Letters: Sask. teachers union should stop using children in bargaining

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I take offence to the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation’s use of my children in bargaining. The union represents the teachers, not my children. Their message is that if you don’t support the teachers, you’re against children.

This is exploitation, and children protesting for the cause should be considered an abuse of power. Maybe teachers do deserve a raise, and an easier work environment by way of smaller class sizes. I really don’t know. What I do know is that they need to stop using my kids to get what they want.

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Matthew Hooper, Corman Park

Nuclear power projections optimistic

Brahm Neufeld in his letter to the editor on nuclear power last week (Feb. 27) spelled out some interesting numbers about power production. I believe there are a couple of omissions in his calculations.

The first was the small modular reactor running at 95 per cent capacity for the design life of 60 years. That would be a remarkable feat considering we’re having trouble landing spaceships upright on the moon lately.

I can’t think of any recent examples, but I believe things have gone wrong with nuclear reactors in the past. So 95 per cent capacity for 60 years is probably wishful thinking.

The second omission is the storage of power during intermittent wind and solar power production. Perhaps I’m not understanding renewable resources, but couldn’t we just dam up a few rivers?

Not mega projects, just modular ones. I’m pretty sure storing water is similar to storing power. The potential is there.

Again, I’m just saying. Some people may take offence to messing with our water supplies. And apparently, according to previous letters, we are already mismanaging them.

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Murray Marien, Saskatoon

Mayor should follow these rules

Here are the future mayor’s 20 commandments. Thou shalt:

1) Postpone downtown arena and entertainment district. 2) Rid streets of potholes and snow as required. 3) Require consistent downtown policing and promote business rejuvenation. 4) Rid Eighth Street of illegal traffic activities and excessive noise. 5) Respect and honour online citizen surveys.

6) Cease further subsidizing of the Remai Modern art gallery. 7) Change green arrow left turning lights at traffic intersections from irregular to regular activation. 8) Insist police justify photo radar locations throughout city. 9) Hold four meetings annually with business and community association presidents.

10) Provide two-hour free parking zones in the downtown core. 11) Request police rid city of gangs and illegal drug activity. 12) Not support homeless shelters in the downtown core. 13) Revise city policy to prevent resigned management employees from applying for any position or consulting contract for five years after their departure.

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14) Promote architectural lighting on bridges and encourage building owners to install accent lighting. 15) Rid the downtown core of bike lanes. 16) Be forthcoming on all provincially mandated or planned initiatives affecting the city, its communities and citizens.

17) Promote a balanced annual city operating budget. 18) Respect approved long-term development and vision statements prepared by community associations. 19) Make new residents feel welcome and assist with transition assistance. 20) Promote an open-door policy for the mayor, councillors, and city managers.

I believe the above is not too much to ask for!

Darrell Zakreski, Saskatoon

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