Just received this today. If you have a comment or want to have your say on the arena email us at info@cornwallfreenews.com or canvid@hotmail.com – Feel free to comment on this letter as well from this page.
Mr. Marshall btw said that none of the other papers would print his letter.
The Cornwall Free News has a policy of printing letters we may not agree with as long as they are within the bounds of decency and don’t get us sued. If we don’t like your point we’ll comment on it too.
Here is Mr. Marshall’s letter:
Dear Editor,
After a push from the community, a hesitant Cornwall City Council will give $200,000 to the Agape Centre – an organization a little more representative of the people of Cornwall; never hesitant to help the hungry, the cold, or those without the basic necessities of life.
Why the hesitation by a City Council about to put us in debt for $25 million – to developers and speculators – under the guise of “need” for hockey arenas?
If school teaches our children about the “hierarchy of needs”, and everyday experience teaches us “first things first”… why then in this city, would a child shiver for want of winter clothing, a senior languish in a hospital corridor for lack of a bed, or our toilets virtually flush into our neighbours’ drinking source? Surely education and experience have taught us what “need” is. Has even common sense failed those we delegate to act for us?
Our city government needs to focus honestly on its purpose. Words like “need”, “investment” and “infrastructure” have been misappropriated by a few seeking a pile of arenas. And even in the matter of the proposed lands for these arenas… does City Council not suspect a conflict of interest when it, as the buyer and rezoning authority, acts on the advice of the seller’s agent?
The people of Cornwall might be excused for trusting our elected officials, but those officials will find that incompetence and ignorance are no defense if they have violated the public trust.
Jim Marshall
Letters are not the opinion of the owners or staff of this newspaper. They are the sole opinion of the letter writer.
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