LETTERS: Will Quebec and Alberta leave or stay and other letters from P.E.I. readers

I am tired of hearing all the hype in Quebec and Alberta regarding “referendums” relating to separation from Canada.

Three points to consider: (1) “A country divided against itself will fall,” (2) Either of these two “new” countries will immediately be snaffled up by the U.S., and (3) the results of the referendum in 2016 Britain held to separate from the E.U.

The result was a narrow margin of 51.9 per cent to leave, 48.1 per cent to stay. It’s cost Britain dearly – England and Wales – leave, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay. A divided country. It also cost no less than five prime ministers, and ultimately the fall of the Conservative government.

Referendums are putting the cart before the horse, because they are legally binding. The first stage (omitted by Britain) is to gauge public opinion for separation via an advisory or consultative vote, i.e. a plebiscite, meaning that the government is not strictly bound by law to act on the outcome. A plebiscite would not affect the Canadian Constitution. A referendum would.

Hopefully the people of Alberta and Quebec will learn from Britain’s folly and demand a plebiscite instead of a referendum before it’s too late.

J. C. Gomersall,

Stratford, P.E.I.

And Satan said unto his disciples, “Go forth and multiply. Bring with you our cruelest form of torture for the masses, and all shall be as it must.”

And the disciples — tech-savvy all — did go forth, and with wickedly little time or effort, did achieve the singularly painful success foreordained. The masses were enthusiastically ensnared. The pain of participation was universal — wealthy or poor, left or right, educated or innocent, man or woman or child. All had been delivered to the disciples.

There would be no escape. The masses would henceforth be squeezed and squeezed, for less and less service but more and more frustration, and there would be pain and punishment on Earth as never before. It had been foretold.

Mel Gallant,

Charlottetown

I can honestly say there was a lot of cussing in my car recently at the intersection of Kirkwood Avenue and Queen Street. I am sure I’ve driven down Queen hundreds and hundreds of times since I first moved here in 2018. But I don’t think I’ve had to sit through three red lights and also three green lights because the driver in front of me just would not take a chance and turn left from Queen to Kirkwood.

That driver didn’t even ease out slowly so he or she could scoot through when there was an opportunity. I did finally toot my horn to get that driver moving.

I do wonder why not all city intersections don’t have an advance green arrow. I find that type of traffic light works much better with the green arrow. I’ve said my piece so I hope I’m done with this traffic issue. We’ll see.

Kathy Birt,

Charlottetown