Archived Letter – 606

Dearest Editor

Before you print a two page spread thanking hydro companies everywhere for their effort this past ice storm, I would like to remind your precious readers that these good people are just doing their jobs.
Is it unfortunate that it happened over the Christmas holidays? Yes. Did they have to bust their tails day and night to restore power? Probably. Do we appreciate the valiant efforts? As a whole, of course!
I’m saddened to be the first to admit that I did not jump up and down with joy when our power was restored on Christmas day. I selfishly thought, it’s about time! Now I also have to admit that I’m a bit of a scrooge when it comes to Hydro One.
Every time I open my hydro bill I cringe and can’t help but feel like I’m being taken advantage of. A service we all rely on these days with with no real understanding on how we’re getting billed or what that money actually pays for. But then you say that’s my own ignorance at fault. Not really. I think we all know when we’re getting hosed. The delivery rate (whatever that is) keeps going up, not to mention the actually cost of hydro steadily increases.
When discussing cost of living with peers, I always come back to this feeling of being bombarded on all fronts. Am I the only one? Have our leaders totally forgotten what it’s like to live a modest lifestyle?
Certainly I don’t claim to understand our government fully, but I think the founding fathers of this nation would be disappointed with the way things are done today. They tried to set up a system that would help the people – everyone. The government of today seem to be trying their hardest to make it look like they are helping whilst digging their hands deeper and deeper in our wallets. For what?
Ted Arnott gracefully asks the question concerning the gas tax increase: How much more does Kathleen Wynne think that Ontarians can afford to pay? I hope the answer is not much more. Not from me anyway.
What I do understand from all this is that there are many people in this country lining their own pockets at the expense of many others. This greed and malice needs to end.
We need to remove politics from government because it confuses too many pressing issues and allows parasites to leech off of others. I’m not saying off with ye head to parliament just yet. More like off with ye overhead. Keeping things simple might actually disrupt the actions of those who misuse the system.
Every Canadian citizen needs to work hard together just as the folks from the hydro companies pulled together in time of need. But, of course, we shouldn’t wait for the next catastrophe to prove ourselves.

Doug Vanderveen

Doug Vanderveen