Letters: Saskatoon Deserves Better Coverage of Gaza Crisis

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We have always believed that the StarPhoenix letters section is intended to encourage citizens of Saskatoon and the surrounding area to voice their opinions on current, important issues.

We assumed that letters from outside the region would come from people with special knowledge of a subject. Instead, the author of the letter “Israel is showing restraint in Gaza” (July 20) lives in Ottawa and shows a clear lack of awareness of his subject.

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He seems unaware that the Zionist project began more than a century ago with the expulsion of Palestinians.

He is unaware that international courts have declared Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal, and that Israel was ordered in January to “protect against further serious and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people.”

In particular, the author shows no sympathy for the nearly 40,000 Palestinians, including an estimated 15,000 children, slaughtered by the Israeli army, nor for the entire population of Gaza, some two million people, who have been deprived by the Israelis of the food, water and medical supplies they so desperately need to survive.

The residents of Saskatoon and the surrounding area deserve better reporting on this crisis and its impact on all of us.

Michael Murphy, Sandra Beardsall, Saskatoon

Reporting potholes and weeds requires a new strategy

Re: Potholes, dead trees and weed growth in Saskatoon

After discussing the above topics with Cynthia Block, candidate for mayor and my city council member, I thought about it again and came up with the following ideas.

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Block indicated that citizens can report these types of situations to city hall in various ways, as the city cannot afford to have managers driving around reporting these types of matters.

Since the city has a large working population, couldn’t the parking enforcement officers who drive our streets every day be tasked with reporting these situations? Seems to me that would be a perfect way to do this reporting.

Another option would be to have someone on a contract basis report potholes, dead trees and uncontrollable weed growth in our city. I don’t think this would be a difficult task or a significant expense for the city to bring back the city that was once known as “Saskatoon the beautiful”.

I look forward to your thoughts and responses to these suggestions.

Steve Hyde, Saskatoon

Nurses must have a patient ratio

Last October, registered nurses, nursing students and supporters gathered in the Saskatchewan Parliament to draw attention to issues such as patient safety and quality of care.

Little has been done to address the problem of staff shortages. BC is the first province to implement minimum nurse-patient ratios. Saskatchewan should follow suit.

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Ed Lehman, Regina

(This letter was originally published in the Regina Leader-Post.)

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