Your letters for May 8

Maintenance worker Andre Dube uses a vacuum to clean and prepare the House of Commons at Parliament Hill Ottawa Wed Sept 14, 2012.(ANDRE FORGET/QMI AGENCY; National Post Photo Illustration)

Share Adjust Comment Print

Voters responsibility to flush out the fakes

In anticipation of the next round of electioneering, I wish to share some insights I garnered from the latest issue of The Rotarian that sets out ways to filter all manner of impression and obfuscation.

1) When you hear people needlessly complicating what they are saying, it’s safe to assume they’re trying to say something else.

2) When you hear people repeating in similar ways what they have already said, you can presume they don’t know what they mean.

3) When people retreat into buzzwords, stop listening because whatever they’re saying is nonsense.

4) If the person you are listening to declares they are being transparent, you are safe to conclude there is nothing there.

It is time for electors to take responsibility for the people they send to represent them in governments at all levels and we can do that by taking the time to properly vet our choices.

Stefan Bildfell, Calgary


Government in a hurry to ignore proper flood assessment

Re: UCP government hires lawyer to explore expedited construction of Springbank dam, May 4

I am appalled that the government is trying to move ahead without waiting for the decision from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, which is a significant legal first step before any further action should be taken. What if the agency decides that there are so many environmental and social problems with the temporary reservoir in Springbank that it does not get approved?

I also notice that Hon. Ric McIver does not mention anything about considering communities that need upstream protection from flooding, the same as those who live downstream. We are thousands upstream in Redwood Meadows, Bragg Creek and area, who also need protection. And the protection needed is no longer just from flooding, it is a triple threat that includes fire and drought.

South Calgarians could face a water shortage due to the decreasing water flow in the Elbow River within about 16 years. Albertans need a long-term solution that meets all three needs, which is a proper dam to provide water storage such as in McLean Creek.

Karen Massey, Redwood Meadows


The other side of the river

Why are lawyers being hired to “assess opportunities to expedite construction” of a dam on the doorstep of Calgary instead of engineers and experts in dam construction? Especially when the safety of the dam has been questioned by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

Building a dam too small to protect from a flood 30 per cent smaller than floods previously recorded is ridiculous. The excuse that some protection is better than nothing is equally ridiculous. McLean Creek would have less capacity than Springbank Dry Dam, so it is hard to understand why Bragg Creek and Redwood Meadows, as well as Tsuu T’ina Nation, would want the McLean Creek Dam built just upstream from them.

The CEAA directed that the Tri River Joint Reservoir of Alberta proposal be studied, so why are taxpayer funds not being used to hire engineers, hydrologists and environmentalists to study it? The CEAA evaluation described safety concerns regarding design capacity. Quebec build dams for millennial floods. Why does Alberta design dams based on “cheap and fast”?

And TRJR, once approved, would provide protection to all the Elbow River communities much quicker than SR1.

David Read, Calgary

This Week's Flyers

