Saturday Letters: School Administrator Ballot Errors Must Be Rectified

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There have been several instances during the first three days of early voting where incorrect district ballots for Edmonton Public Schools administrators have been distributed at polling stations. When voters arrive, they are asked for their address. The clerk then determines which ballot you need. In some cases, that decision has been wrong.

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Some apparently vote anyway, though not for the candidate they came willing to support. In at least one case, the voter insisted that the ballot they were given was incorrect. A phone call to an election official confirmed that was the case, so they were then given the correct ballot. However, others simply did not vote for any trustees.

Obviously this is a problem. Voters are being deprived of their right to vote for a trustee to represent them. While city election officials learned of the problem on the first day of voting, there has been no response: the seriousness of the problem is not recognized, there is no guarantee that the matter will be addressed and rectified. Must be.

The integrity of our voting system is the foundation of our democracy. Officials should explain how they will ensure that their voter information is now correct. But they should also explain how they can fix errors that have already occurred. Without that assurance, how can we trust that the outcome of an election represents the will of the voters?

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Bev Sawyer, Edmonton

UCP wastes time on equalization

Re. “The equalization referendum is a crucial step in the fight for equity”, Opinion, October 8

As far as I know, Alberta has never sent a check for a single compensation dollar to Ottawa. Albertans pay federal income tax at the same rate as Quebecers. Albertans do so based on income levels of more than $ 125,000, while Quebecers do so based on income levels of less than $ 85,000.

Does Travis Toews really want to level that playing field even if it’s not his playing field? He and his teammates should spend less time throwing rocks at someone else’s field and fixing what’s on Alberta’s field rather than mismanaging everything they touch.

Ken Cantor, Edmonton

Kenney also focused on business

Not surprisingly, Prime Minister Kenney wants to bring Alberta’s children into the 19th century by making rote learning a central element of the curriculum. He’s a thinker by heart, seemingly capable of only two ideas: low taxes and business incentives, which are basically just one idea. He constantly parrots his only idea that everything else is secondary to business and that more business is the solution to all problems. This blind thinking partially explains the current mess our province finds itself in.

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With three grandchildren between the ages of four and nine, I am very concerned that children between the ages of five and nine are now increasingly contracting COVID, due to the government’s shortsighted decision to end contact tracing in schools and elsewhere. . I am continually amazed at how my grandchildren have been through all the shocks and changes of the last year and a half, although who knows what the long-term effects will be on the mental and physical health of any of us.

Children do not need to memorize facts. They need to learn to access facts to gain knowledge and ideas so that they can become developed human beings and critical thinkers. I suggest that Prime Minister Kenney take a break from politics, go back to school, and finish that degree in philosophy. You could come up with some useful new ideas relevant to the 21st century.

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KD Grove, Edmonton

Why not adopt Eastern Time for Health?

Re. “Why am I voting ‘no’ to permanent daylight saving time”, Licia Corbella, October 7

Illogical extension of Licia Corbella’s argument: Forget about mountain weather. If we switch to Central Time, Albertans will be even healthier, so why not move to Eastern Time and we will never experience death?

Terry Kernaghan, Edmonton

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