Dear Editor,

How much money is enough?

What do the numbers 10.5 million (10,500,000) and 12.5 million (12,500,000) mean to you? If you put a “$” in front of them, they represent MORE MONEY THAN MOST PEOPLE WILL MAKE IN A LIFETIME. I capitalized that because it’s important that people realize what these numbers represent in relation to themselves. It doesn’t matter whether you are a policeman, a teacher, a firefighter, a rig worker, a truck driver, a nurse, pretty much any occupation, you won’t make that much money in your lifetime.

Omar Khadr was just handed a cheque (figuratively speaking) for $10.5 million. The Supreme Court of Canada determined that Canada and its operatives caused undue hardship for Mr. Khadr when they handed over information to their US counterparts while Khadr was in Guantanamo Bay prison. As a result, the Government of Canada opted for an out-of-court settlement for $10.5 million of yours and my tax dollars. This is to compensate for his spending 10 years in jail for a crime he may or may not have committed while working with Jihadists in Afghanistan. Kind of makes you want to go over there and join the Jihadists doesn’t it? Pretty lucrative pay!

Harper was right in trying to get a law passed whereby Canada could strip the Canadian citizenship of anyone who joined a terrorist organization. But, like so many of his attempted laws, it was poorly written and thrown out by the courts.

Connor McDavid just signed an eight-year extension that will pay him $12.5 million a year. In case you don’t live in Alberta, McDavid is a rising young star with the Edmonton Oilers’ hockey team. Now, I don’t blame McDavid for taking the money, hell he could have gotten a couple of more million a year if he had held out. If someone offered me that kind of money for what I do, I’d take it and laugh all the way to the bank. But, he is just a hockey player and there is no guarantee he will live up to expectations (although I believe he will).  But, has the world gone crazy?

I don’t blame the Oilers for offering him the money. The Oilers will no doubt recoup the costs plus a lot more. It is a great business decision.

But again, has the world gone crazy? Who else makes that kind of money? Certainly not doctors, surgeons, scientists, astronauts, or ? Not anyone who does an important job for mankind. You almost have to be an entertainer of some kind to command that kind of dough.

One of the measures of a civilization is when it supports the arts. This means the civilization has advanced far enough that they can afford and appreciate the arts. But, people have to fight to get a government to build a museum yet they scream bloody hell if the government won’t hand over hundreds of millions of dollars to private billionaires who own sports teams.

So, I have suggested that McDavid’s contract is ludicrous, yet I don’t fault him or his bosses/owner. So, who do I blame? There is only one party left: the fans. Why would any sane person spend his or her hard-earned money to support a team that pays their players more money in one year than the fan will make in a lifetime? The world has gone crazy.

Another factor in the life of a civilization is when it becomes so decadent (a state of moral and mental decay) that it collapses in on itself. You have to wonder: can we be that far away?

Eugene Eklund

Whitecourt, AB