Letters to the editor

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

7 Comment(s)

There has been a cable ferry operated by the provincial government to Sugar Island for many years up until now.

When the Mactaquac dam was built in the late 1960s, farmers were assured there would always be access to Sugar Island by cable ferry, and there always has been, until this year. This ferry allows many farmers to access 2,000 acres of prime agricultural land planted in hay, grain, corn, potatoes and soybeans.

Our farm uses the ferry for about 200 crossings per year. The alternate route is 30 minutes longer per trip over rough and dangerous roads. This greatly increases our costs due to diesel fuel consumption, wear and tear on equipment and labour costs.

Our current government is talking about the environment, self sufficiency in agriculture, safety on our roads and supporting agriculture. The decision not to operate this cable ferry, which is sitting there idle, goes against all of what they say they believe in.

We strongly urge our premier and Liberal government to stand behind what they say and find a permanent funding solution to this problem.

Arthur Versloot

Keswick Ridge, N.B.

Producing bilingual students is possible

The Gleaner is right that secrecy doesn't make for open government.

Teachers have been reprimanded for speaking out against inappropriate programs for students. Media participation could have been intimidating.

The Minister of Education has consulted many times with French experts, who have expressed degrees of confidence in early, middle, late and intensive French programs.

Intensive French has been successfully implemented in many classes throughout our province, but has not had the time yet to earn the reputation of being able to produce the required results.

Education Minister Kelly Lamrock has read hundreds of e-mails, pondering their comments and suggestions about the proposed changes.

The minister hosted a meeting with educational and language experts, as well as over 90 stakeholders to obtain feedback and direction about the proposed education plan.

I attended this meeting and it was a fair, frank and respectful exchange of passionately held ideas and views.

It was evident that almost all participants agreed that the current status quo is unacceptable.

Levelling the playing field, improving results in literacy, math and science, as well as producing competent bilingual students is possible.

I admire the early immersion program and know it has been great, but it has made it extremely unfair for so many of our other children.

Middle and late immersion programs can create problems, but they are not as devastating.

Bilingual potential would be significantly improved if we provided more French enrichment courses for high school students. The reality now is they are so focused on preparing for university that bilingualism often becomes a secondary objective.

Committment and support of all educators and parents, as well as having students with appropriate attitude, motivation and work ethic are essential. Cultural adventures, exchange programs with francophone families, French sports camps, dialogue with francophone schools, and so on can all create the right atmosphere for promoting bilingualism. Good Luck minister.

Harold Phalen

Fredericton

Eliminating violence is everyone's job

I appreciate very much your editorial from July 10 titled "Society is due for an attitude adjustment."

As someone who has worked for better responses to violence against women for the last 15 years, I often find myself wondering why we are not further along.

I think your editorial points to some of the reasons: when we talk about eliminating this, we are talking about a fundamental shift in how we view male and female roles.

Survivors of violence still experience much blame from families and communities - "What did you do to make him angry?-What did you do to attract sexual attention?"

Instead, we need to be clear with each other in our families and communities that violence and abuse are never acceptable, are not the fault of survivors and no one deserves it.

When families and communities start getting behind the survivors who are brave enough to come forward for help with partner violence and sexual violence, we will see changes.

This is not "someone else's" responsibility - it is up to each of us to do whatever we can, whether we are child protection professionals, police, lawyers, grandparents, judges, or just concerned community members, to help make vulnerable people safe, and not pass the buck.

It is starting to happen thanks to tireless work by women's organizations and leaders like Bernard Richard. Thank you for noting this important issue.

Pam Rubin

Halifax, N.S.

UNB Woodlot development is shameful

As a UNB alumnus, I'm embarrassed.

In a time of environmental crisis and despite being a public institute in a province whose public believes environmental concerns trump economic ones, UNB's board of governors has approved a plan to parcel off 50 per cent (over 1,500 acres) of the UNB woodlot.

This is so that an ecosystem which includes numerous wetlands and is home to threatened species, such as the blue heron, can be developed over the coming years.

For an institute of higher learning, one would think this would be shameful enough; however, upon further inspection of these plans, something even more insidious is revealed.

By disclosing development plans in a piecemeal fashion (so far for about 270 acres), UNB can take advantage of a government loophole and evade a comprehensive environmental impact assessment.

Such an assessment would be risky as it would likely reveal what any biologist can attest - an ecosystem's individual elements are interdependent and cannot be understood or evaluated separately. If you destroy part of such a system, you run the risk of compromising it all.

So subjected to only limited environmental impact assessments, UNB, like a landlord who slaps a coat of paint over rotting wood, can effectively - at least in the short term - conceal any evidence there may be of a collapsing ecosystem.

Ironically, an institute which assesses thousands of people every year seemingly believes itself above assessment. It's time for UNB's administrators to conduct themselves in a manner that truly reflects UNB's mission statement, code of conduct and slogan.

By hawking off the woodlot for non-sustainable, 1970s style development, without any regard for the health of an entire ecosystem, they are active participants in exactly what researchers in their own institute, and indeed universities across the world, are working so hard to put an end to.

Carla Gunn

Fredericton

Support for cancer relay goes a long way

Fredericton's recent Relay For Life raised $155,308.26.

Thank you for being a part of the relay. Please celebrate, knowing that your hard work and dedication are greatly appreciated. It's people like you participants that encourage hope and strength, raising funds to support our mission and by inspiring others to champion the cancer cause.

Many memories were made at this year's event. As we cheered the survivors who walked the survivors' victory lap, and remembered our loved ones during the luminary ceremony as they provided light and inspiration throughout the night, we shared our stories to prove that cancer can be beaten.

Funds raised from the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay For Life will fund research on all types of cancer, offer support to people living with cancer, prevent cancer by promoting healthy lifestyles and risk reduction strategies, provide information about cancer care and treatment, and advocate for public policies to reduce the burden of cancer.

We look forward to seeing you next year at the Fredericton Relay For Life on June 12. Stay tuned for more information on getting involved. Online registration begins in September.

Organizing committee and staff

Fredericton Relay For Life