Tourists and their money will have to go elsewhere
Published Tuesday October 7th, 2008
Letter's to the editor
Re: Closing of the visitor information centre near Kings Landing
Apparently the government is giving the information centre building to Kings Landing for office space.
The building will have to be bigger for the offices. So that means more money to build on the visitor centre for more office space.
Apparently the government doesn't think the centre is very helpful or needed for visitors. We all need the tourists and their money, but I guess we don't want to accommodate them.
The information centre promotes a lot of revenue for a lot of business. They send a fare bit of revenue to these business people. I'm sure the business people would agree.
How much do you think this will cost the taxpayers? The road signs and maps will have to be changed.
I'm sure on what these will cost, the information centre could run quite nicely for awhile.
Why doesn't someone ask the businesses and the taxpayers what they think of the whole situation? The government wants to keep people in the Maritimes, but they sure don't seem to be willing to help the people stay.
If the workers at the visitor centre made half the wages that the government people made, perhaps these little jobs wouldn't matter so much.
I guess the tourists and their money can go elsewhere, and find their own way to businesses these centres promote.
Perhaps the government should see some of the comments about how happy people are that the visitor centre is there.
That's my opinion, for what it's worth. I guess you can't fight the government.
H. Biggar
Dumfries, N.B.
Why is gas so expensive when we're so close to a refinery?
Re: Gas prices
I live in Massachusetts and I visit Fredericton almost once a month.
I have land on Grand Lake and enjoy Jet-skiing and snowmobiling.
Every time I enter Canada and see the first price of gas at the McAdam gas station, I cringe. We purchase gas by the gallon and I know there are 3.78 litres per gallon, but with the refinery in Saint John, I can't understand how gas can cost $1.27/litre - almost $4.81/gal.
Recently there was an Irving gas station opening about five miles from my home in Massachusetts, which is 458 miles from Fredericton.
They are very competitive, beating other established stations by $.05 to $.15 per gallon. How and why can Irving be so competitive in Massachusetts and crush the Canadians with the refinery an hour away from Fredericton?
I think it's a crime against humanity with that business tactic.
Peter Varieur
Rehoboth, Mass.
Find another way to raise money for transit system
Re: Proposed bus pass price increase for seniors
Most of the seniors who take the bus are probably on a fixed income like myself or are seniors who can no longer drive. I doubt if there are that many seniors who use this service.
This city is getting almost as expensive to live in as the bigger cities.
I would think the city could find other means to raise money for the transit system than putting more cost on the seniors on fixed incomes.
Audrey Mackenzie
Fredericton
Fisher would have loved day of peace
Re: Michael Staples' column on the late Don Fisher, published Sept. 17
Thank you for the tribute to Don Fisher.
Don's birthday was Sept. 21, the United Nations International Day Of Peace.
I attended a church workshop on peace that day and heard a wonderful presentation on Palestinian solidarity. I appreciated the historic evaluation which questioned violence in the region. Don would have loved it because he hated war and had been a peacekeeper in that area.
Here, in 2008 in Fredericton, we were seeking knowledge and non-violent solutions to Middle East and world problems.
A member of the group had been on a Holy Land tour a few years ago and commented that they had two tour guides. One believed the only good Arab was a dead one; the other, a retired Israeli military officer, was a pacifist seeking non-violence for all.
Another wondered about the influence of what President Eisenhower called, in 1961, the military industrial complex which thrives on violence-based leadership - like Hitler's Germany. The other kind of leadership is non violent.
If I were part of the military industrial complex - politician, investor, worker, salesman, voting supporter, researcher/scientist - studying ways to kill without risk of being killed, I would see non-violence as a threat.
Anyone who loves neighbours and welcomes strangers (Christian and Jewish beliefs) would be rejected as an economic terrorist.
On my friend Don's birthday, I was a "never again" veteran. I wish I could say, the sacrifice of 50 million humans killed in the Second World War was not in vain, and support everyone seeking a non-violent world. I feel hopeful.
R.H. Young
Fredericton
Canada, US too close for comfort
Re: North American elections
First I would like to mention the summit in USA. They sure named it right when it was called a debate. President Bush and McCain set a trap for Obama. It makes me laugh at all the technology and superpowers in America they have to catch Bin Laden. He carries one hand gun. Bush calls it a weapon of mass destruction. No wonder America is going broke.
Now let's talk about Canada. In New Brunswick the government wants all to learn French. Well, last night I listened to Mr. Dion talk for one half hour. He spoke English, and in that time frame, I have yet to understand what he said. Oh well, when he comes to N.B. he will probably talk French.
If our Canadian government keeps on catering to the US, we will definitely go broke like them.
One last thing that concerns me is in the last four or five years, any hurricane or cloudy day with a gust of wind increases the price of gas. How come we always had hurricanes before these four or five years and it never raised our gas prices? Our government must think we're all ignorant.
Earl J. LeBlanc
Maugerville, N.B.
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