Letters: Debate over Diwali voting stations in Edmonton

Should the city expand advance voting? Vote in our daily poll below!

Article content

It’s unfortunate that the civic election falls on the South Asian holiday Diwali, but candidate Harmon Kandola calling for mobile polling stations to be placed outside gurdwaras, mandirs, cultural centers and community halls where Diwali celebrations will take place is another unnecessary expense to taxpayers in Edmonton. He should put his efforts into advising them of the advanced polling between Oct. 7 and 11. Barring that, they can go to Elections Edmonton and get a special ballot that will allow them to vote anytime before the election. In the past, I too have had something unavoidable at the time of an election and found the advance polling station was a wonderful solution to my problem.

Article content

Recommended Videos

Article content

George Colgan

(Advance voting locations aren’t always as convenient as election day polls.)

Article content

Article content

No special votes

There is no reason in the civic election to make special consideration to any group. There are already accommodations made for early balloting, advance polls set up for many days, in hospital balloting, etc. The onus should remain with the voter to participate in casting a ballot in our Canadian democracy.

Val Scoffield

(Diwali debate aside, are hospital voting stations not special considerations?)

Tax pains

The recent article by Fuss & Munroe (Fraser Institute) regarding their concerns about a progressive income tax system is misleading.  The authors claim that Albertans earning over $260k per year pay over 65% in income taxes. Yet these authors fail to mention that well-to-do people have many more vehicles at their disposal for reducing taxes than lower-income people do.  For example: maximizing TFSA and RRSP contributions, utilizing capital gains investments, etc.  As most Albertans should realize, a person earning $40k or $50k per year has little chance to take advantage of these tax reduction strategies or to move into a substantially higher tax bracket.

Mark Patterson

(It’s no question that many Canadians need tax relief.)

PM doesn’t speak for me

Mark Carney has declared that he, speaking for Canada, will recognize Palestine as a state at the UN General Assembly this month. There are no officially recognized boundaries, and no acceptable formal government in place for Palestine to receive statehood recognition by any country. Hamas is a terrorist group that has declared an intifada on Israel. They will not stop.They also will not leave Gaza and the West Bank. Shame on him.

Ken Pellend

(You’re not alone on this issue.)

Article content