Tuesday’s letters: City council not helping downtown

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The picture on the front page of Saturday’s Journal clearly communicates that this summer, the downtown city core will be given over to homeless encampments, drug users, and related perpetrators of lawlessness (“Downtown Violence Rose in 2021,” page A2) while the people who go to work, own and maintain property, pay property taxes, obey the law, and suffer diminished access and enjoyment to public property and parks have no recourse because the EPS is continually “defunded” and city council chooses to support and empathize with the aforementioned “citizens” and their problems.

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Why would anyone choose to shop or live downtown? Please explain this to me.

Phyllis Baldwin, Edmonton

Photos of homeless don’t tell the story

Why do you always picture the homeless and hopeless? The truth is, more and more of the homeless are working people that can’t make ends meet.

They live in their cars, or otherwise, they are not the grubby-looking smoking people; they are single moms, they are families that have to go without, because they can’t find an affordable place to live, and cannot afford home ownership or rentals.

I know the image makes you feel warm and fuzzy, knowing it couldn’t be you, and you want your readers to feel the same, but down and out doesn’t mean they are not possibly someone that once lived next door to you.

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Warren Footz, St Albert

Please paint the Low Level Bridge

Would the city council please vote to have the Low Level Bridge painted, before it rots and falls into the river. I vote to paint it blue in case you cannot decide what color to paint it.

Terry Broderick, Edmonton

Private procedures pick public pockets

Health Minister Jason Copping’s Friday announcements leave me baffled. Let me see if I have this correctly: There is a backlog of some delayed operations due to two years of COVID-19, so it is necessary to offer seven- to 10-year contracts with private health services.

This is done to cut down costs. It has been too expensive to offer better wages and conditions to public health workers, but the province will pay whatever is necessary if the workers work in private centers which also pay dividends to shareholders.

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Here is my question of the logic. Health is a provincial responsibility for us to pass to others. There is a limited supply of health workers. We need them to serve the public. Therefore, we should pay them to work elsewhere, whatever it costs, in public-private partnerships. Are we dealing with 6P instead of 3P agreements — picking public pockets to provide private profits?

Peter Willott, Parkland County

letters welcome

We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don’t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. E-mail: [email protected]