Editor: Re: Canada enjoys simpler, cleaner government than US (The Times, April 6).
I know how Canada works. I was born in this country and I also have lived in the United States.
We are two different governmental structures, but the fundamental likeness that is taking place in each of our countries is the lack of representation from our elected members.
Big business is controlling the United States and big business has a very large say in this country.
Free trade deals have undermined the industries that were here, which have now gone offshore because of cheaper labour and costs of material. Free trade was established as a benefit for Canadians and it’s supposed to have been reflected in lower costs for Canadians and jobs — don’t see that.
What happened to representation?
Oil prices have skyrocketed at the pumps and oil is $35 to $40 a barrel. Where are the lower costs of fuel at those pumps that reflects this? What happened to representation?
Costs of homes in Canada and in the Lower Mainland have skyrocketed out of control. Rents are unaffordable for low-income earners who have contributed their whole life to this country.
The next generation of Canadians are living on the streets and soon-to-be other Canadians who lose their jobs to free trade and the market place, and inflation of the basics will find a curb to stand on. What happened to representation?
Food Banks are bigger than ever. Food costs are unspeakably high.
Children and families are going without. There is a list that is as long as why people don’t vote.
Why do people give up on voting? There is no representation.
It’s not how the two countries are structured in their governments.
Give us back the country where you’re not indentured to the banks, where your life means more than making payments and jobs are there for our children.
Give us a country that has hope, not debt, and elected representatives that can speak for themselves instead of being whipped into a party line. Every four or five years we can vote in our governments — we who vote.
But, really, who are we voting in if representatives don’t represent the best for Canada in the air we breathe, the land we live on, our children’s and our own future, our jobs, our very lives that depend on very fundamental rights — life, equality, justice and our hope for a better life for all.
What happened to representation?
Cran Campbell,
Langley