Today’s Letters: Voting with Vision Loss; priorities for our taxes

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People with vision loss are voters too

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Imagine walking into the voting booth and being unable to read and mark the ballot independently. For myself and for the 1.5 million Canadians living with sight loss, this happens in every federal election.

I became a voter with a loss of sight in 1968, and have voted in every election since then. Today technology can level the playing field for voters with vision loss and other disabilities, but in 2021 we still rely on lead pencils and paper ballots to elect our representatives. country.

My polling station assigned to St. Stephen’s Church did not provide the tools and accommodations promised by Elections Canada to assist electors with vision loss, namely a large print and braille list of candidates. Poll workers have not received adequate training to accommodate voters with visual impairments or other disabilities, not even in the riding of Ottawa Center in downtown our country.

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I have spoken to over a dozen blind friends. All said they had had similar experiences and had been encountered by poll workers ill-equipped to help voters with sight loss.

Other jurisdictions are using technology to allow visually impaired voters to vote using the telephone, the Internet or audio tabulators. These were available during the Ontario provincial election and the Ottawa municipal election. I urge Elections Canada to explore these options and make 2021 the last election inaccessible to voters who are blind or visually impaired. It is time that I can vote independently and with dignity.

Fran Cutler, OC, Ottawa

Some priorities for our taxes

Re: Hey! A tax plan which is good news for everyone on October 15th.

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Brigitte Pellerin has certainly hit the nail on the head with her column on the international agreement “to impose a minimum corporate tax on large companies”.

Bill Zimmerman, the former executive director of the Ottawa Social Planning Council and then United Way, was famous for writing letters to the Minister of Finance demanding that his taxes be raised to pay for the cause he was passionate about at the time. . Today, I believe it would be safe drinking water for aboriginal communities and the end of homelessness.

And I would be with him. I would be happy to pay a few extra dollars in taxes to achieve these laudable goals. And I’m sure the majority of Canadian taxpayers would agree. Are you listening, Minister Freeland? I believe Mr. Zimmerman is looking down.

Patty Deline, Ottawa

To park or not to park? It’s about money

Re: Soaring construction costs see the LeBreton Flats Super Library explode its $ 141 million budget on October 14.

Oh the irony. On the one hand, there is the magical thought that people will use public transportation to get to the new Civic Hospital campus, and on the other hand, there is the hope that people will drive and park. to the new Ottawa Public Library to donate much-needed parking fees.

Mike Ellison, Nepean