClenaghan, London

Get tough with career shoplifters

I was in a store in London and witnessed security escorting an individual out of the store. I was told the person was wearing clothes they stole earlier in the day.

What is wrong with our judicial system when nothing is done to these career shoplifters? Do you think this occurs in China, Japan or Russia? They have severe penalties in place to deter theft. Why is it not happening here? Something needs to change.

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Theft costs are passed on to the consumer.

Bob Ward, St. Thomas

North, west BRT leg revival too late

I read the about the plan to revive north and west London BRT, but why?

Considering what I have witnessed in the last 10 years, our city leaders and department are way behind in their thoughts, unless its our money received from the federal or provincial governments.

Constructing a BRT in the Western University area would bring northwest London to a standstill for many years. The roads – Wonderland, Riverside, Wharncliffe – are already clogged. Councillors and city staff should take a drive in these areas at rush hour, which now starts at 2 p.m. and lasts until 6 p.m.

Same as our ring road back in the 1950’s. It was offered but declined by city council at the time. It appears council listens to developers only. It’s too late.

But we have witnessed a huge influx of northbound vehicles on Wonderland Road courtesy of the Highway 401-Wonderland intersection. In the old days, a few years back, it was more comfortable driving with cars coming off Colonel Talbot Road into Lambeth.

I hope our council and city cancels this BRT. But we know they won’t.

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With highrises going to be built near Cherryhill and Beaverbrook area, there are buses already taking students in the Beaverbrook and Wonderland area to Fanshawe and Western. We don’t need dedicated lanes for buses.

I have seen dedicated lanes on Wellington, Sarnia Road (for what its worth, and poorly designed) and the south side of King Street eliminating parking. Numerous businesses that rely on cars and other vehicles that park near their stores, are no longer, because of the so-called dedicated lane, able to make a living.

Roy Hanson, London

Boost Canada’s ODA spending

We need to talk about Canada’s foreign aid budget.

In 2015, the United Nations established the Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating global poverty by 2030. One method to achieve this is the offering of money to developing nations called Official Development Assistance (ODA), which many countries, including Canada, have committed to support.

Canada has committed to increase its ODA budget to 0.7 per cent of our gross national income (GNI), which means we have committed to giving 0.7 per cent of the money we make a year to international aid. We currently reached have less than half of our goal at 0.33 per cent.

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It is vital that Canadians encourage their MP to advocate for an increase in ODA spending in the Commons.

To help, Canadians can email or call their MP and ask that they show more support for foreign aid and our promise to reach the 0.7 per cent GNI target for ODA. This lobbying is the type of work the Borgen Project uses to equip citizens and engage world leaders in reducing global poverty.

Oluwatosin (Tosin) Okusanya, London

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