Letters | Review will help Canada Post fulfil mandate
I'd like to respond to "Postal workers critical of review" (Aug. 7) by clarifying the scope and goals of the strategic exam of Canada Post.
The Government of Canada wants Canada Post to remain a healthy Crown corporation. We value the work of its dedicated workforce of more than 70,000 employees.
The strategic review is to make sure Canada Post has the right tools and means to fulfill its mandate in the future.
Canada Post is not broken and will remain a Crown corporation, but several changes to its environment took place since 1995. For example, due to changes such as e-mail and the Internet, traditional mail volumes have dropped per capita, creating new challenges.
We want to act now to make sure public policy obligations of Canada Post continue to be fulfilled and its ability to remain financially self-sustaining is ensured.
Consulting a wide range of stakeholders such as Canada Post and their unions, customers and the general public is part of the review process.
The panel is guided by the following four principles. Canada Post: will not be privatized and will remain a Crown corporation; must maintain a universal, effective and economically viable postal service; will continue to act as an instrument of public policy through the provision of postal services to Canadians; and will continue to operate in a commercial environment and is expected to attain a realistic rate of return on equity.
Canadians are encouraged to provide written submissions by mail or by e-mail.
LAWRENCE CANNON
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Minister responsible for Canada Post
Editor's note: The address for written submissions is Canada Post Corporation Strategic Review, 330 Sparks Street (HCCR) Ottawa, Ont., K1A 0N5
Bullying won't be forgotten
The change in the government's French Second Language policy announced on Tuesday came about because of a concerted and organized effort by a group of citizens who were determined to make a difference even at great personal expense.
The minister was contrite at the press conference, going out of his way to thank those who took the time to thoughtfully oppose his initial plan, and he even went so far as to admit that the court decision that forced him to undertake the recent consultations was a positive development.
While I am pleased that the minister discovered that a positive and useful discussion was possible once he stopped calling the citizens of the province names, and actually took the time to treat us like the intelligent rational beings that we are, I am left wondering why those of us who spent an inordinate amount of time and money on this issue have to pay for his lessons in good manners.
Despite his recent change of attitude I cannot forget the months of bullying and belittling that took place before.
I cannot forgive being labeled an elitist and a segregationist. I cannot forget that the reason the minister had the opportunity to discover that he is not always the smartest guy in the room is because friends of mine put themselves in personal and professional jeopardy in order to drag him to court.
Je me souviens means something entirely different to me now - and 2010.
MICHAEL WILCOTT
Saint John
Immersion decision fair but difficult
Congratulations to our premier, minister of education and government for their difficult but fair decision about educational change and French Second Language programs.
It is great that so many New Brunswickers care so passionately about their children and education.
Every subject is important and emphasis is needed on literacy, math, technology, science, arts, phys-ed, trades and bilingualism.
Bilingualism and fairness, equality and justice have been more recognized in this compromise.
We want a system where our children's talents, dreams and successes will enable them to find happiness throughout their lives.
The government have been listening and heard the voices of many citizens throughout our province.
Reasonableness and fairness are traits to be admired in our society.
Bilingualism and equality have been reconciled in this decision.
HAROLD PHALEN
Fredericton
Future is here for Long Wharf
Excerpts of a letter to common council.
For many years, many volunteers and organizations have spent time, money and energy, towards improving our waterfront and uptown areas.
During that time numerous discussions took place on how the Long Wharf area could be incorporated into our beautiful cityscape. All those involved recognized that such opportunity would not and could not happen, due to the special legal limitation the port authority had to follow in order to get involved with land deals of its real estate.
Well the future has arrived and I for one am totally supportive of this opportunity and strongly urge that the city council support this project to its fullest.
I do not share the concerns of the ILA that the loss of Long Wharf as a working port facility would limit opportunities for them.
The port authority has tried for many years to make that portion of the port an active facility but with little success.
The opportunities at the former Lantic Sugar site would lend itself to many opportunities. Perhaps the leadership of the ILA could work with management of the port authority to structure the proposed area to maximize the benefits to both the union and the port authority.
Please note that I have not even mentioned the financial benefits to city hall nor the incredible economic benefits to the uptown business community and the practicality of continuing using Long Wharf as a cruise terminal.
This is a win-win opportunity.
Let us make it happen!
ROLF SPANGENBERG
Alliance Assurance, Saint John
Mayor showing leadership skills
Consider this: the newspaper has obtained private briefing notes from the top Saint John Port Authority representative who represented the port authority in the negotiations and are now printing excerpts from those notes quoting the mayor.
Having some understanding of the deal as well as some of the players involved and now trying to understand this latest bit of espionage causes me to see a closeness between a seller of a piece of port property and a private company attempting to buy that property. This causes me to question the port authority negotiator's sincerity on this matter. Did he get the best deal possible for the port?
