OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to an opinion column Carbon tax is working, not to blame for inflation, published May 5.
I totally disagree that "People who don’t have a car — who take the bus or bike or walk to work — are really ahead as they’re not using gasoline at all" in the column in OrilliaMatters Carbon tax is working not to blame for inflation.
As a very low income person, I do not own a vehicle as I was forced to sell it about nine years ago so I could have some cash in which to try to survive on, so I am not "really ahead" even nine years later without a vehicle and receiving carbon rebates from the federal government.
I walk most everywhere I go in the town of Gravenhurst as there is no municipal transportation, even though I have (spent) the past eight years writing to the town of Gravenhurst councillors regarding the lack of transportation in Gravenhurst.
It is true I receive a carbon rebate from the federal government even though I do not buy any gasoline or pay for any type of fuel and I don't pay any hydro bill.
However, as a very low income person trying to survive in Ontario, like many others, we continue to suffer and have been particularly disadvantaged just trying to survive under the current Ontario and all levels of governments and this has been the situation for many years and it just continues on.
For over the past decade I have lived in motels due to the lack of any rental unit housing, and this situation only ever proceeded to get worse and worse over the past decade.
We, the very low income people in Ontario and Canada, still lack the political will of the elected politicians who continue to sustain the masses of people who are very low income people in poverty in Ontario and Canada. The GST and any carbon rebates amount to very, very little, much like the so-called grocery rebate the federal government gave was very, very little.
As a very low income person I voiced my concerns to all elected politicians at all levels of governments for many years, however this has not proven to be of anything beneficial. Society is mainly and very heavily controlled by the rich and powerful among us.
I fully realize that elected politicians are mainly concerned with rich folks who have money as they control and strongly influence the elected and non-elected politicians and how things will or will not happen in society, and those of us who are very low income have no voice obviously as we seem to be ignored by the elected politicians and governments at all levels.
We drastically need elected politicians and governments at all levels to stop sustaining the poverty levels for over the past century in Ontario and Canada and find the political will that would allow people to live an enjoyable life out of poverty.
To all elected politicians, at all levels of government in Canada, please find the political will.
Doug Abernethy
Gravenhurst
