A12 - PRAIRIE POST - Friday, April 20, 2012


YOUR OPINIONS: More study needed regarding alternative health practices


Editor: Re: “Hope for alternative cures impetus for $1M donation” from March 30, 2012. While it is sad to hear of anyone passing in an untimely manner from a disease such as cancer, I can’t but help wonder if chemo treatments had been followed as prescribed by physicians, the outcome may have been different. I was also shocked a trained and certified Registered Nurse lent credence to “energy work” and claimed the alternative treatments had cured the cancer. I expected a more scientific approach to treatment evaluation


from an RN. In establishing a chair in Complementary and


Alternative Health Care, I hope that the chair will use a scientific and evidence-based approach to evaluate the so-called natural and alternative treatments. As Professor Ernst, the chair of complementary medicine at the Exeter university in the UK has stated, “alternative medicine is not a field governed by rationality. It is not based on rationality. It is a religion and because it is a religion, I’ve come to realize that evidence doesn’t matter.” Professor Ernst has found practices such as


homeopathy, acupuncture and chiropractic techniques among other practices have no measurable effect. Most alternative practices perform no better than a placebo. One “alternative” treatment that has evidence to


back its use is the use of St. John’s Wort which has shown effective, side effect-free treatment for depression. If the University of Lethbridge chair can be objective, evidence and science-based I hope the chair will expose the fraudulent claims of so-called alternative health practitioners.


Ryan Tondevold,Magrath


PCs plan to put education under the Alberta Human Rights Commission Editor:


Alison Redford and her PC party have taken away our property rights with Bills 19, 24, 36 and 50 removing our access to courts and much more. Next on the agenda is Alberta’s education with Bill 2, which will adversely affect Protestants, Catholics, Jewish and all parents’ rights over their children’s education. They plan to put education under the Alberta Human Rights Commission, which has been given sweeping powers over the courts. The Wildrose Party tried to stop this attack on


parents’ rights, but they need more representatives in the Legislature to make that happen. Section 3(1) of the old school act, states “All education programs offered and instructional materials used in schools must reflect the diverse nature and heritage of society in Alberta, promote understanding and respect for others and honour and respect the common values and beliefs of Albertans.” The PC’s Bill 2 Section 16 is wordy similarly up until “honour and respect” but the phrase, “common values and beliefs of Albertans” is replaced with “Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Alberta Human Rights Act.” Please notice, failure to comply with the Human


Rights Act in Bill 2 sec 29.4 states, “The Minister may cancel or suspend the registration or accreditation of a private school… (d) if the person responsible for the operation of the private school permits courses, programs of study or instructional materials that do not comply with section 16…” This shows all accreditation and funding will be stopped to those who do not comply with the Alberta Human Rights Commission, which is a non-elected board and is accountable to no one. In the March 27 edition of The Rocky View


Weekly, the impact of Bill 2 is explained in the article Local Residents Join Backlash against Bill 2. According to Greg Lammiman, who was interviewed in the article, “his right to pass on his traditional beliefs in a home-school setting is being threatened.” This Bill, “forces home schools, Catholic and


private schools to teach within the limits of the Human Rights Act as interpreted by the Alberta Human Rights Commission. That body, said Lammiman, has historically been


very unfriendly to anyone holding Judeo-Christian values. “Anyone who holds those beliefs is dragged


through the kangaroo court with no appeals,” said Lammiman. “My concern isn’t just as a home-school


dad. Having been a public school teacher for over 30 years, every teacher should be concerned about being under the Human Rights Act. There is no recourse for the person who is being investigated.” Airdrie MLA, Rob Anderson, of the Wildrose Party was unsuccessful in amending the bill by giving “parents the paramount (legal) right over their children’s education.” If you believe children were given to the parents and not the Province, be sure you send that message to the PC party on April 23 because the PC Party now wants to have the legal rights over your children. For more information see http://aheaonline.com/ index.php/political-updates/319-response-from- education-minister-and-education-critics. While you’re at it, research the Land Use bills


at: http://www.albertalandownerscouncil.com/apps/po dcast/ and http://www.landownerassociation.ca/. Our War Veterans gave their lives for our


freedoms. First the PCs put in the Land Use Bills to take away our property and now they are working on taking away parents’ rights over their children. A Wildrose government will rescind the bills on land use and stand against the PC’s Education Bill. On April 23, vote to regain the freedoms we are losing.


