The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Letters to the Editor Letters to the editor have been and still are a part of virtually all newspapers, especially the daily papers. They give readers an opportunity to respond to editorials, news stories and issues of concern. They are even sometimes used by politicians of all stripes, especially when they are the subject of a news story or column, or when their ideas or policies have been criticized. It is unusual for politicians to use such letters to simply attack their opponents, as they can simply use a press release, issue a written statement or, better yet, get themselves interviewed by the media. Some would even say that these people using letters to the editor are sneakily trying to pass themselves off as ordinary citizens. One such politician is Saskatchewan's lone Liberal MP, Ralph Goodale. Remember him? He was the Minister of Finance whose musings and leaks on income trusts during the last campaign caused another Liberal scandal on top of the Quebec issues and drove the final spike in the Martin government's coffin. From then until the end of the campaign, the Liberals were in freefall. It is clear that Stephane Dion is using Goodale as his "attack dog" in the West, but the former provincial Liberal leader, unsuccessful in that position, will prove no more successful in his new role. Although he handily won his own seat, he had no influence on any of the surrounding ridings, all of which went Tory. Goodale's late August "letter to the editor," duly published in The Reminder and probably sent to all newspapers in Saskatchewan, is simply an "attack ad" on the Harper government, without paying anything for the ad. Some of his accusations are simply incredible and certainly deserve a response, biased or not. His concern that Harper is an angry PM with tight control is certainly biased, but compare it with the "loose lips that sink ships" administration of Paul Martin and Jean Chretien before him. They could not control the cabinet or party and certainly didn't stop the theft of government funds in the Quebec scandals. Goodale's claim that the $25 billion in new spending is trying to buy votes conveniently does not mention that when he was finance minister, Martin's gang promised everything to everyone, following in the time honoured tradition of Chretien, who promised and did not deliver. Often the promises seemed to be just thought up by Martin without even letting the Cabinet members know or discuss the costs. Ralph follows by complaining about Harper appointing Conservatives to boards and committees. How many non-Liberals did Chretien and Martin appoint, including to the Senate? Were there any? He also writes about other issues, including Afghanistan, asking why Harper won't tell NATO that Canada will pull out in 2009 even though he knows the answer. After all, didn't Mr. Goodale approve of his boss Chretien's sending Canadian troops there in the first place? Now he is simply following the slippery position of his new boss, Dion, who was also part of the Chretien decision. Surprisingly, Goodale brings up the income trust issue. Remember when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty put an end to a lot of corporations' plans to become trusts to avoid paying their share of taxes? Virtually all financial experts said Flaherty had no choice and did the right thing. As a former finance minister, Goodale should know better! On the same page as Ralph's missile was a letter to the editor that made good sense. Written by a well-known local resident, it deals with the problem caused by the local airlines canceling flights. His suggestion that if an airline cancels a flight the other one should honour the tickets, makes good sense and would show a commitment to our community. This is very common in other places - why not here? Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
