Houston Today
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
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Opinion
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This week’s Website Poll at www.houston-today.com Do you think it will be a good season for moose hunting this year?
On The
Street What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving and why?
By B y JJackie ki Li Lieuw Lieuwen w
Letters to the
Editor
Income Inequality Editor: Canadians are feeling the pinch. Families are earning less and inflation is increasing the cost of everyday essentials. Students are grappling with rising tuition rates and have fewer opportunities for employment when they graduate. Youth unemployment is at a historic high and
student employment is at record lows. As Canadians adjust to these economic realities, our debtto-income ratio has grown to 152%, much higher than the United States, and entire generations of Canadians have little or no savings. Most of us recognize that income inequality is a growing issue that is at the heart of these challenges. That is why the Liberal Party held a
Sherry Risby Huckleberry employee
Shane Swanson Truck driver
Aly Meints Retired
Meagan Andringa Housewife
“My family. Life is good, and we are thankful to have our family.”
“My wife.”
“For everything the Lord has given me.”
“My home and my family.”
Letters are welcomed up to a maximum of 250 words. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, brevity and legality. All letters must include the writer’s name, daytime telephone number and hometown for verification purposes. Anonymous, or pen names will not be permitted. Not all submissions will be published. Letters may be e-mailed to: editor@houstontoday.com, faxed to: 250-847-2995 or mailed to: P.O. Box 899, Houston B.C., V0J 1Z0.
debate in Parliament on addressing income inequality and put forward several practical steps we can take immediately to reduce it. Specifically, we are calling on the government to: roll back their recent Employment Insurance Premium hike; end their punitive new clawback of Employment Insurance benefits; make tax credits refundable so that lowincome Canadians are not excluded; adapt the Registered
Disability Savings Plan for sufferers of chronic diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis; and remove federal interest charges from student loans. What we are asking the government to do is to first of all recognize that this is a problem, not continue to dismiss it. Income inequality is a key issue for Canada. We cannot assume that prosperity will be fairly shared and we cannot take prosperity itself for granted. We have to avoid the mistakes
of the extreme right and the extreme left and we have to come up with practical proposals that will make a difference to ordinary people and ensure that our prosperity is fairly, deeply and widely shared. Shared prosperity is what we strive for as a country and ensuring equality of opportunity for all Canadians is at the core of what it means to be a Liberal. Bob Rae Liberal Leader
Make my day Editor: B.C. municipal leaders were recently told that the RCMP will close all their singleofficer detachments because of labour laws. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens said, “There are many reasons for that, not the least of which is officer safety.” If it is too dangerous for a RCMP officer to work in BC’s small communities, it must be extremely dangerous for workers who do not wear
bulletproof vests and pack service pistols. Now I understand why Prime Minister Harper was in such a hurry to do away with the long-gun registry. He wants Canadians to be self-reliant; he wants us to take the law into our own hands. I can hardly wait to hold a .44 Magnum in both hands and say to some punk, using my best imitation of “Dirty” Harry Callahan’s voice, “Go ahead, make my day. Lloyd Atkins Vernon, B.C.
UBCM calls for pot decriminalization
A
fter a passionate debate and a close vote, delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention passed a motion Wednesday calling on the federal government to decriminalize marijuana. The UBCM placed major emphasis on the debate this year, staging a debate Monday featuring former B.C. attorney general Geoff Plant, in favour of loosening pot laws, and University of the Fraser Valley criminologist Darryl Plecas opposed. After
a lineup of speakers on the impact of marijuana grow ops on communities and crime impact, a show of hands by hundreds of delegates supported the call for decriminalization. Metchosin councillor Moralea Milne reminded delegates that Plant termed pot prohibition “a disastrous and expensive failure of public policy.” She said more than 500,000 B.C. residents have smoked marijuana, but she doesn’t support its use. “Personally I’d rather have a mar-
tini, and and I’m allowed to, because we changed that very wrong prohibition stance that we had,” Milne said. O k a n a g a n Similkameen area director Tom Siddon, a former federal cabinet minister, said his local police reject decriminalization. “I think we’ve been frying too many brains,” Siddon said. “It’s going to aggravate the temptation of young people to move from marijuana, which may well be more harmless than a few bottles of beer,
to being hooked on heroin, cocaine and the chemical designer drugs.” Prince George city councillor Brian Skakun drew laughter with his comment: “I tried it when I was younger, I turned out OK.” Turning serious, he said the costs extend to police and courts weighed down with marijuana cases rather than “real criminals.” Abbotsford councillor Henry Braun agreed with Siddon. “We produce about 1.5 million pounds of marijuana
in British Columbia,” Braun said. “We consume about 185,000 pounds, so the vast majority of marijuana is being exported to the U.S. and other places.” Port Moody councillor Bob Elliott said his “quaint, safe city” has seen three gangrelated murders in the past six months. He pleaded for support for decriminalization. Coquitlam councillor Terry O’Neill called decriminalization “the worst of all worlds,” protecting people from simple possession charges
while leaving largescale growing and sales in the hands of criminals. Nelson councillor Robin Cherbo said sparing young recreational users from prosecution is worth it, and even outright legalization won’t stop the criminal trade as long as pot remains illegal in the U.S. Cariboo Regional District director Joan Sorley reminded delegates that grow ops are destructive to communities and dangerous to police and fire departments.
B .C. Views Tom Fletcher “They’re huge operations,” Sorley said. “If we decriminalize it, we take away the tool that the RCMP has to try and shut them down and help keep our neighbourhood safe.