Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

WCR Letters to the Editor

Veto an urban lifestyle based on mass transit

Mr. Argan is a staunch defender of social justice, as we all should be, but I was surprised not only by blatant contradictions but also by the tone of his Oct. 3 editorial ("Give the PM a dose of gumption").

Never mind that the concept of "common good" needs proper understanding and philosophy, or that in a true democracy people should not be coerced by the ruling elite to do anything, or that raising gas taxes even further would adversely affect us all, since all goods would go up, and this would especially affect the poorest. And if the over-taxed middle class is taxed further, there will be less left to support religious organizations, churches and charities for the poor.

Besides confused political and economic thinking, what should really bother Catholics is the anti-democratic utopian vision that a super-vague quasi-scientific treaty such as Kyoto, conceived secretly at an undemocratic "world government" level, one whose goals and ramification cannot be satisfactorily explained even by the so-called experts, should be used to herd the populations into urban centres so they can be transported on fixed routes by mass transit like cattle, because the developed countries, supposedly cannot allow their citizens to drive their "combustion steeds" any more.

Centesimus Annus is an important encyclical which asks us to review the Church's social justice. It indeed calls us to consider new lifestyles, but nowhere does it invoke an urban lifestyle based on mass transit as an ideal. If anything, it calls for genuine and open democracy, and it denounces all coercive, totalitarian, socialist and state capitalism systems.

It acknowledges private property, legitimate profit, free market, free enterprise, initiative and entrepreneurial ability. It denounces the "serious problems of modern urbanization" and asks us to consider a lifestyle which can uphold the freedom and dignity of individuals and families.

Even in his personal life, John Paul II did not denounce the responsible use of automobiles. He himself owned one. He must have experienced the overcrowded communist mass transit that carried all citizen-slaves from their sleeping quarters to the workplace and back. How would JPII react to outrageously high gas prices and extra taxes so high even thieves couldn't afford to pay?

Peter Hala
Edmonton

And veto CUSTA too

I wonder how many Canadians think of the five-letter acronym CUSTA when they fill up their gas tank or pay their heating bill these days? CUSTA stands for Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.

Concluded in 1989 under the stewardship of the Mulroney Progressive Conservative federal government, CUSTA provides that oil companies operating in Canada, both foreign and domestic, could no longer charge more for oil and natural gas exported to the United States than they charged Canadian citizens.

This agreement effectively blocked any effort by Canadian governments to pursue a "made in Canada" gasoline and natural gas price for Canadians. To the best of my knowledge, no other oil producing country in the world has given up these rights. When CUSTA was expanded into NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), Mexico refused to agree to give up its right to a domestic energy price.

To add insult to injury, CUSTA provides that oil companies operating in Canada are compelled to continue to export an equal proportion of our energy resources to the U.S. even if there is a shortage to supply Canadians.

I believe Canadians have every right to cuss the CUSTA, and demand that the federal government abrogate it by taking advantage of the withdrawal provision in the agreement. Then we would be free to establish a "made in Canada" price for our energy resources.

William Dascavich
Edmonton

Instigate Rebate Sunday

If Christians firmly believe that the government surplus should be spent on the poor, there is nothing stopping us from placing our rebate cheques in the Sunday collection.

Perhaps before we can expect our government to act charitably, we need to set the example and prove our sincerity by our actions, not just our words. I suggest the churches come together and take up a special collection for "Rebate Sunday," thereby showing our government that our wallets are as open to the poor as our hearts, and that we really do mean what we preach.

Ultimately, we do get to decide how that money is spent after all.

Mary Pringle
Blairmore

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