Out of touch

I just finished reading a very disturbing article in the Chronicle, Why nurses are joining the call for policing and prison abolition, July 16. Three PhD nursing candidates at Dalhousie University sent a letter calling for nurses across the country to join the movement for police and prison abolition.

My question to them would be: What do you plan to do with the murderers, rapists, drug dealers who suck people in, child abusers and all the other violent criminals?

What planet are those three and anybody who agrees with them living on? To even suggest getting rid of police and jails is insane. Who will they rely on if any of them ever get assaulted, raped, mugged, run over by a drunk driver or have some other criminal act done to them?

We often hear of nurses being abused by unruly patients. I guess for these three, it will never be an issue as they just wont allow it to happen to them. Im sure from their dislike of police involvement and jails, they certainly wouldnt call on police for help.

So far, at least, according to the article, letters sent to several nursing organizations across Nova Scotia and Canada have received no endorsements. Good to know there are still some people living in the real world.

W. N. Thompson, Upper LaHave

With regard to the recent Cats Meow Readers Corner (July 15), I think that is a great idea and encourages tourism within Nova Scotia. It would be good to let the public buy tickets and have some use of it.

Nonetheless, I cant help thinking the Cat has met the better part of its porpoise, or purpose rather, by providing employment to Bay Ferries and cover to the governing party.

One might say the Cat has meowed already!

Dermot Monaghan, Kingston

Premier Stephen McNeils comments last month concerning shutting down the Cat this year were not acceptable.

Nova Scotia taxpayers spent $17.8 million on a ferry service that didn't run in 2019 because work on the ferry terminal was needed in Bar Harbor. Why would we have to pay for a service not delivered and, on top of that, help pay for a terminal upgrade in Bar Harbor? In June, when asked by the Herald the cost to taxpayers in 2020, Premier McNeil said I dont know the exact number. This is a public health decision, not a financial decision. This is a financial disaster.

$34 million spent over two years for nothing. If we are bound to pay, we should get some service in return. We now have an Atlantic bubble. Why not use the Cat to ferry to P.E.I., Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia? It would be fast and increase tourism. Why pay to have the Cat docked in Charleston, S.C. for two years doing nothing? Lets put it to work.

The last question for the premier is why are we in a contract with an American company with an American crew and an American-registered ship, with all of the advantages in their favour?

Grant Bergman, Halifax

We could all learn a lesson from a child.

One day (before quarantine) my seven-year-old granddaughter and I were driving in the car. The radio was reporting on a news item concerning the Home for Colored Children. She asked, Did they just say colored children? Yes, I replied. What are colored children? she asked. Uh thats what some people called children whose skin was darker than, say, yours or mine. She thinks for a sec and says, Well, why didnt they just call them children? Or by their names?

Bravo Bernadette! If only more of us could think like you!

Sally Walsh, Timberlea

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VOICE OF THE PEOPLE JULY 17, 2020 - TheChronicleHerald.ca