Your letters for Thursday, July 21

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Most people try every day to offer what they can. Many have tough odds. I live in Alberta and it seems like we have a lot going for us.

I went for a ride to my local convenience/gas station on Sunday. At the traffic light on Crowchild Trail, the cars and I were held up by an impressive parade of motorcycles and police vehicles. What was it?

At the station, a young man said kindly that it was the prime minister’s move to the airport. I smiled and was happy.

I got out, passed a luxury SUV full of gas, and told the man what had happened. He said: “I thought he would be shot by now, I work in oil and gas.”

I thought, “I guess that guy just doesn’t have enough.” I tried not to let it ruin my day.

Marianne Stankievech, Calgary

What would Charlie Fischer really say today?

Re: “Canada needs to reexamine and ensure its own energy self-sufficiency”, Opinion, Jul 15.

It is interesting that Donna Kennedy-Glans, Alberta’s former deputy minister for electricity and renewable energy, channels the ghost of Charlie Fischer to advocate building refinery capacity in Western Canada.

I didn’t know Charlie Fischer personally, but a pragmatic engineer would be well aware of how carbon pricing and dividend policies affect the economics of fossil fuel infrastructure. New fossil fuel projects simply don’t make sense anymore, both from a climate and business standpoint. Price signals are now clearly in favor of greener energy projects.

Perhaps Charlie Fischer would have seen the wisdom of even stronger carbon pricing and dividend policies as a way to improve Alberta.

cathy Page, Calgary

The death of a child illustrates Western failure

The photo in the Calgary Herald of the girl in the casket brought tears to my eyes.

An innocent child killed by a bomb is a parody. This senseless war is in its fifth month with no relief in sight. Canada and the US have to step up and rid our world of evil. It is the only way. This evasion with the use of sanctions is a joke. Putin must go.

Solve the sales tax problem

Why does even the mention of a provincial sales tax send chills down the spine of every political party in Alberta? Wouldn’t you think that when you are facing a budget crisis everything should be on the table? Perhaps it would be wise to weigh the benefits of both PST and no PST, rather than say outright that there will be no provincial sales tax.

Dale McLaren, Calgary

Ticket prices will take flight

Air Canada is in talks to buy carbon removal credits to offset emissions from air travel. I do not expect Air Canada to use its net earnings to pay for the credits. I expect the costs of the credits to be a supplement to the price of my ticket. An airline is like many other “pseudo-monopolies” in Canada that are “price setters” for their services/goods and as a consumer I have to accept the price or hike and stay home. Keep an eye out for all the positive news on this and then wait to see your ticket price go up accordingly.

Brian McConaghy, Heritage Pointe

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