Honesty in politics
Our elected officials’ honesty and respect for the electorate continues to decline. The recent election in Alberta demonstrates this.
People going to the polls have every right to expect the person for whom they vote will keep party affiliation and not bolt to a party unapproved by the voter. What an onerous, disrespectful and dishonest way to treat their constituents.
And last evening a party leader was elected and then immediately resigned. What, pray tell, kind of honest representation is this? And what, one may ask, is the cost to the suffering taxpayer of calling another election and the subsequent vote? Why run in the first place?
Surely we have every right to expect far more from those selected to guide and represent us. For example. Why not the establishment of a path of decency, honesty and fairness working toward a prosperous and enjoyable future for us our children and grandchildren? This in itself would be a great step toward better government
Bob Pearce/Cranbrook
Radar Sign
I am writing this letter in regards to the radar signs that have been set up around town. The main one being the radar sign a block north of Kinsmen Park.
If this is to try and slow down local traffic, I find it useless to have the speed visible to the public. Yes, they will slow down going past the sign, go into a nice 46km/h, but as soon as they’re past the sign, they’re accelerating into well past 50km/h.
In my opinion, if you want effective speed monitoring, or you want to just evaluate how fast the average driver goes up Victoria, set up hidden radar. Set up radar cameras with sound and listen to the obnoxious tailpipes of the inconsiderate speed racers who rally up the hill. Set up cameras to see how many people illegally pass others or how many pedestrians don’t make it across the crosswalk because drivers are going too fast down the hill to even stop.
People know the speed limit on Victoria Avenue. There has been too much discussion and news regarding the speed limit for people to not be aware of it, so are you really making a difference posting a larger sign? It’s simply a game for people to play with. It’s telling people their speeds — it’s a speedometer. Not an effective way to reduce speeding.
If we don’t have adequate police to stop people speeding in this area, then let’s bring in technology that will do it for them.
Dan Shynuk/Cranbrook
Fluoride
I am not at all certain that your readers are aware that the “fluoride” added to Cranbrook’s water is not the naturally occurring calcium fluoride but fluorosilicic acid, which is an industrial waste product. I was made aware of this only recently myself when I received information from the City that ClearTech Industries out of Saskatoon supplies them with the material. When I looked it up online, ClearTech only supplies fluorosilicic acid; not calcium fluoride. The nature of the product was verified through the written reply I received from the City regarding the Council’s Budget plans.
After learning this, I looked up articles on the health benefits of calcium fluoride, finding a fair amount of information online, but I didn’t find one article that stated that there were health benefits from fluorosilicic acid – not even dental benefits.
In my research, I came across information about calcium fluoride supplements. However, an article on the CDC website dated August 7, 2001 states: “All fluoride supplements must be prescribed by a dentist or physician”. In Canada, the CDA position is: “Before prescribing fluoride supplements, a thorough clinical examination, dental caries risk assessment and informed consent with patients/caregivers are required” (CDA Resolution of March, 2000).
I have great appreciation for our dental community, but I have difficulty understanding why the ingestion of fluoride is not strictly managed by dentists and other health care professionals. It doesn’t make sense to me that this responsibility is being placed upon municipal governments rather than the CDA or Health Canada. Some might say there is concern that those in the lower economic stream would lack the ability to access such supplements. However, I remember being given fluoride supplements free of charge at school as a child. If our governments and health care communities want to take up similar implementation, I imagine it can be done. As it stands, the poorly managed and monitored pouring of fluorosilicic acid into our water looks like “passing the buck” to me, even leaving municipal governments vulnerable to litigation over this practice.
Carole Telman/Cranbrook
