Editor:
In Premier Ghiz's recent state of the province address he claimed education is the key to a bright future. He really must believe we need educating if he thinks we need to be told we do not have minerals, gas, oil, potash or natural gas.
He is, however, very correct in his next statement: "What we do have is our people." That part is definitely accurate, as an Island resource, the people are it. We provide the provincial treasure chest with our ever-increasing tax dollars. The premier goes on to say Islanders are fiercely loyal to the province. I wonder if he is including the Islanders he evicted from their homes to make way for Plan B or the Islanders arrested by the RCMP for walking in the natural beauty of areas he plans to destroy for an unwanted highway.
Sorry, Premier, your state of the province address reads more like a fairytale than a statement of the facts.
Strange how he failed to mention the ballooning deficit, doctor shortage, unemployment, closing ERs, closing dialysis clinics, health care, dwindling tourism and fisheries, rising costs, rising taxes.
Of course, I understand why he wouldn't want to mention these items. Better to keep the masses in the dark, eh?
He vaguely touched on the HST by trotting out the same old themes that have been rammed down our throats by Wes Sheridan. The premier and his government have continually attempted to turn the infamous HST into some kind of magic silver bullet that will wipe away all our woes. The premier says much of the future Island growth will come from the HST, that it will help modernize our economy, making us more attractive to private enterprise.
What really confuses me is this: if the HST is so wonderful a solution why did he not make it the centrepiece of his last election platform? Surely with something that good, he would have won by a landslide. Still, at the end of the day, I guess we should be excited that he is promising to treat all us fiercely proud Islanders to a big party bash in 2014. Oh! Did he forget to mention? It will be at taxpayers' expense.
F. Ben Rodgers,
Ebenezer
