Your letters for May 17

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Longtime Banff book club celebrates 60 years

Re: Book Clubs with Clout, May 13

In Alberta, a ‘Book Club with Clout’ would be The Banff Book Discussion Weekend. Its genesis was Brian Thompson’s 1953 book discussion group at the Calgary Public Library, spun off to the U of C in 1961 and led by Mac Coleman and Mac Moir. They wisely decided a weekend of discussion within the beauty of the mountains would be ideal. Thus started the longest-running program at the Banff Centre, now in its 60th year.

Four books are read and discussed on the last weekend in May with one of the book authors attending and giving a public lecture and private session with registrants. Though not meeting in Banff in 2021, the celebration is ongoing with the four discussions happening weekly until the end of May.

Here’s to book clubs everywhere and congratulations to the Banff Book Discussion Weekend on its 60th birthday, and may they be back at the Banff Centre in 2022. To read the  whole history go to www.banffbookdiscussionweekend.ca

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Jen Peddlesden, Chestermere

Problem doesn’t lie with just two MLAs

Re: UCP expels the latest dissidents, but the fight may not be over, Opinion, May 14

I have bad news for the UCP members attempting to oust Premier Kenney. It’s not just him. It’s you. Thanks to your legislation, social media and some columnists, we have a documented picture of who you really are. It’s not a pretty sight.

Belligerent, aggressive and hostile social media postings relentlessly implement Goebbels’ repulsive big lie theory. You present a face riddled with ignorance, intolerance, narcism, ideological and religious zealotry, entitlement and outright incompetence. Not to mention a naked lust for power at all costs.

Voodoo economics, elitist education pricing suppressing upward mobility, expensive elitist health-care privatization, pension fund and pandemic mismanagement, serious communication failures worsening the pandemic, corrupt and wasteful expenses like the war room and a provincial police force, punitive and vindictive treatment of the elderly and the less fortunate, and a divisive, exclusionary, un-Canadian and incompetent school curriculum proposal demonstrates extremism.

To save our children’s futures, our family finances and our very lives, we have to get rid of you as soon as possible.

Claude Stevenson, Calgary

Pandering to the right-wing was wrong move for Kenney

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Eastern provinces wake up to reality of pipeline loss

Re: Re: Line 5 shutdown a wake-up call; Central Canadians would learn energy self-sufficiency impossible without pipeline, Opinion, May 11

Isn’t it interesting, how all of a sudden residents of Ontario and Quebec could be facing a serious and predictable fuel shortage with a proposed shutdown of the Enbridge pipeline into Sarnia?

The blame truly resides with the politicians,  eco-activists and NIMBY types whose policies and activities torpedoed the proposed Energy East pipeline several years ago? This was a safer, more environmentally friendly project that would have brought energy security, jobs, and development opportunities to Eastern Canada. Now, Canadians are faced with excessive rail and truck transport volumes, higher safety risk, supply disruptions, higher costs and a greater environmental footprint.

Robert Dixon, Calgary

Funny way to treat your customers

I’m an Ontario citizen who always thought Energy East should have been built to support Alberta’s economy instead of Saudi Arabia’s. I’d like to remind folks that we have a pipeline that goes north of Lake Superior to bring natural gas from Alberta to Ontario, plus we have Line 5 and associated lines bringing Alberta oil and gas to Ontario. These pipelines have been in operation for decades.

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Despite this, columnist Licia Corbella feels that Ontarians deserve a “collective slap to the[ir] lives and livelihoods” because Michigan Governor Whitmer wants to shut down Line 5.

A strange way to treat Ontario customers of Alberta’s oil and gas products. I guess that comes of making ourselves dependent on them?

Alison Dennis, Kingston, Ont.

There’ll be no Stampede to the fairgrounds

In-home health care needs to be applauded

Thank you to all home care nurses in the Calgary area. Your service is excellent!

While coronavirus front liners are applauded frequently, and rightly so, we must not overlook loyal mainstay nurses who assist patients in their own homes.

Following recent minor surgery, which made it impossible for me to carry out many daily self-care tasks, I received over 40 visits from about 10 nurses, both RNs and LPNs. All were professional, courteous, caring and respected the idiosyncrasies of a senior! As important, all shared laughter and boosted morale for my husband and myself.

My thanks also to mobile laboratory technicians for their service which is efficient and invaluable as they, too, lessen stress on patients by visiting in their homes.

K. Ann Hambridge, Calgary

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Anger should be directed to flag flyers

It is more than a little ironic that Street Church Pastor Artur Pawlowski falsely and maliciously calls Calgary police officers and health officials “Nazis” and “Gestapo”, among other epithets, while some Alberta landowners near the villages of Breton and Boyle brazenly fly Hitler Youth flags on their properties. Pastor Pawlowski and his ilk would be well advised to aim their righteous indignation at the real Nazis who fester in our province, rather than the honourable women and men who serve and protect us.

Adam Singer, Calgary

Province needs to step up on election act

Re: ‘We cannot open the door to violence,’ Gondek says voter lists should not be shared with candidate charged with assault, May 11

Will the Government of Alberta amend the Local Authorities Elections Act to prevent the distribution of the electors’ list to candidates convicted of a crime of violence?

Juliet Guichon, Calgary

All humans capable of being ‘desperately wicked’