YOU SAID IT: Cautiously optimistic

CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC

Re: ‘Best meeting we’ve had in 10 years’: Carney, premiers united on nation-building projects, online, June 2

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I hate to say it, as I am sure it will come back to bite me, but watching the media conference of Prime Minister Mark Carney and the premiers following a day of meetings has me believing that perhaps this group has finally realized it is time to pull together to get things back on track in this country.

Mind you, Quebec Premier François Legault said very little except about running transmission lines between provinces and certainly nothing about pipelines, But overall there seemed to be consensus on the best way forward and that pipelines will be part of that solution.

There is still a long road ahead to remove all the roadblocks, although it appears to be getting off to a good start.

Keep your fingers crossed, as this is too important to fail.

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WAYNE BOYCE
CARLETON PLACE

ABE AND COMPANY

Re: City hall freezes hiring, spending amid $14M deficit: new report, online, June 1

The phrase, “You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time,” was attributed to Abraham Lincoln.

In contrast to Honest Abe, he didn’t know the mayor or councillors of the City of Ottawa. The commitment of the city to reduce costs to recover some of the budgetary shortfall is honorable. But also laughable!

The city has spent money like drunken sailors. My apologies to drunken sailors. There isn’t a project the city will turn down, needed or not. OC Transpo, the bridge over the Airport Parkway, and again over the Carp River (or is it a creek?) are a few examples that come to mind. Not enough money? The province or the federal government, or both, will pay. Look, being a politician when someone else is paying the freight is an easy job. It’s only tough when a hard decision has to be made.

Here’s an easy answer to your budget shortfall: freeze all capital expenditures, cut the bloated staff by at least one-third and reduce operational spending by 10 per cent. Hard decisions have to be made. Are you tough enough?

MICHAEL PERREAULT
OTTAWA

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