a day ago
Your letters: What war took away, Calgary gave back
I would like the city of Calgary to know what wonderful people live here — namely, the Blizzard football club.
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When we arrived from Ukraine, I was worried about my son and his psychological state. Looking into his eyes, I saw sadness and sorrow. In Ukraine, he was involved in sports since five years old. The school and his football fields were destroyed by missiles. Childhood dreams were lost.
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We are now in a foreign country where we had to start from scratch, with no relatives, acquaintances or friends. I decided to ask on Instagram about clubs and what a joy it was when we got invited to try out. My son made the team and he was very happy that day.
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We didn't expect much; I just asked for him to go to training because we were not financially prepared. But the universe sent us incredibly kind people. They provided him with everything so he could train, travel and participate in competitions. They organized volunteering to raise money for him to go to Portugal with the team. My son could not go because we are not yet Canadian citizens and some documents are missing, but he is not upset.
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He is just happy that he is part of this team, that he knows wonderful children, their parents, coaches, managers and everyone involved in this club.
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Our son has acquired a football family in your city.
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Natalia Minakova, Calgary
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In 2018, Premier Danielle Smith castigated the B.C. government for not protecting its environment. She was speaking on air about selenium contamination in the Elk and Fording rivers, caused by coal mining.
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Given this stance, what is the premier doing a few years later, cosying up to potential mining operations in the Crowsnest Pass? A project owned by a foreign-owned enterprise at that.
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Smith clearly knows the dangers posed by excess selenium because, back then, she said, 'Health effects from overexposure to selenium include gastrointestinal disorders, nerve damage, liver cirrhosis and death in humans, while fish become deformed and unable to reproduce.' Selenium hasn't changed since 2018, even if Smith has.
