Politics in the poorhouse

As discussed in the Mirror ["The politics of sisterhood," October 15], it is indeed distressing to see that not a single candidate in the upcoming mayoral and provincial elections is serious about addressing poverty and helping the burgeoning ranks of the poor in the city.

All the candidates these days just conveniently promise to lower taxes and put the unemployed back to work. Sounds simple, doesn't it? But we have seen through experience that, in an era of massive downsizing, automation and "globalization," the full-employment scenario is neither likely nor realistic.

In an ideal situation, all the poor would get full-time jobs, even working for minimum wage. But there are not enough full-time jobs to go around, and those who do find part-time jobs very often continue to remain poor. Even pursuing a university education or other technical programs is increasingly difficult because of ever-escalating tuition fees.

In the absence of enough jobs, the poor are supposed to be sustained by welfare and employment insurance. But there are so many cutbacks to these programs that those already trapped in poverty sink deeper into the abyss.

Year after year, more and more people are unable to pay for their medication, heating bills and even food. Any observant social worker will point out that food banks, pawn shops and panhandling are the growth industries of the '90s in Montreal.

Nationally speaking, to quote from a Toronto Star report of 1995, in that year, the richest one per cent of Canadians owned 18 per cent of the nation's wealth; in the USA the richest one per cent owned 42 per cent of the country's wealth. Since 1995 the gap between the rich and the poor in both countries has definitely widened. As members of G-7 countries, shouldn't we be ashamed of that? I do not believe in communism or hardline socialism, but the "status quo'' in this case stands for "the mess we're in."

-Manish Patwari

Homegrown wheatgrass

Having healed my body, my life, from cancer last year, I'm living out one of my dreams to come to Montreal. I took personal responsibility for my well-being and decided life was worth living. So, rather than listening to other people's voices, I'm listening to my inner voice.

So this is in response to the girl from San Francisco who wrote to the Mirror ["Montreal, wheatgrass-free zone," Letters, Oct. 15]. I'm from San Francisco and came to live here this summer and I love it. I've met loving, beautiful people (some of the sexiest, too!). I'm also happy to report that you can find wheatgrass right here on Duluth East at a small vegan café called Elixir. And you can find restaurants in SF that stay open 24 hours-and I'm sure they will serve you up something as greasy as poutine!

-Jon Kirk

Membership overdrive

Without any ill intent, I think I should expose a recent experience with a person who was apparently over-eager to increase the membership of Alliance Quebec. I was stopped by one of William Johnson's helpers near their stall in NDG, who asked whether I would like to join Alliance Quebec. My response was negative and when he asked why not, I told him that, in my opinion, they have a leader who will cause problems. To my surprise, he replied: "But by joining the organization, we can get rid of him by voting against him."

I do not like to be unfair to Mr. Johnson, but I got the impression that this was an exceptionally strong effort to increase the membership.

-A.W. Hibbert

Bitter litter

I'm bloody sick and tired of crummy, free, feuilles de chou such as yours, Hour, Vice et al, littering the sidewalks and streets... With all your cheap space, think of regularly devoting a full page to asking whoever reads you to dispose sensibly of the rubbish your pages become all over the streets and in front of private dwellings and businesses in the city! People have more respect for the papers they pay for-so make people pay for yours! You would confer a favour!

-"Downtowner"

Miserable in Manitoba

Any chance I can get a subscription out here in Winnipeg? Please! This is absolute torture in this city!!

-John Phillips, Winnipeg

[Ed's note: As a matter of fact, John, you can get a year's worth of Mirror reading sent to you for $100/year, plus tax, by writing to the address below.]