Letters to the Editor, Feb. 11
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MORAL CONSISTENCY
Re: “Letters to the Editor, Feb. 10”, The primary scope of any penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When this punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of people, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible, any punishment should contribute to the correction of the offender. If bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect people’s safety, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of humans. The fifth commandment states, “Thou shall not kill.” Because the state has so many options when it comes to effectively preventing crimes, the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not nonexistent. There ultimately remains no moral justification for imposing a sentence of death. Violence begets violence, both in our hearts and in our actions. By continuing the tradition of responding to killing with state-sanctioned killing, we rob ourselves of moral consistency and perpetuate that which we seek to sanction.
Paul Kokoski
Hamilton
(Compelling argument, but polls suggest many disagree)
BUSINESS IN CHINA
Re: “Beijing Bonanza,” Feb. 10: Kudos to Prime Minister Harper for his visit to China and the lucrative 23 business deals. I hope a lot of Americans take notice of this, as well as Canadians, that the US is not the only game in town. I am not anti-american (half my family lives in Texas and grew up in the USA) but I am getting sick and tired of being ignored when we complain about issues that are important to us like Gateway - patted on the head like a naive but tolerated little brother. If the US will not accept us as an equal partner we will look elsewhere. We manage our economy better than they do and a lot of nations would like to be our friends. The US, unfortunately, is losing more friends than it is gaining.
Clifford Valley
Nepean
(Canada is ready to do business!)
CHOOSE CHANGE
Thus far Premier McGuinty has refused to change courses regarding his pet green projects, which has seen billions poured into windmills and solar panels, driving electricity costs through the roof. Just this past week he was trying to pass the blame to the federal government for Caterpillar leaving the province, when in fact it was the result of his failed policies that have made doing business in Ontario too expensive. McGuinty turned a deaf ear to a recent Ontario Auditor General’s report, pointing out the fiscal folly of many of his wasteful ventures, especially costly green energy. The soon to released Drummond report will likely take another whack at McGuinty’s fiscal mismanagement, including his four year old kindergarten/daycare experiment. Neither we nor our children and grandchildren can afford another four years of McGuinty, pushing his left-wing ideology and driving the province deeper in debt. It is time for the NDP and Conservates to pull the plug on his government.
Larry Comeau
Ottawa
(Sad part is we just voted him back in)
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