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11 Comment(s)

Re: Canada's Mission in Afghanistan

In the past few months, Canadian casualties appear to be on the rise, not only those killed in action, but also the wounded and the people who have suffered the lasting after effects of this mission.

The Canadian public has suffered as well as taxpayers, but most of all because of the human cost which cannot be compared.

The Taliban seem to be gaining more ground in Afghanistan, but they also show their ability to hit NATO in neighbouring Pakistan, destroying supply equipment, trucks and goods designated for NATO troops, as well one of the major bridges needed for the supply route.

Pakistan is supposed to be an ally in the cause to fight the Taliban. One has to wonder who is guarding the Pakistani nuclear arsenal.

It appears the efforts of all the NATO forces, mostly Canadians, British, Dutch and American, cannot defeat the Taliban in their determination and cannot forestall the willpower of the Taliban.

Three hundred and eighty thousand Russians under different rules of engagement could not manage that either.

It is past time that we, as Canadians, realize we have made enough sacrifices for a lost cause and bring our troops home. We cannot change the mentality, nor the lifestyle, of these people no more than they can change our lifestyle and mentality.

I support the troops, not the mandate of the useless mission continuing on until 2011.

Siegfried Mehlitz

Fredericton

Merging comes with inherent dangers

Re: Highway driving

Could someone out there please tell me who has the right of way when two high speed highways converge?

The case in point is the convergence of routes 2 and 7 (the Vanier Highway) in Lincoln. Is it the vehicle with the most mass or the race car driver zooming at 130 kph or more down Route 2 hellbent to get to the Big Stop for coffee half a mile down the highway?

Doddering old fool that I am, I like to travel at or near the speed limit - 100 to 110 kph in the right hand lane - but risk being flattened by a semitrailer or the aforementioned race car driver when I attempt to cross over to the right hand lane when driving from Fredericton to Oromocto.

I could, I suppose, continue on in the middle lane of the three-lane portion, but could suffer the same fate when I get to the two-lane part, when I try to access the right hand lane.

There are no signs on either highway to inform the driver what to do. I was always under the impression that passing on the right was a no-no, but perhaps it is not mentioned in the current drivers' handbook. Mine is quite a few years old.

Whoever designed this convergence should be made to pass Civil Engineering 101 again. Perhaps the old Lincoln highway is going to be my speed. Any thoughts, anyone?

John Wells

Oromocto, N.B.

I didn't see the signs and I got trapped

Re: NOGO No Tow parking

After a productive meeting with a colleague from the multicultural association and a Canadian student eager to gain experience teaching overseas, I was utterly dismayed to find irons shackling my car and a notice stuck to the window.

I called the number indicated and 25 minutes later, the keeper of the shackles key arrived, demanding payment of $84.75 for my 'crime' of parking in a NOGO No Tow parking zone.

When I indicated my disappointment with the absence of signs prohibiting parking, the attending vassal politely pointed to a sign on the other side of the parking lot (which I could not read from where I was) and stated there were also signs at the entrance (none of which I saw).

When I arrived, there were many spaces with "reserved" or "initials" signs. There were also five spaces, unoccupied, with no reserved signs; I parked in one.

You published a letter Feb. 18 which supports the actions of NOGO No Tow. It seems that illegal parking in church lots leads "to constantly be(ing) bothered by upset people who leased a spot being poached by someone else."

If signs are clear, in the actual spaces involved, I very much doubt this is a problem. Most car owners are sensitive to parking restrictions and obey them.

I must confess to going to city hall in the past for overstaying my allotted time at a meter and paying the appropriate fine, although I don't ever remember getting cash back from the meter when I left before my time expired!

Having enjoyed life in Fredericton since 1961 in so many ways, it is so sad to see the harsh commercialism of NOGO No Tow trap honest, tax-paying citizens.

Michael D. B. Burt

Nasonworth, N.B.

Leftover money, but not for veterans' families

Re: Widows on a Warpath

This is a Widows on a Warpath update.

Our group was approached last May by a film crew from New York to help them develop a documentary on the issue of Agent Orange at CFB Gagetown. The film crew is working on a documentary highlighting our widows. You may visit their website, gagetownmovie.com, for lots of background information.

The issue we are fighting is to have the government of Canada eliminate the date of Feb. 6, 2006 in order for us to receive the ex-gratia $20,000 one time payment. The government has stated that as of Jan. 12, 1,938 cheques have been issued, amounting to approximately $39 million, leaving $56.6 million remaining of the 95.6 million allotted for the ex-gratia payment to victims of Agent Orange sprayed at CFB Gagetown.

Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans Affairs, has stated that monies left over will go to general revenues. There should not be any money left over. This money should be spent on those who are suffering or have suffered, including widows of the men who have died affected by chemical spraying.

We are asking that Feb. 6, 2006 and April 1, 2009 be re-adjusted so that those deserving this payment receive what belongs to them. We ask for justice for our husbands who did not have the foresight to die when government felt they should, and to stop the Harper government from gaining the leftover $56.6 million.

Carletta Matheson

Lakeville Corner, N.B.

widowsonwarpath.com