Read Letter - Cutting Public Services
By Valerie Bailey
Written Jan. 27, 2010
A letter written to Mr. Verlyn Olson, Wetaskiwin-Camrose
I am strongly against the plan to cut public services - especially in the areas of education, health care, and services to seniors and the disabled. The health of these areas of a society are the mark of a healthy, happy and productive people. There is no room in these areas for cutting in the first place, on the contrary. We need to invest more money into them. The cuts Ralph Klein's government made in the 1990's did a lot of damage to health care and education. I don't believe we have really completely recovered from that. We've been lucky in our area that we had strong fine arts programs in our schools already at that point and the people weren't willing to give that up so administrations did everything they could to manage. But what about the areas that had just started their programs, or others that were hoping to put music programs in place and then were never able to. Music should be a core subject in the first place as it's a very academic pursuit and has been shown to improve intelligence in a number of areas. Cuts will definitely jeopardize these and other fine arts programs in schools where they currently exist and will make it impossible for other schools to open new fine arts programs. Can you imagine your children never having had a chance to take music in school? Their education certainly would be the poorer for it. I've recently been through cancer surgery (last summer). I was diagnosed in the second week of June and was able to have surgery July 20th at the Royal Alex Hospital in Edmonton. Cuts to health care are going to jeopardize the speed and possibly the quality of care people such as me enjoy now. The health care system, even in its present state, is far from ideal. The wait people experience for needed surgery and diagnostic procedures is longer than it should be. Cuts will cause these waits to increase even more and it may be too late for people like me. I find it very frustrating that a government that is used to having such incredible resources at its disposal (particularly during the recent "boom" years) has mismanaged things to the degree that it now finds itself in a deficit situation. A successful household will manage their funds wisely and will hold back some funds and save during the good years to tide them over during the lean years. That's what good government should do as well. I understand that the government wasn't totally out to lunch and did put some away for a "rainy day". Well perhaps this is when some of it should be used. We're certainly in a much better position than many provinces are and there's almost no comparison to poor Haiti, or even the USA in their current economic predicament. Let's take things in perspective here. The plan to cut is terribly short-sighted and indicates a lack of imagination and initiative at the top levels of government. Keeping our public services strong is what will strengthen our economy now and in the future. I would like you to take this point of view forward on behalf of your constituency. I know you're a good man and can identify with much of what I've said. Please don't let us down when we need you most!
Written Jan. 27, 2010
I am strongly against the plan to cut public services - especially in the areas of education, health care, and services to seniors and the disabled. The health of these areas of a society are the mark of a healthy, happy and productive people. There is no room in these areas for cutting in the first place, on the contrary. We need to invest more money into them. The cuts Ralph Klein's government made in the 1990's did a lot of damage to health care and education. I don't believe we have really completely recovered from that. We've been lucky in our area that we had strong fine arts programs in our schools already at that point and the people weren't willing to give that up so administrations did everything they could to manage. But what about the areas that had just started their programs, or others that were hoping to put music programs in place and then were never able to. Music should be a core subject in the first place as it's a very academic pursuit and has been shown to improve intelligence in a number of areas. Cuts will definitely jeopardize these and other fine arts programs in schools where they currently exist and will make it impossible for other schools to open new fine arts programs. Can you imagine your children never having had a chance to take music in school? Their education certainly would be the poorer for it. I've recently been through cancer surgery (last summer). I was diagnosed in the second week of June and was able to have surgery July 20th at the Royal Alex Hospital in Edmonton. Cuts to health care are going to jeopardize the speed and possibly the quality of care people such as me enjoy now. The health care system, even in its present state, is far from ideal. The wait people experience for needed surgery and diagnostic procedures is longer than it should be. Cuts will cause these waits to increase even more and it may be too late for people like me. I find it very frustrating that a government that is used to having such incredible resources at its disposal (particularly during the recent "boom" years) has mismanaged things to the degree that it now finds itself in a deficit situation. A successful household will manage their funds wisely and will hold back some funds and save during the good years to tide them over during the lean years. That's what good government should do as well. I understand that the government wasn't totally out to lunch and did put some away for a "rainy day". Well perhaps this is when some of it should be used. We're certainly in a much better position than many provinces are and there's almost no comparison to poor Haiti, or even the USA in their current economic predicament. Let's take things in perspective here. The plan to cut is terribly short-sighted and indicates a lack of imagination and initiative at the top levels of government. Keeping our public services strong is what will strengthen our economy now and in the future. I would like you to take this point of view forward on behalf of your constituency. I know you're a good man and can identify with much of what I've said. Please don't let us down when we need you most!
Recent Letters
- Jun. 22, 2010 | 2011 Baby Boomers Become Seniors
- Jun. 10, 2010 | Looking out for loved ones
- Jun. 08, 2010 | Education Cuts
- May. 25, 2010 | Funding Public Services
- Apr. 22, 2010 | Concerned for the future........
