Calgary Sun Letters, July 20: ‘Stampede needs to fix some things’

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Ruined the show

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We attended the Stampede this past Saturday. As we have done for a number of years, we had seats in the Clubhouse. In previous years we have had absolutely no complaints. This year was a bit disappointing on two fronts. The first was with regard to our seats for the evening performance. Unfortunately for us, I guess, the glass in front of our seats was filthy thus impeding our view. We noticed there was a drain right in front of the window. It was obvious dirty water had blown against the window, thus causing the issue. Next year, we will not be booking those seats. The second issue was with regard to the evening chuckwagons and show. During the afternoon and the chuckwagon races, sound in the clubhouse was great. No problems hearing what was going on. Then came the evening grandstand show. It was virtually impossible to hear both the announcer and the singers, due to the fact some ‘manager’ in the Clubhouse decided to turn the sound down. Between the reduced sound level and the folks in the section next to us talking, we were unable to enjoy the show. I expressed my concern to our server who said she would bring it up to her manager. Nothing changed. We pay very good money for our Clubhouse seats to have the whole experience ruined by a ‘manager’ who did not give a damn. I do hope he or she is proud. As an added note, this has never been our experience in previous years.

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JOHN WADDELL, Langdon

(Hopefully this is something that gets sorted out before next year’s show)

All carnies welcome

Nice to see the Prime Minister making an appearance at the Stampede grounds. Should go well with the rest of the carnies!

STUART WEEKS

(We see what you did there)

Absolutely not!

(Re: ‘Let Canadians vote,’ Letters, July 12) The faith and the future of Alberta will be decided by Albertans for Albertans. If you do live in another province and had enough of this Liberal federal government betrayal, and you share our quest to be free of tyranny, come to Alberta, we will receive you with open arms, as we will welcome your support.

CASPAR PFENNINGER

(Alberta already appears to be high on the list for in-migration)

Danger of AI

Although AI ( Artificial Intelligence ) is helpful, there is a looming dark side. Remember, a long time ago, people used an abacus to calculate things. Later, paper and pens and even the slide rule were used for difficult calculations. Then, pocket and hand-held calculators were all the rage. Now, AI is at everyone’s fingertips for pretty much any and all types of information. AI just might be the downfall of mankind! AI may lower the critical thinking skills and imagination that humans possess.

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ROBERT MOSKAL, Winnipeg

(Loss of critical-thinking skills is certainly a concern)

Disarming PM

Mark Carney, ever the snake-oil salesman, takes his gift from Turkey, and amid Liberal fanfare has it decommissioned by the RCMP. It will now rest in some museum for eternity. Wow, Carney outdoes himself when he presents the president of Turkey with a 50-year supply of maple slop. Of course, the reason the pistol is to be decommissioned, is to do with the Liberal fantasy dis-arming Canadians. However, in the meantime, the Liberals are sending sniper rifles and other military gear to Ukraine to kill Russians. Maybe the RCMP has decommissioned the rifles so that no one is hurt.

J.D. ROUND, Brooks

(That would be an unfortunate surprise for the Ukrainians)

Zip it

(Re: ‘Schools Now program fast-tracks 16 Calgary projects,’ Sun, July 9) It was a pleasant surprise to read an almost full-page story on the latest news from our Minister of Education, without the final paragraph or two devoted to Mr. Nenshi (or his Critic of Everything Minister) finding fault! Especially considering there was mention of Separate, Francophone AND Charter Schools!

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DAN DRINKALL

(In Nenshi’s defence, the job of the Official Opposition is to hold the government to account)

Head counting

I think we need to be glad the population is shrinking. The Trudeau Liberals, determined to have millions of new voters, threw open our door when we did not have homes, jobs, or the money to support them. I don’t blame the immigrants — we are a nation of immigrants — but we behaved like a frat house, seeing how many people we could stuff into a phone booth. The overpopulation, crowding, massive dependents dragged the nation down and diluted all that is true about Canada. With a smaller population we can perhaps re-Canadianize our country back to the established values that made us the envy of the world and made everyone want to move here.

TIM DEVLIN

(This is Justin Trudeau’s world)

Too confrontational

(Re: ‘Bell – Mayor Farkas warns Danielle Smith — don’t try to push Calgary around,’ Sun, July 10) I am very troubled reading the Rick Bell article regarding Mayor Farkas warning Danielle Smith about neglecting Calgary. This comes the day after the government announced 16 new school projects for the city. Faced with massive demands from Rural Municipalities for infrastructure dollars, it must be extremely frustrating for Smith’s government to deal with perpetual demands from Farkas for a greater share of provincial tax dollars. While some may say it’s good Farkas demands more for the city, he must understand the government has to support the entire province. We have many great things happening in Calgary but I’m disappointed Farkas constantly dwells on the negative. At a time when Albertans hope for unity, the mayor injects confrontation. BTW, I support having additional education spending on our property taxes. This way we are more informed. We can assess what demanding more for education will cost. It’s not hidden in general revenues.

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ELAINE BURNS

(Farkas has proved himself a willing combatant early on in his term)

Carney the poor economist

Mark Carney stated in Parliament that affordability in Canada is the best it’s been in 10 years — that is complete nonsense. Paycheques don’t stretch nearly as far as they did 10 years ago. Carney is fudging numbers to give an illusion of a more optimistic assessment, kind of like the “operational budget” and “capital budget” — they are both still federal government spending from the federal budget. Misleading and typical tactics of the Liberals. Our national debt is more than $1.47 trillion, yet Carney continues spending billions of our tax dollars as if we have a surplus. He’s creating a generational debt and worse, we’re now in a recession he caused — some economist he turned out to be. Why is Carney spinning our past relationship with the U.S.A. has become fractured and they’ve become our “weakness.” Seems more like Carney is just a poor economist as well as a poor negotiator.

BETH WILKINSON, Porters Lake, N.S.

(We were all supposed to trust in Carney because he is supposedly a financial wizard. How is that working out for most Canadians?)

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