Cars are an extension of ourselves. It’s no surprise in our consumer-driven, appearance-prizing society that the vehicle we climb into is a reflection of ourselves.

Most are excessive. For a person who travels solo within the townsite for most trips, a truck, sport utility vehicle, even a compact car is bigger than needed.

So why then, in an environmentally-focused town like Jasper, is municipality staff arguing over who has to take the new electric truck?

The by-law guys aren’t happy about it. The grounds crew doesn’t want it. Who else is there to pawn it off on?

So it’s small and slow. Driving a big truck or a fast, expensive car doesn’t make a person any tougher, cooler, more attractive to potential mates, and so on.

The new Might-E-Truck is the perfect vehicle for bylaw enforcement officers. They don’t need the speed to pursue criminals, they can squeeze it into small parking spaces, and it won’t waste fuel as they patrol the streets all day.

Though municipality employees haven’t explicitly stated they dislike the truck, and they may deny it if asked, there certainly has been grumbling since it arrived.

Those who see it rolling down our roadways should admire the attempt to consume less, and those driving the vehicle should do so proudly.

Let’s hope this effort of the Municipality of Jasper to be a little greener is put to good use, and the Might-E-Truck gets its chance on the streets.

Taser debate

Since Robert Dziekanski, a Polish man died after being tased in Vancouver International Airport in October 2007, the debate about tasers has been in the news non-stop.

The RCMP recently announced that the four police officers who tased him would not be charged, following an investigation, as it appears they acted according to protocol.

The question is, what’s the Vancouver International Airport’s role in all this? If anyone’s to blame, a big finger should be pointed at the airport.

The man, who barely spoke a word of English and was anxious following the first flight of his life, was reduced to a child-like state. He was lost, frightened, and confused.

His mother asked staff to find out if he was in the airport. They told her he was not, so she left, assumed he had missed his flight.

He acted erratically, waving a chair in the air, calling out in Polish, “How long must I sit on this?” The police were called, they tased him, and he died.

It seems in the 10 hours Dziekanski was in the airport, a number of opportunities to help him were missed. It’s unfortunate the taser killed him, but there is so much more to the story that should not be overlooked.