Saturday’s letters: Smith shows dangers of local party politics

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Danielle Smith wants to force political parties on municipalities. She says a plastic single-use bylaw was not campaigned on — like it or not, it was — and is not a municipal responsibility. Who then should work to divert waste from landfills?

Ironic, since she didn’t campaign on rolling back transgender rights, interfering in the provision of medical care, restricting sex ed, an Alberta pension plan, higher salaries for executives, more expensive gifts for MLAs, resurrecting declined coal mining applications, pausing investment in renewables or pausing funded hospital construction and frontline clinical hiring in health care.

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She did campaign heavily on lowering taxes and a 25-per-cent reduction in all registry fees and camping fees for seniors. In October, her government was answering phone enquiries with assurances these would take effect in January. Broken promises.

She promised to govern for all Albertans, but gleefully speaks of making heads on the left explode and her plans to continue doing so. Given her government received 54 per cent of the popular vote, what’s left? Half the population?

Clearly, her party campaign platform was of little use in predicting actions once elected. She demonstrates formal partisan party politics have little to offer municipal governments or Albertans.

S.M. Hogan, Edmonton

No need to identify voyeur as veteran

Re. “Former soldier who spied on woman gets jail time,” Feb. 28

I take umbrage with the headline on the article. It identifies the individual found guilty of criminal and disgusting behaviour as a “former soldier.” While true, it is not pertinent to the crime or to the story. In the body of the story it states that he retired from the military in 2012, 12 years ago, and the crimes of which he has been found guilty were all committed starting five years later.

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I served in three different branches of the military for over 40 years during which time I and my compatriots were disrespected by the civilian population more often than not. We were, in their eyes, second-class citizens. Edmonton back in the late ’50s and ’60s was no exception. In the early ’60s I was being treated by an Edmonton doctor who then advised me to go out and get a real job.

As the world situation worsened and the military was called upon for a more visible reaction to global unrest, things improved although there is still a long way to go. Your headline has taken us a step backwards when it is already difficult to attract the many recruits needed so badly to bring the forces up to full strength. The serving members and the retired members deserve better.