Susan Berdahl,Drumheller,Alta. Reader disagrees with Ferrel’s oil ideals


Editor: Why is it every time Brad Wall’s lapdog Dale Ferrel opens his mouth on “environmental issues” I feel I am downwind of a feedlot? Or perhaps he has eaten too much blood-soaked


cardboard laced with antibiotics that comes from feedlots. As usual, he has wasted a lot of space with silliness and lunacy pandering to his crowd. He neglects to tell the public that Andrew Weaver,


who he is so enthralled with, is against pipeline construction. Weaver says the results of his analysis “should not be


interpreted as a get-out-of-jail-free card by the tar sands.”


Weaver admits if he includes ghgs from extraction, transportation, and refining tar sands emissions could rise by 20 per cent. Less if renewable sources were used and more if coal was used. Regardless of where he seeks to put that 20 per cent it is the results of tar sand extraction transportation and refining. He also says: “While coal is the greatest threat to


the climate globally, the tar sands remain the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and are the largest reason Canada is failing to meet its international climate commitments and failing to be a climate change leader. The world needs to transition away from fossil fuels.”


William Gibbs,Swift Current Ferrel is quick to judge environmentalists


Editor: Once again I feel must comment on Mr. Ferrel’s comments made in the Prairie PostApril 13 edition. Tree Huggers ... I guess those must fall into play of the


university hippie crowds. Yep, but let’s not forget the First Nations people having their concerns. The farmers and the ranchers, they must be bad as


well. Yes. I forgot about the hunters, the trappers, the people who fish. Yes, all tree huggers with their utopian ideals of clean air, land to survive in, wanting to have something left for their generations.


You see they love the land and would hate to see it stripped and polluted all to make a fast buck. Heck, let’s not worry about the pollutions of the giant tar ponds left behind. Where do you think migrating water fowl landed a few years ago? As for the cost of gas, most of it is tax. I don’t mind


paying tax on gas (and for that matter tax the heck out of the cigs and booze too) if I have hospitals and roads. Things can change. Everyone must do their part to


protect nature in order for everyone to survive. Shaynee Modien,Swift Current


Agriculture Minister says shelter belts not as useful


Editor: Well, it’s apparent federal Agricultural Minister


Gerry Ritz, born in 1951, never had to deal with the dry, windy years of the 1930s, when never-ending dust clouds, grasshoppers, and no rain settled on the prairies. The settlers of those years knew if they were to survive, changes had to be taken in their farming methods and stop their land base from being blown away. The tree and shrub belts were a beginning, but also


a challenge, as the scarcity of water, even for themselves and livestock, resulted in many failures and setbacks. Eventually, conditions improved and the trees and


shelter belts began to flourish and they were successful. Yes, with modern farming methods and large


machinery, they have become somewhat of a nuisance to the aggressive farmers of today, so they are ripped away, piled and burned. The Minister has now proclaimed shelter belts and pastures are not the way of the future, in that stubble fields and continuous cropping is the new salvation. Guess he’s been in touch with nature at the highest


level, and been assured drought years and windstorms are a past memory, and will never return to challenge the modern farmers of today. His crystal ball is due for a cleaning and complete


overhaul. John Fefchak,Virden,Manitoba


Conservatives are out of touch with the electorate


Editor:


Some feel a non-PC vote would jeopardize needed capital projects, such as a new school for Barnwell. Unfortunately, there is precedent for that thought. The recently-publicized veiled- threat letter to a northern Alberta school board from a PC MLA and former cabinet minister showed some PCers are not above political bullying. This constituency’s PC candidate wouldn’t stoop to that, but it appears the current government fosters such attitudes. That’s part of what’s wrong with our government. Government should be the servant of all people, not just those who voted for them. We experienced a situation that demonstrates the need for this public servant concept and the lack of it in the PC government. In 2004, this constituency had a non-PC MLA and my husband was serving on a provincial utilities council. A public utilities meeting was planned for


Taber, the logical central location in the Medicine Hat and Lethbridge area.With no justification, the minister arbitrarily moved the meeting to Vauxhall — a PC riding. It seemed the PC government was punishing, or ignoring, our riding for being non-PC. That is wrong. Service to all people by elected officials must not be based on patronage. The PCs, after 41 years, have become arrogant and controlling.We need government that embraces the “servant- leader” principle and is committed to impartiality, openness, and good government. I believe the Wildrose Party has this commitment and it will provide stable, predictable funding for capital projects such as schools, based on need, not patronage. In my opinion, under Wildrose, Barnwell will get its school.


Colleen Torrie,Grassy Lake,Alta.


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