Thursday’s letters: UCP scrutiny of books alarms

The announcement by the minister of Education to send Education officials to review books in schools frightens me. I am certainly not in favour of pornography on school library shelves and, yes, it should not be available to young people, but I fear this will be used, as it has been in the MAGA crowd, to go after anything that may have some LGBTQ2S+ content.

As a gay man, what I see is a scary version of what happened in Germany in the 1930s: a government determined to brainwash people to see us as a community easily erased. I can only hope that reasonable people will see the not-so-hidden agenda of this premier and her minister of Education and take up the challenge of making the government accountable to all Albertans. Libraries need to be safe places but places to learn, places where they can see themselves reflected in what’s available. The government also needs to remember there is the Internet where far worse things are available. In my fear, when they came for me there was no one to help me.

Article content

David Wilson, Edmonton

Put bike lanes on the ballot

Lorne Gunter’s recent article about the city’s ongoing crusade against vehicles in this city highlights again the myopic vision of this council and its incumbent bureaucracy.

The outcry of proposed bike lanes, their cost, lack of use, and impracticality has been deafening. The protests of taxpayers has been largely ignored as have essential services — snow clearing comes to mind. There’s a solution to this ongoing issue: let’s put the question of more bike lanes to a plebiscite vote in the upcoming October election.

Article content

Connie Shelley, Edmonton

Bad roads a civic emergency

Potholes, uneven manholes, crack sealing asphalt are a growing dilemma city wide. The current state of roads throughout the city is appalling given the taxes we’re forced to pay. It is clear to most of us using roads that city unionized forces are unable to adequately address this growing dilemma, as hard as they may be trying. Winter weather cannot be controlled but the city must try harder to minimize this dilemma. City buses and fire trucks are are being prematurely damaged, over the state of the roadways, not to mention the private sector’s losses. It’s a field day for the auto-repair sector.

Article content

The Office of Emergency Management must act now and declare an emergency and augment city forces by calling in the private sector to help out, as when a major snowfall paralyzes the city’s capabilities. There is only a short window to get ahead of this dilemma. Anything less continues to be a disservice to all city taxpayers.

J.A. Pennell, Edmonton

Letters welcome

Article content