Furthermore, I have no problem with the manner in which Mayor Ivan Court is handling this situation and fully support him and find his strategy an indication of strong leadership ability, as well as a brave elected representative - the likes of which we have not seen since Louis J. Robichaud.
JOHN WATSON
Saint John
Please recheck your accessibility
In recent months I have been to many businesses advertised as "wheelchair accessible" in the Saint John and KV area, only to be disappointed when my power wheelchair could not enter the premises.
My chair is small but weighs over 350 pounds and it cannot climb over large lips in doorways. One of these businesses had an impossible six-inch doorsill. This is unacceptable.
I don't believe getting into a building designated as accessible should require help. Moreover, unless I happen to routinely carry wooden shims in my backpack, there is no way any able-bodied person can lift, push or otherwise help me over these barriers.
Part of the problem, no doubt, is a simple lack of awareness. If you are not one of the 70,690 New Brunswickers with a disability related to mobility, then you may not even be aware that these small but significant barriers exist. Wheelchair ramps, wide doors and designated parking spaces are terrific, but useless if a person cannot get inside the door.
I encourage all establishments claiming wheelchair accessibility to closely inspect their "accessible" entrances with fresh eyes and see how they measure up. If a threshold is greater than one-half inch or 13 millimetres in height then your facility is not up to code, it is not barrier free, and your entrance should never have passed inspection.
The good news is that this can easily be fixed with gently graded asphalt or concrete and better access to wheelchair users might just increase your revenue.
KRISTIE McHUGH
Saint John
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Thank you & all of the courageous, dedicated, fair and reasonable parents, concerned citizens and experts that gave so much of your personal time in a calm, rational manner to dispute the entirely discredited Croll & Lee FSL plan to an “unfair and unreasonable” government. You have endured unthinkable personal verbal abuse, great personal sacrifice, as well as the propagation of fallacy and mistruth by an arrogant Minister. It is beyond comprehension that the individuals who have been so desperately trying to get the Liberal government to have a rational, intelligent, research & fact driven discussion had to go to the courts to have that sane approach FORCED on an extremely unwilling government.
All Liberal MLAs & the Premier are as guilty as Lamrock himself, for allowing the government's arrogance & incompetence to continue, without compromise until the court forced the out of control government to look again. The result is still a rush job & not thorough.
2010
I would hope Court wouldn't do as much damage to Saint John as Louis J. Robichaud was able to do.
Say what you will about Court, but he shouldn't be tarred with that brush.
I can't wait for 2010.
"Every subject is important...and bilingualism"
Bilingualism isn't a subject. We can't teach bilingualism. We can teach language, math, science and tolerance and hope that it leads us to the state of being bilingual.
Mr. Wilcott says "Je me souviens"--I suspect there are many parents who would have been able to accept sound educational change had they not been villified simply for recognizing that New Brunswick children deserve a clear path to bilingualism. Like Mr. Wilcott those parents will remember.
Given that the definition of liberal is "favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs" there is likely a stong message in the number of disgruntled (L)iberals that have spoken out on this issue.
While I agree with much of your comment, I differ with your opinion when it comes to thanking the Premier and the Liberal MLAs.
I feel no need to thank a Premier and Liberal MLAs who failed to do their jobs. If the Premier and Liberal MLAs had done their jobs in representing the interest of NB citizens and if they stood united to demand that the democratic process be followed, the parents and citizens of this province would not have been forced to spend their own time and money to have the courts enforce the rules of democratic process. Shawn Graham and his government are a disgrace and deserve to be removed from office by NBers. They certainly do not deserve our thanks. Hopefully, they will all be removed from office in 2010.
Secondly.. the EFI program is an elitist program (note I say program not the parents who choose it for their children). The program has the small class sizes that teachers are fighting for which lends itself to the best learning environment. It also streams out most of the learning disorders/disabilities and behavioural problems that get shifted to the English program. It is also elitist since the funding for both programs is completely lopsided when comparing dollar per student and resources required per student.
EFI parents don't want this program to change since it is great for their children but the program must change since it is not the best for ALL children.
It would be nice for all children to learn both French and English but honestly in S.J. anyway English is needed. French is a bonus.
Go educate yourself before posting please...from your comments it is clear you do not know what you are talking about and are just spewing the lies started by Lamrock.
Assuming that this were true (the actual numbers suggest that it's not), are class sizes going to be smaller in September?
"It also streams out most of the learning disorders/disabilities and behavioural problems that get shifted to the English program"
Have we addressed this? Aren't the "learning disorders/disabilities and behavioural problems" still going to be in the English program? What have we done to make the teacher's job easier or the class environment better?
"It is also elitist since the funding for both programs is completely lopsided when comparing dollar per student and resources required per student."
I must be reading this point incorrectly because it seems to suggest that Core was actually the "elite" program (that's where the majority of the resource money was being spent).