Friday’s letters: Lower taxes by increasing city’s efficiency


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Council, led by Michael Janz, is considering progressive property taxation. This is another of his ill-advised attempts to raise tax dollars by punishing the “wealthy.” An earlier proposal was to cut the salaries of the senior management of Epcor to free up money for city coffers, apparently with no recognition that it is these highly skilled people that are responsible for the $175 million in annual dividends to the city.

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Now, he proposes to increase taxes to owners of expensive homes. What a wonderful way to attract new executives and their businesses. And what a great time to increase taxes by any means — when inflation is pushing interest rates higher and causing fears of foreclosures not seen since the 1980s.

My own observation, which I am sure is widely shared, is that there is a lack of accountability in our poorly managed civic government leading to waste, and overruns in an endless series of questionable projects. The city should be lowering, not raising, taxes by increasing efficiency and focusing on projects of importance to taxpayers.

A fundamental problem is that there are too many council members that do not have the experience, mindset or training to run a multi-billion dollar corporation. As voters we are responsible for this situation and need to correct it in the next election.

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L. F. (Lee) Doty, Edmonton

Not seeing eye-to-eye with Danielle Smith

I cannot imagine a political perspective and agenda more foreign to my way of thinking, values ​​and beliefs than the views being expressed by Danielle Smith in her bid for the leadership of the UCP. Danielle Smith is so far-right she may be meeting up soon with the people coming in from the radical left.

Fortunately, that places Danielle Smith, and everyone else with such extreme views, somewhere on the other side of this political planet. We shall never meet.

Karlis Poruks, Edmonton

Faith offers a lifeline from hopelessness

Re. ” ‘I want to go out when I choose,’ ” June 22

How sad that Eric Coulam suffers from a medically undiagnosed condition. How sad that after a period of time, Eric is seeking to terminate his life from him. How sad that there is no mention of the family receiving any kind of spiritual help. Please understand that I do not discount any pain or suffering as a reality that Eric and others like him experience as their reality.

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But when a secular society ridicules a personal faith in Christ, then many accept that there is no God. So when one finds themselves in a quandary, prayer is absent from the thoughts as a lifeline to hope. Mercy that may have been had from a personal faith is forfeited and hopelessness then pushes some to find alternate solutions.

Gary Burton, Edmonton

letters welcome

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