There are gaggles of geese in the Williams Lake cemetery. Did the Scout Island bunch relocate -- or are these visitors having a rest as they pass by?
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Human beings make mistakes.
We happily puffed away on cigars and cigarettes for hundreds of years before it was discovered smoking tobacco could be deadly. Prime Minister Harper must have expected the now disgraced Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau to be stars or he wouldn’t have appointed them to the senate.
The B.C. government went too far in legislating new laws to curb drunk driving and ran afoul of the constitution. In most cases, a lack of information is the cause of mistakes. The excuse — it seemed like a good idea at the time. You’d think with today’s technology we’d have all the information we need to make good decisions but no, we’re bombarded with so much information it’s hard to separate fact from fancy or propaganda. We tend to believe what gives us the most comfort. People in Power (PIPs) have their own agendas. They can be long gone before their mistakes become obvious and they are rarely held accountable anyway. The worst that happens to elected people is they may be voted out, the non-elected usually keep their jobs and get a bonus to boot.
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A report from Ceasefire.ca says the Harper government has plans to spend $2 billion on a contract to purchase more than 100 tanks even though military officials have other priorities.
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Budget discussion time at city hall and the perennial question is, does the public prefer lower taxes and fewer services, or higher taxes and better services? I’d say taxpayers are just as concerned about how their tax dollars are spent as they are about how much they pay. Remember the recent row over the $40,000 spent on the branding project?
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian, and book author.