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Always amazed by NDP

So let me see if I have this figured out.

1) Left-wing governments get apoplectic when someone mentions the mere possibility of a two-tier health system.

2) The NDP seems more than willing to set up a two-tier system that allows First Nations to circumvent the smoking ban while the rest of the province is forced to abide or face the consequences.

Hmmm. So I guess that means if I need help saving my life I have to suffer just as much as anyone else and cannot spend my own money to help myself get better.

However, if I want to destroy my health I have a choice of going to dozens of First Nations where I can smoke and do my part to add a further burden to the health-care system.

I have to hand it to the NDP. You truly never stop amazing me.

Jay Bruneau

Winnipeg

(Follow the favour trail. 1) Favour to public-sector unions. 2) Favour to First Nation leaders. Nothing amazing, Jay.)

Never heard such whining

Re: Toppled tree terror (David Schmeichel, Oct. 5). Come now, a single tree blown down in a St. James yard that "missed all six windows ... and caused very little damage" inspires terror? At first I thought it was a joke -- after all, it is The Sun. Not that I wish in any way to disparage the victim, but can you people possibly get any whinier?

This born and raised Winnipegger, now a resident of Florida, sees nothing extraordinary in a shrubbery mishap as a result of a minor breeze. The past six weeks I have been the target of four major hurricanes and a tropical storm, two of which bore the names of my siblings! All around me I have witnessed scenes of destruction and flooding, with hundreds of people injured and scores killed. Not to mention those folks in Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and Grenada whose losses make ours pale.

Let me tell you something: if that tree blew down in my yard, I'd have whipped out my chainsaw and have it cut into small pieces and stacked neatly on the curb before the wind died down. No bitching, no whining.

Because, unlike my friends to the north, I know the next storm is coming. Soon.

Bruce W. Neufeld

MCpl CDN Forces (retd.)

Bradenton, Fla.

(You're all man, Bruce.)

Remember the Liberal ads?

Does anyone remember the ads put out by the Liberals during the last federal election about how Stephen Harper and the Conservatives planned on spending billions for new aircraft carriers for the navy, and billions more for our troops and airmen to buy equipment needed to keep them safe?

Forget for a moment that the Liberals were lying through their teeth about what Harper really said, and instead focus on the message. Harper was demanding that the Canadian people support the men and women who we put in harm's way, and he admitted that this costs money.

Shortly after listening to the throne speech, I saw on TV that 57 of our sailors are now foundering in rough seas without power, without heat, and without much hope of getting home without a tow from British warships. Maybe now the Canadian people will pay more attention to what Harper was saying about the state of our Forces under the current Liberal government.

James Lane

Halifax, N.S.

(Wouldn't hold our breath waiting.)

BRT died for a reason, Ross

Ross Romaniuk can blather on about BRT all he wants (Nothing 'rapid' about this city, Oct. 5). What he fails to grasp is that supporters of BRT failed to persuade the majority of Winnipeggers on the need for it. When literally hundreds of millions of dollars are left out or glossed over and no independently verified studies are tabled it is no wonder support melted away.

Gord Higham

Winnipeg

(You tell him. He won't listen to us.)