Letters to the editor

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As the energy critic for the official Opposition I have stated time and time again that the Shawn Graham Liberals must come up with a solution to help New Brunswickers deal with the ever-rising cost of energy as winter approaches.

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However, it looks like we shouldn't get our hopes up anytime soon. According to Premier Graham, as stated in a provincial newspaper earlier this week, "multiple departments and provincial agencies are trying to come up with a solution for people who can't afford to heat their homes." The premier said he "hopes" government will have a comprehensive package in place by late November to deal with this very important and time-sensitive issue.

This is unacceptable. Hope will not help you heat your home.

Just last month the Liberal government announced that they would be suspending funding to the Home Heating Assistance Program indefinitely. This program, worth $55 million, provided New Brunswick families and households earning $28, 000 or less $100 worth of financial assistance to help offset some of the cost on their energy bill. The Liberals also broke a 2006 election promise by canceling a program to give New Brunswickers $200 towards home heating costs.

Many people, including seniors and people on fixed incomes, rely on government to help them heat their homes. For this reason alone, the Liberals must begin to take home heating seriously. People's lives depend on it. Frankly, we needed a comprehensive home heating plan yesterday.

Government must act now, before it's too late.

BRUCE NORTHRUP

MLA for Kings-East

Bank stability a blessing here

Being a Canadian can't help but provide us with the opportunity to feel good about stability of our financial initiations.

This confidence is being enhanced daily as governments in other countries are compelled to provide billions of dollars to their banks.

It's the view of these governments that without direct intervention, the banks will not be able to continue playing the role they have in the well being of their citizens.

The stability of our banks is a result of consistent leadership that successive governments have shown in adopting policies for the financial management of the nation's money, which banks were obligated to follow.

Because it appears the financial storm will continue to worsen, Canadians have the opportunity to vote for a new government when the world is dealing with this crisis.

Canadians will, as this financial crisis worsens and eventually when it is successfully addressed, be able to say that their vote for doing what is right for our county, was significant.

The recent debate between the five party leaders has provided the voters with a clear vision as to which leader and party would be the most effective as our prime minister in this period of financial confusion.

The Conservative Party intends to sustain consistent policies, balanced budgets, lower taxes, investment to create jobs and keep inflation low; while the other four parties are presenting their own parties' solutions.

The only decision left for Canadians to make, is, do we want a majority or minority government in Ottawa.

TERRY F WHALEN Sr

Miramichi

Homophobic violence remains a common ill

I applaud Peter T. Smith's latest column ("Shepard murder changed society") for reminding us of one significant, but not isolated, act of homophobic violence taken to its extreme.

Sadly, I cannot share his optimism. It remains common for us to read reports in the media of violence that continues to be addressed towards gay men and women. And I wonder that, for every incident we are made aware of, how many others remain unreported?

Like all forms of intolerance, homophobia, when it is named and exposed, is forced by its nature to become more subtle and insidious. I have just read a report in the news of a priest in England who wants to tattoo all gay men. A mayoralty candidate in Sudbury wants to shoot all gay men. I encounter on a regular basis men and women who are forced to remain in the closet and hide their sexual orientation because of the clear message society has sent them that they are unwelcome.

Their fear is not imagined. Legislation is a first step to protect our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters; that it is required is a sympton of the intolerance in our community. But there is still a long journey from hate, to tolerance, to affirmation and to the celebration of sexual diversity. It is a road that we must all walk, together.

Rev. DON UHRYNIW

Saint John

These schools really were universities

Each year The Times Higher Education Supplement of London, England produces its World University rankings. As might be expected the likes of Harvard, Yale, Oxford and Cambridge top the list for 2008.

Yet I note the positions of three universities in this year's top 50 namely; Caltech (# 5), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (# 9) and Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne in Switzerland (# 50).

Saint Johners might recall last year's $1.2 million Miner-L'Ecuyer Post-Secondary Education report fiasco where it was claimed these same three were not universities.

Since The Times produces these reports annually and posts them on the Internet, I can't help but wonder about the level of "research" paid for by the $1.2 million of New Brunswick taxpayers' money.

FRED DONNELLY

Rothesay

High-speed access needed for all

Excerpts of a letter to Greg Thompson

I am a Canadian citizen that has purchased a home on Campobello Island. It will be my full-time residence. In making arrangements to move to Campobello, I've discovered that while the island has some high-speed Internet service, it's only available to some areas.

Where I will reside, I pay certainly what may be considered some of the highest taxes on the island. However I am not privy to the same privileges extended to other island residents.

While I am delighted that a mandate was set for 90-per-cent service, what of the other 10 per cent? Especially those in rural New Brunswick and other parts of rural Canada.

While I appreciate that Internet access has increased dramatically in New Brunswick, there still lies a serious demarcation line for those who have and have not.

I have contacted Aliant and the service line stops one mile from my residence (and many others).

How can we attract business growth and development to rural communities if we don't offer affordable high-speed access for all? How can rural New Brunswick children and households without high-speed service compete with those who have?

People without access to such information are, in effect, penalized.

High-speed Internet is a tool in building partnerships, improving innovation performance, and promoting entrepreneurial skills and job creation.

I believe you can effect the change to 100-per-cent affordable access for all your constituents. The Fundy Isles and rural New Brunswickers need your assistance.

KIMBERLEY HEURLIN

Punta Gorda, Fla.

Mega projects a mirror of our past

I have heard it said that one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Yet this seems to be exactly what we are planning to do in Saint John. Both major political parties and our corporate leaders seem to be tripping over each other to endorse a series of megaprojects here (unwanted elsewhere) under the collective brand "energy hub." What exactly comprises this "energy hub?"

So far it includes Canaport LNG terminal, the refurbishment of Point Lepreau nuclear plant, a planned second nuclear reactor and a planed second oil refinery.

Let us look back over the megaprojects of the past 40 or 50 years in Saint John. Are not the plans for "energy hub" of the future, a mirror image of our past?

Has not the previous set of megaprojects witnessed a decline in the population of Saint John as people flee polluting heavy industry here, for outlying suburbs?

Has it not left us with one of the highest rates of poverty in the country? Has it not led to serious air quality problems? Why them should we believe that a repeat of the past will have a different outcome?

If you are tired of these old, ineffective "solutions" to our problems in Saint John, please consider the realistic and sane ideas proposed by the Green Party of Canada for clean renewable energy and responsible fiscal management.

LELAND THOMAS

Saint John