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Re: Story on MP Andy Scott's retirement published Oct. 14

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I would like to publicly thank our former MP Andy Scott for 15 years of service to our riding in Fredericton.

Mr. Scott has done an excellent job representing Fredericton. I guess one never really understands just what a person gives up to do the job. I never really thought of it before I read the article in your newspaper on his retirement.

I have known Andy for years, as we lived down the street from one another in Barker's Point.

I'm not surprised that Andy held the seat for 15 years, since he has always served to make life better for the people of Canada, New Brunswick and Fredericton, and he did it well.

So Andy, I wish you a happy retirement. You did us proud. Thank you.

Marilyn Brennan

Fredericton

Thanks for a refreshing read

Re: Editorial on living responsibly published Oct. 6

Kudos to whomever wrote the editorial on the many ways people can live a little more responsibly to leave this world a little better than we found it.

Articles like this should almost be published annually as a gentle reminder to us to be more aware of the footprint - be it carbon, kindness, or dog poop - that we all may leave behind.

Among all the doom, gloom and political posturing that is our daily news, it made for a refreshing read.

Vicky Patterson

Fredericton

There are still a few roadblocks to self-sufficiency

Re: Column by Premier Shawn Graham

published Oct. 3

Premier Graham paints a promising picture of the achievements of his government en route to self-sufficiency.

The direction is sound, but underlying the major challenges still ahead is the community capacity for developing the human resources essential to productivity.

This is the domain of the community non-profit sector, which his government has pledged to strengthen. Many issues can be addressed close to home, where people live and work.

For example, the current labour shortage results partly from the loss of a generation of young people who were abandoned by the school system when vocational courses were eliminated.

Many of them are still here; they are a valuable pool of potential workers, wasting away in often unproductive and unsatisfying pursuits.

Community-based programs have helped many youth make the transition from unemployment to the work force. The non-profit sector knows how to do it, but needs consistent government investment to succeed.

Another example is health care. Millions of dollars are poured into hospitals and nursing homes, despite the expressed preference of seniors for home care, which reduces costs and stress levels while providing employment for local caregivers.

Professional home care is a system in crisis. Salaries are low, training is scarce, and recruitment is desperate. Significant government investment in home care could decrease health care costs and stimulate local economies, yet the government seems oblivious to its possibilities.

Communities are society's bedrock, which has been greatly eroded.

Self-sufficiency requires investment to build the social infrastructure. This is urgent.

Sue Rickards

Lower Queensbury, N.B.

Reflections on a 20th century monk

Re: Thomas Merton conference at STU

As Thomas Merton scholars descended on Fredericton and STU recently, we were treated to a significant conference called Disarming the Heart - Pathways to Peace.

Thought provoking concepts escaped the written page to pierce the heart; mesmerizing Zen photographs by Merton gave way to the captivating art of Miller Brittain; counter-cultural writings of Merton and Milton Acorn, the well known Canadian and Maritime poet, were brought to life.

Lectures comparing Merton, Brittain and Blake begged my reflection on how far current teaching had come from childhood recollections of Blake's "Tiger, tiger, burning bright, in the forests of the night, what immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?" with the current intriguing historical overview on how Blake and Merton had explored their faith.

The biographical film on Merton transported us from our contemporary classroom to magnificent, old, memorable monasteries and cathedrals of Europe, ultimately jolting us back in another session to a haunting and disturbing portrayal of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, all the more chilling because of the West's renewed interest in nuclear war, the outdated notion of a "just war" and Merton's writings, suppressed at the time, but now in print in his posthumous book Peace in a Post-Christian Era.

It was a unique opportunity to interact with people who had plumbed the depths of Thomas Merton's fascinating life and, while questioning and sharing, to engage with the humanity that had meant so much to this 20th century monk.

It was a rare treat away from the currently accustomed one-sided mechanical exchange of the Internet.

Gloria G. Paul

Hoyt, N.B.

A decent living does not come from $7.75 an hour

Re: Minimum wage

In September the British Columbia Hospital Employees Union (CUPE) kicked off a campaign for something called a living wage.

The Canadian people and politicians need to support just such a social goal - that of a living wage versus a minimum wage.

Research done for B.C. showed families there need $16.74 an hour to adequately support their families. The calculation was created by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

New Brunswick's minimum wage ($7.75/hour before deductions) just does not cut it here either.

Think about your fixed costs - $7.75 is clearly not nearly enough to provide the basics like clothing, food, heat and rent, let alone child care while at work.

Canada needs to change. We need a national system of affordable day care, similar to Quebec's. We need and deserve a living wage. It is fundamental to the struggle for the elimination of child poverty.

The results of the absence of such a social policy goal can be clearly seen here, have the same effect on the working poor throughout Canada and produce the same resulting struggles and injustices.

People are struggling here as in B.C. and throughout the country. Some are working two and even three jobs up to 12 hours per day, sometimes seven days per week, just to make ends meet.

Minimum wages are not working. We need a new standard - that of a living wage.

Thomas R. Steep

Durham Bridge N.B.