April 28: MPP is breaking the rules, roller skates should’ve stayed and other letters to the editor

It figures that MPP Sarah Jama would be the one breaking rules and wearing a kaffiyeh in legislature.

They are a political symbol now; she even admitted that, and therefore according to the rules are not allowed. Canadians can stand in solidarity with Palestine without wearing this symbol in our legislature. This is in no way telling or threatening anyone to keep quiet about what is going on.

Diana MacKenzie, Hamilton

Skates should’ve stayed in city

Re: Longtime roller skate rental program ends at Hamilton waterfront (April 20)

“The leftover roller skates were donated to Scooters Roller Palace in Mississauga.” My question is why were the skates donated there? Why not donate them to local roller skaters who used the Pier 8 skate pad program? After all, they were paid for by Hamilton taxpayers.

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• Dec 31, 1969

• Dec 31, 1969

Another option would be to ask for volunteers to help refurbish the skates. Other than the boot being in bad shape, bearings and wheels could be replaced relatively cheaply. Something is wrong in the city of Hamilton. This decision stinks.

Bill Lukawecky, Hamilton

Keep the funding in Hamilton

Re: How things would’ve been different if we’d simply held an LRT referendum (April 24)

Scott Radley’s column about referendums is missing a few key pieces of information. First of all, you need to have more than 50 per cent voter turnout for a referendum to be legally binding, which we don’t typically get in Hamilton. Turnout was 35.38 per cent in 2022.

Second, even if we did get that turnout, council can choose to ignore the results with no recourse, as they did with the Copps Coliseum referendum back in the late ’70s. Voters voted “no” and council chose to build it anyway.

Third, it costs millions that is not in the budget to hold a referendum vote. Millions the city doesn’t have. And before you say “just add it to the next municipal election” — that’s more than two years away, and there have effectively been five elections since the LRT project began (2006) where a pro-LRT mayor has won and LRT has been an major election ballot question in each of those elections.

Further, I would much rather have provincial and federal dollars go toward fixing the badly needed infrastructure repairs along the rail line than having it pushed off further into our infrastructure deficit. Why are we even toying with allowing that money to not go to Hamilton? It can’t be reallocated — that was answered a long time ago; it’s for just this LRT project. The majority of that money will fix the sewers, water lines, utilities, sidewalks and roads on King street. No way should we allow it to slip through our fingers and go to Toronto or Mississauga.

Laura Farr, Hamilton

Don’t compare Canada to Greece

Re: Heed Greek history lesson (April 25)

Comparing Canada’s to Greece’s economic woes always adds drama, but it is just that — a fiction, for many reasons. First, Canada has an independent economic policy, whereas Greece is dependent on EU (read, Germany). Second, when Greece’s problems started, its debt to GDP ratio was over 120. Canada’s is currently at somewhere around 65 per cent (this does not include any provincial debt). Note that after all the belt tightening in Greece (and the accompanied misery), the same ratio was shot up to about 185 per cent, when Greece was done with the memoranda. It is still standing because of some favourable repayment terms that expire in 2032, in which time we may relive the same Greek tragedy. Thirdly, Canada’s economic potential is much higher than Greece’s.

I do not mean to downgrade the seriousness of the debt, but the sky is still not falling.

Nicholas Christoforou, Ancaster

Plan is just plain ludicrous

Re: Mayor’s veto advances affordable housing plan in Stoney Creek (April 25)

So our mayor is flexing her muscles. Putting housing in a Stoney Creek parking lot, where there are no grocery stores or any other amenities, is just plain ludicrous. The area will be looking like the hilltop at Centennial and North Service Road, where when the garbage from the encampments gets too much, they move and leave the mess, letting the city or province clean it up. Mayor Horwath, we in Stoney Creek don’t want your input, or the overflow of Hamilton city council’s bad decisions.

Bruce Bochek, Hamilton

What happened to zero tolerance?

The other day on a local online parents page, a mom was desperate for help with her child being bullied at school. The child is in senior kindergarten and the other child is junior kindergarten.

I was shocked with the comments from parents whose kids were also bullied at school. The conclusion was that the school doesn’t do much unless you go to the school superintendent, who will involve the principal.

What happened to zero tolerance in schools for bullying?

I often think of Devan Selvey, who wasn’t protected and died on school property, literally bullied to death.

When will the school system be a safe place for both students and children to learn? How did we get so far off track?

Robin Magder, Dundas