Your cards for July 6, 2022

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Underfunding is at the root of educational problems

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Re: Teacher departures threaten class size; Early Retirement, Stress Leaves Surge Amid Higher Enrollment Forecast, July 4

Teachers are not taking stress leave or mental health leave. When they are not at work because of a doctor’s note, they are on sick leave. The Alberta Teachers Association does not have anything in their collective agreement regarding any specific health issues.

If teachers are leaving the profession early, it may be that we do not value public education and are tired. Class size and diversity are not being addressed. This UPC administration is deliberately underfunding public education to achieve its privatization agenda. Parents and teachers must advocate for children in overcrowded and underfunded classrooms.

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If UCP is looking for a place to invest its billions, look no further.

Carol Henderson, former president of the ATA

Disinformation campaigns have a detrimental effect on people’s health

Re: Woman calls for removal from organ transplant list due to vaccine refusal, June 30

I read with dismay that Annette Lewis is ignoring medical advice and refusing the COVID vaccination, thus removing her from transplant consideration. Laymen can understand why protocols exist to ensure that those patients who have the best chance of survival are at the top of the transplant list. It is utilitarianism at its most basic level.

Allison Pejovic, Lewis’s attorney, believes her expert witnesses, veterinarians who believe in the efficacy of a horse dewormer, are somehow more scientifically credible than a Nobel laureate in medicine, a world-class virologist. That is ridiculous beyond belief.

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The infinitesimal chance of dying from vaccination is far preferable to the certainty of death without a transplant. I implore Lewis to consider that and that, at one time, penicillin, insulin, and the vaccines that fight smallpox, diphtheria, and polio were once considered ‘experimental.’

Bruce Chrumka, Calgary

Leaving it all for the rellies to handle

Re: Love Conquers Clutter, Opinion, Jul 5

I enjoyed and can strongly relate to the Mike Boone situation. I became a widower over 28 years ago. Then, after a short and derailed second marriage, I ran away. He traveled around New Zealand and Australia for several months. I returned home to Calgary and moved to the small town of Carstairs. I have about 1,400 books in my library. Also some 35 or 40 VCR tapes, a large collection of art prints (mostly by Robert Bateman), a large woodworking shop filled with every woodworking tool you can name, and closets full of clothes.

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But unlike Mike, I haven’t been hit by Cupid’s arrow.

I think I’ll leave everything for my niece and nephew to sort out after I get hit by the bus. I’ll sit on the edge of my cloud and giggle while they curse their silly old uncle.

Opinions for and against do not answer whether police helicopters are effective.

There have been several letters recently on the subject of Calgary police helicopters. Both writers have valid but opposing points of view. The helicopter is a noisy and expensive tool, but it also helps ground officers fight crime.

However, what we do not know is its effectiveness and cost/intervention in crime. A public and independent study must be done to find out. Perhaps our tax dollars are better spent and our communities made safer (and calmer) in other ways.

Barry Bortnick Calgary

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The city has gone to the weeds

Bike lanes proliferate in a wintry city. A climate emergency that will cost us $87 billion. An “event center” for the elite. And now, a multi-million dollar grant to IBM. Does IBM really need our money? Isn’t there a hockey sock full of other tech companies quietly setting up shop in Calgary without being lured in?

Meanwhile, our playing fields are littered with dandelions (if I let my yard run like this, I’d expect to hear back from municipal ordinance services) and the grass on city boulevards is 18 inches tall (another violation of city ​​ordinances for Joe Six-Pack). Not to mention people who are hungry or homeless, who are adequately staffed by EMS or safe on public transportation.

I appreciate that spraying weeds and mowing the lawn won’t get you many votes, but come on man! What has become of our city? Shame.

Russell McPherson, Calgary

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