On November 27 the nation of Latvia suffered a tragedy when 54 people died when the roof of the Maxima Supermarket collapsed.
The prime minister of Latvia, Valdis Dombrovskis, resigned. New elections are to be held October 2014. He is quoted: “I call on all who look to the future to assess their responsibility and act accordingly.” It seems to me that an old democracy, Canada, could take some lessons from one of the new democracies of Eastern Europe.
Canada had its own tragedy when, on July 6, a train derailment at Lac Megantic left 47 dead and the heart of the town destroyed. This, and the ongoing tragic comic farce of Mayor Rob Ford and the Senate scandal, has resulted in no one accepting responsibility.
Those elected and unelected political leaders and the “captains of industry” seem to be too busy passing the puck, ducking the issue, shifting blame to others or in some cases outright lying. The last thing on their mind is to go down with the ship. It is way past the time for some in this country to accept their responsibility and act accordingly.
Neil Rollinson
Whitehorse