Congratulations on the newspaper awards
Sir: My belated congratulations to the Sarnia Journal and its staff for the recent Ontario community newspaper awards.
I always enjoy your publication each week. Good and happy news is always welcome.
I also scan all the names in the various sports and school groups. It reminds me how old I am when I recognize someone we babysat 10 to 15 years ago.
Congratulations again, and thank you.
Mary Ettinger
Sarnia
Disappointed Conservatives killed consumer bill
Sir: I am writing to express my disappointment in the fact that MPP Bob Bailey and his government defeated the “right to repair” bill, which would have given consumers the ability to repair their own electronic equipment.
No wonder there are no jobs for repairmen and repairwomen.
I thought the Conservatives were for creating opportunities in Ontario, helping people to have jobs, not block them.
Patrick Laffey
Sarnia
Fight cancer together at Relay for Life
Sir: The Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life in Sarnia brings together people in our community united by the goal of creating a world where no Canadian fears cancer.
By taking part in the Relay as a survivor, donor, volunteer and/or fundraising team, you show the people affected by cancer they’re not alone.
Last year, more than 12,000 cancer survivors across the country and 125 in Sarnia joined the Relay and took part in the Survivor’s Victory Lap.
We invite all cancer survivors in Sarnia-Lambton to participate in the inspirational first lap of Relay For Life Sarnia on June 14 at 6 p.m. at Clearwater Arena Park, 1400 Wellington St.
Money raised helps fund groundbreaking research and essential support services
Make a difference, and sign up at relayforlife.ca/sarnia or call 519-332-0042. Sincerely,
Paula McKinlay
Canadian Cancer Society, Relay For Life
Carbon tax claims transparently fake
Sir: Do the Conservatives really believe that putting a price on carbon will have no impact on emissions as they claim, or is there something else at play here?
It is a fundamental pillar of the study of economics that increasing the price of something decreases demand. Past governments of all stripes have taxed alcohol and tobacco in order to drive down consumption, and I’ve never heard anyone claim those taxes to be ineffective.
Paul Romer, co-winner of a Nobel Prize in Economics, recently said on CBC: “The policy is very simple. If you just commit to a tax on the usage of fuels that directly or indirectly release greenhouse gases, and then you make that tax increase steadily in the future ... people will see that there's a big profit to be made from figuring out ways to supply energy where they can do it without incurring the tax.”
With everything suggesting that a collection of carrot and stick policies, including a carbon tax, offer the best chance of addressing the problem, why have the Conservatives gone so far out on a limb and why do they continue to double down on their position?
Their claim that it is just a tax grab and 80% of the population won’t receive more back from the rebate than the tax actually costs them is transparently fake, as anyone with a calculator can demonstrate.
Even many corporations are asking for a carbon tax because it gives them surety and the ability to plan for the future.
In 2008, when speaking to the Chamber of Commerce in London, UK, Stephen Harper revealed his plan to cut emissions: "Our plan will effectively establish a price on carbon of $65 a tonne," he said.
The fact that the federal Conservatives have still offered no plan to address the climate crises speaks volumes. Something obviously happened to them between 2008 and now.
The best way to reduce emissions didn’t change, but their real goal obviously did.
Peter R Smith
Sarnia