My comments are newspaper articles that are published. (PART VII)

Various newspapers around the world invite their readers to submit their views for publication on the various articles they publish. What follows are nine submissions of the many of mine that were published. I will quote in part some of what was published by THE TORONTO STAR and then give you my published comments typed in bold.

Three Canadian soldiers were killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan along a blood-soaked stretch of highway that has claimed the lives of a number of NATO soldiers and Afghan civilians. The Taliban will often bury stacks of anti-tank mines in gravel roads and wait for a passing NATO convoy in order to strike. With paved roads they look to tuck bombs into culverts.

Canada's armed forces in Afghanistan is vital not only to that country but to Canada as well. Much of the heroin brought into Canada comes from that country. What we should be doing is helping the farmers of that country find an alternative crop to grow in their farms. It must be kept in mind that the terrorists derive much of their income to buy arms from the sale of heroin in that country. Canadian forces along with the armed forces of other countries must help fix this problem.

Published by the Toronto on September 1, 2008


The devastated brother of a man shot and killed by RCMP on a northern Saskatchewan reserve has asked the Mounties to be pallbearers so they can "finish the job and take him to his grave." Walter Haineault said yesterday he is serious about the invitation for Mounties from the village of La Loche to carry the coffin at Monday's funeral on the nearby Clearwater River Dene First Nation.

Proposal interesting but not for me

If I was shot by the police and the shooting was unwarranted, I would rather have my friends carry me to my grave rather than the cops who shot me. I do however appreciate the irony of the proposal. Personally, I would rather have the cops faced with the problem of having to dig my grave with short-handed shovels. Now that would be irony that would be enjoyed by all my friends.

Published by the Toronto Star on September 5, 2008


An American army deserter has asked Canada to let him stay in Canada as he doesn't wish to return to the United States as an interpreter. He says he is against torture and didn't know when he was given the extensive language course that he would be interpreting in rooms where suspects were being tortured.

Let him be returned to the United States

I don't like the idea that this man volunteered to get language skills training for free and then says that he didn't know at that time that he may be called upon to ask questions of suspects while they are being tortured. Admittedly, I accept the premise that he is right in objecting to being used in that manner but to complain after he has taken the course; is gross. If we permit him to stay in Canada, he will reap the benefit of his training in the US on his language skills at the expense of the country that trained him. My message to him is: "Go back and face the music and also pay for the training you got."

Published by the Toronto Star on September 07, 2008 NOTE: He was extradited to the United States and faced the music.


Elementary teachers want pay parity with high school teachers. The unions are still playing nice; they understand high schools originally got more money because their teachers needed more credentials for the subjects they would teach, and because high schools were bigger and had big-ticket labs and football fields and machine shops.

Elementary teachers don't need raise

These elementary teachers already get $90,000 a year and for two months of the year they can holiday or take a second job. For them to claim that they should get the same pay as high school teachers is gross. Why should a grade one teacher who teaches her students how to add get the same pay as a grade twelve teacher who teaches calculus to her students?

Published by the Toronto Star on September 06, 2008


Saanich, Ontario police said emergency crews raced to the home on Saturday evening after receiving two 911 calls. The first call at 6:15 p.m. came from outside the house. The caller asked police to check on a real estate woman who made an appointment to meet a potential client in the house. The caller then entered the house through an unlocked door and found her body upstairs. He made a second 911 call asking for medical assistance. One source states that 206 agents were murdered on the job between 1982 and 2000. This does not even touch on the number of agents who were the victims of sexual assault, non-fatal shootings, beatings, and stabbings; robbery, and car jacking.

She should not have gone into the house alone.

I am very concerned about the welfare of women real estate agents going into homes for sale on their own. This incident isn't the first time this has happened in Canada. It seems to me that if a female real estate agent gets a call from a man or shows up and only a man is waiting for him, she should back off and wait until another agent shows up as backup.

Published by the Toronto Star on February 8, 2008


Michel Castonguay couldn't help but look at his hands as he recounted the horror he witnessed in Room 10 at Jones Lake Motel in Moncton, New Brunswick yesterday morning. After seeing smoke and breaking down the door of the man's room, Castonguay grabbed the burned victim and led him out. But when the man returned to the room and lay down, Castonguay had to drag the victim, who was naked from the waist down, from the room a second time.

Why did the man in the room return to the fire?

I think the man who went into a burning room twice to save another man who obvious was crazy, deserves Canada's highest award for bravery. Not everyone would go into a burning room twice to save a man who returned to the burning room and lay on his bed.

Published by the Toronto Star, September 05, 2008


Crowded in the back of a van heading north of Toronto with four other Filipino men last summer, the skilled welder faced another unpaid day on a cleanup detail at a bottling plant. He thought of his wife, who had just given birth to their third child back home in San Carlos, a five-hour drive north of Manila. He thought of the promises that lured him to Canada – $23 an hour, plus overtime, food and lodging, to help build two icebreakers for the Canadian Arctic. Now, bumping down a dirt road in August 2007, Canilang mustered the nerve to ask Bob De Rosa, his labour boss, when the first paycheque was coming. "Don't you guys know that I spent $4,000 to get you?" De Rosa snapped back. What Canilang experienced last summer is an all too-common situation – foreign workers brought to Canada under false pretences and exploited. Federal officials call it the "modern-day slave trade" and warn of "People for Sale in Canada" in a poster campaign in 17 languages, distributed through Canadian missions around the globe.

Human traffickers should be jailed and their property seized

Not only should human traffickers be jailed, their firms and homes should be seized by the government and put up for public auction. Once this is done, anyone thinking of trafficking in humans will think again whether or not it is really worth committing this crime.

Published by the Toronto Star on August 30 2008


New young drivers in Ontario could face tougher restrictions like a longer wait to get a full licence and tighter rules about carrying passengers if new legislation passes this fall, the provincial government said Wednesday. Statistics indicate new drivers – especially younger ones – are more accident prone. To deal with the issue, Ontario introduced graduated licensing for new drivers in 1994. The licence for new drivers keeps them off certain major highways, sets a minimum 20 months before earning full driving privileges, and limits how many people the new driver can carry in their vehicle.

Longer waits not necessary for mature adults

It has been a long established view that motorists over the age of 26 are for the most part mature enough to drive sensibly. It is for this reason that I believe that new drivers who are over 26 years of age shouldn't have to wait for their full driver's licences as those new drivers under 26 have to wait.
Published by the Toronto Star on September 11, 2008