Editor:
Re: The price of politicians, June 6 letters.
Letter-writer J.R. Marshall harks back to MP Russ Hiebert’s 2008 expenses, which were first noticed by a reporter in 2010.
How does he know this? Through the media, right? Does he also know that for that same period, then-NDP leader Jack Layton and wife Olivia Chow, who lived steps away from Parliament Hill and who had in-province offices, spent $628,913.68 and $530,304.75 respectively? That’s roughly $1.2 million for a couple who shared living expenses.
And did Marshall know the couple voted against MP expenses transparency? Not much is made of that. It begs the question, why not?
This couldn’t possibly point to media bias, could it?
And we swallow everything the media feeds us and no more?
A young family man, well-educated (LL.B, MBA) willing to work the long hours and handle the 12-hour round trips to Ottawa plus three-hour time changes needs to be encouraged.
Don’t we need young families represented in Ottawa? Some important family tax write-offs, such as children’s sports, have resulted. C’mon.
M. Penner, Surrey
