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Letters to the EditorEveryone Matters

Everyone Matters

Comments made by Mr. Nathan Rudyk following a recent article  in the Millstone article titled “Council Rejects Enerdu’s Request for Noise By-Law Exemption” of February 7, 2017 has caused me to have increased concerns for the ongoing inflammatory, negative, demeaning rhetoric being adopted by the good people of Almonte when they find themselves debating the “hot” issues confronting us — with this comment I exclude neither side of any issue.

I wrote an article back in July of 2016 titled “It All Matters” and I now feel compelled to say that “Everyone Matters.”

Mr. Rudyk states in one post that…”the old boys like Levi and Kerry” and further in another that…” old boys who are sympathetic to PRATAC should consider taking a well-earned rest and enjoy the residential energy and commercial entrepreneurship of our vibrant heritage district instead of pining for the days of yore”…

It is his reference to “old boys” and reference to their sympathy to a citizens group and that they should “take a well-earned rest… instead of pining for the days of yore” that give me pause for great concern.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission states “The term ‘ageism’ refers to two concepts: a socially constructed way of thinking about older persons based on negative attitudes and stereotypes about aging and”… “age discrimination …can have the same economic, social and psychological impact as any other form of discrimination”… “aging is a highly individual experience and it’s not possible to generalize about the skills and abilities of an older person based on age”…

I object to the inferred lack of contribution to the debates that can be made by the senior citizens of our community, myself now of that season in life. I have stated many times that we walk on the shoulders of those who precede us and there is much that we can glean from the trials and tribulations that they have surpassed along their personal journey of life. To want to allocate them to the back benches with their feet up when they continue to demonstrate a sincere interest, willingness and ability to bring something to the table of discussion is an opinion Mr. Rudyk should reconsider as he too in the not too distant future will find himself relegated to those back benches and I do believe he enjoys the sport of passing opinions himself?

Whatever we may believe is the appropriate direction the decision making should go on any of our contentious issues, all voices need to be heard regardless of age or any other defining characteristic. There are many perspectives on every issue and there are ways to have all the voices heard without labelling anyone who considers him/herself a contributing member of this “Friendly Town” — Everyone Matters.

Respectfully submitted

Karen Hirst

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