To The Editor:

Afterthought: Have you been following the huge financial scandal in the Province of Quebec, Canada, where the big-time contractors gave large kickbacks to the politicians for the contracts they received? I’ve always been interested in Quebec because that is where both Ken’s and my ancestors landed when they came from France and afterward settled in Ogdensburg. My mother’s ancestors also came to Quebec from France, but after coming to the reservation they then, instead of turning west toward Ogdensburg, made a left-hand turn east toward the Malone-Hopkinton area.

Did you know that the Province of Quebec elected its first female premier? I love her résumé. She started in her early 20s working for nonprofit organizations to help the poor and figured out the only way she could really make an impact was to get involved in politics. She married her hometown sweetheart, who is a successful businessman. Before marrying him, she got his promise that he also would work to help the poor, which he has. They have five children. I wonder if there is any way to clone and import her.

I also wonder, if our state budget does not pass on time, if it would be wise to investigate to find out if there are kickbacks from the financial institutions making those huge profits in interest for each day the budget doesn’t pass, millions of dollars from the taxpayers of New York state, to those people who are involved in not passing the budget.

I also wonder if it is possible to go back to all those years when the budget did not pass on time, to see how the people involved then are living now.

I’ve heard three different figures - $11 billion, $14 billion, $16 billion - that our state is in debt for. Was a lot of that debt accrued because the state budget did not pass on time?

Barbara Seguin Doe

Waddington

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