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This is an open letter to the citizens of Fredericton.

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Sleep comfortably and soundly in your homes. That notorious criminal Lee Breen has been apprehended and, for at least the next five days, your roadways will not be abused by him and his evil longboard.

I will not enter the debate about the wisdom of continuing to treat the automobile as the king of transportation modes with all others bending to its wants and needs. Suffice to say that many other urban jurisdictions have seen fit to make changes to accommodate "greener" options, to make their environment more livable and to ease the ecological carnage caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

But wait, look who I'm talking to - the smartest and greenest place on Earth, if I am to believe your press clippings. You certainly don't need any advice from a Saint Johner-turned-country boy like me. Debate and decide that issue among yourselves.

I do feel compelled, however, to comment on your treatment of the aforementioned Lee Breen.

Who among you decided that he should be cuffed and shackled and transported to a "correctional facility" in Saint John for his transgressions? Is there not a jail big enough in York County to hold someone guilty of such nefarious activity? Perhaps it is already full of other bylaw breakers.

Cuffs? Those who have met Lee understand when I say this is the most ludicrous action of all. Few souls as gentle and kind walk among us.

I urge you to call your councillors and mayor and the mysterious city spokesperson Wayne Knorr now and tell them you do not wish to have a community where citizens are treated so disdainfully.

I remain the proud and angry father of Lee Breen.

Kevin Breen

Gagetown N.B.

AUC was good host for WWE

This letter is in reference to the letter published May 12 by Scott Kinnie.

We also attended the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) event at the Aitken University Centre - two adults, and four kids ages 13, 12, 11 and 7.

Yes, we were part of the 3,000-plus in the lineups, but we were in no rush. We had assigned seats and we got in before the show started.

Yes, the hallways were warm, but the excitement in our sons' faces were worth any discomfort. During the performance we stood, hollered, whistled and danced without being "ejected from the premises."

Us adults went to concessions, taking turns so we could still see the fights (and our children's faces), got whatever we wanted and bought the T-shirts, too. The staff were very courteous.

This was a wonderful experience for the fans in our family to be able to see up-close the stars they had only seen on TV. To see the great physical shape that these performers are in is incredible. For us, it was an experience of a lifetime.

Thanks to the AUC for bringing the WWE to Fredericton.

Angee Acquin

Fredericton

Assessments need to change, but deferring tax isn't the way

This letter is in response to Roger Acreman's letter and his suggestion for property assessments.

A deferred land-tax system is a form of the worst type of government corruption. It dates back to the Middle Ages, when kings used it as a practice to enslave landowners.

In a democratic society, the government works for the people. The people are not slaves to the government.

There is a problem in the government department that manages the property tax assessments in our province and it needs to be fixed. These managers are valuing our homes as if they were stock trading on the open-market system, and not as our securities that we are banking our family futures on.

The Capital Gains Tax was established so that government received its fair share of this type of family wealth. The practice of over-inflating the stock value of our homes is a form of tax corruption that is on a direct path to a stock crash, similar to the one we just saw in the U.S. housing market.

A deferred tax system will always be the wrong tax system for the people. For the majority of us, people work a lifetime to own our family homes. A deferred tax system, with interest added, would work like a reverse mortgage and government would end up owning our family homes, our family security and the future of our children.

Our children should inherit the security of our homes and the responsibility to govern our society. The government should not inherit our children.

John Staples

Fredericton

Stanley school did a good job on production

I would like to congratulate all those who participated in the Stanley School production of Oklahoma.

They did a tremendous job and really made it come alive. I have been very fortunate for the last three years to have been able to do the sound for these productions.

It has always been a great pleasure and learning experience to watch teacher Pam Sparkes work her wonders with the students. I am totally amazed at the students and their abilities to make words come alive and bring to life these productions.

I congratulate the following students for their great acting abilities: Leanna, Jeffrey, Janelle, Alicia, David, Cody, Chris and Morgan.

Everyone did a great job, but these lead actors did a tremendous job.

I would like to thank the principal, Steve Everett, for allowing me to participate. I would also like to commend the teachers for their support of the students in this endeavour.

I can only say that it was really something to be able to participate in something very beneficial to each of the students.

And a word of advice to those with Theatre New Brunswick: You might want to take in one of these events sometime. I'm sure you would find some real talented people.

Duane Munn

Nashwaak Bridge, N.B.

French culture will suffer from immersion decision

It isn't that my daughter will not have the same opportunity that I had to reap the wonderful benefits of early French immersion that makes me so angry with Education Minister Kelly Lamrock's misguided educational reforms.

It isn't that the proposed changes are putting up barriers to New Brunswickers living outside the province who would like to return home but who are now reconsidering because they want their children to learn French at an early age.

It isn't that the one-size-fits-all approach to education that Lamrock is proposing is inappropriate given children's wide range of needs and abilities.

It isn't that the students graduating in Lamrock's new plan will not have enough proficiency in French to obtain jobs requiring bilingualism.

It isn't that Lamrock is implementing all of the recommendations of a commissioned report that has been totally discredited.

It isn't even that the process that Lamrock has used to steamroll out these reforms has been completely lacking in any form of meaningful consultation with parents, teachers or the public.

No, what really riles me about Lamrock's plan is what it says about this government's views on French language and culture in this province.

This plan says that the government does not feel it is at all important for anglophone children to learn French, that this province should be bilingual in numbers only. And that not only angers me, it breaks my heart.

Clea P. Ward

Fredericton

Why is Graham using the wrong numbers?

In early April, as part of the campaign to justify the Croll and Lee report and its recommendation that New Brunswick scrap the early French immersion program, the premier rose in the Legislative Assembly and announced that 60 per cent of New Brunswick children do not have access to early immersion.

A recent opinion piece, The Other Side on Education, shows that this is demonstrably false: 57 per cent attend schools with early immersion and another 20 per cent could access EFI by switching to nearby schools.

One can only assume that the premier did not intend to mislead the province and that he was provided erroneous numbers, either by the province's minister of education or the Department of Education's civil servants, blinded in their zeal for Croll's and Lee's recommendations.

In any other ministry, though, would not the repercussions for such a mistake foisted on the premier be swift and harsh? Or can we expect that the premier will, in order to see his ministers' programs through, happily repeat, say, tax revenue numbers miscalculated by 37 per cent, or calculations on the impact of uranium mining misrepresented by a third?

Jody Wagstaff

Fredericton

Congrats to Hicks, thanks to supporters

I would like to offer my congratulations to Steve Hicks on his election victory in Ward 5 in the recent city council election.

I would also like to thank all those who supported me during the election.

It was very much appreciated. Thank you.

Rex Tracy

Fredericton