Letters: Maybe U.S. should become Canada’s 11th province instead

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Recent comments from south of the border about Canada becoming the 51st state should not be cause for alarm. Such joshing is the sign of a good relationship, commentators have assured us. I couldn’t agree more.

Light-hearted banter at the highest level about infringing on Canada’s sovereignty has long been part of Canada-U.S. relations. The president-elect is a self-proclaimed peaceful man, one who would never create the conditions for a conflict, let alone actually start one.

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So in the spirit of such friendly kidding around, I’d like to suggest the United States become the 11th province, or possibly even the 12th and 13th too; the details could be worked out later.

Think of it, the 11th province would finally join the rest of the developed world with free universal public health care and virtually eliminate personal bankruptcies because of medical bills; mass shootings would become a rarity instead of a regular occurrence; money could be spent maintaining infrastructure instead of on a bloated military budget; the list goes on.

But to our American friends, I say, don’t worry, it will never happen; I’m just riffing on our tried-and-true special relationship.

Tim Nickel, Saskatoon

Other cities respond better to snowstorms

Kudos to Wayne Eyre (StarPhoenix letters to the editor, Nov. 30) who expressed so succinctly thoughts that race around my mind whenever I venture out on the gut-wrenching residential winter streets.

Woe to those with lower back and abdominal issues; driving as slowly as five km/h, or less, on the rutty, icy roads will not allay your condition, nor the prospect of being thrown into the oncoming path of an approaching vehicle or into a parked one.

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Council can justiry Wayne’s reported expenditures of $632 million for a new arena, $273 million on a refurbished convention center, and $254 million for related projected road configurations. It would seem snowstorms, though, a yearly surprise event, do not warrant an adequate budget.

Even a projected paltry $18 million is outrageous, but it might be in the best interest of the downtown entertainment district proponents to have the peons in a healthy enough condition to work so they can afford to shell out the money to attend these downtown events.

After having spent portions of winter weather in two Ontario cities, perhaps our city council could take note that private trucks fitted with blades, along with city graders, hit their streets with the first snowfall to maintain smooth driving surfaces for their citizens.

I wonder if city council might not also consider employing private bladed trucks, allocated to individual neighbourhoods, armed with a vested interest, to speedily respond in pushing snow off the roads, allowing city graders to tend to main arteries.

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Cecilia Cote, Saskatoon

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