In danger
Re “Canada’s dangerous slide into antisemitism” (Editorial, March 22): I was put off when antisemitic posters were recently posted near my home in a friendly residential neighbourhood. I was further disturbed by Parliament’s passage of an NDP motion restricting arms shipments to Israel, even as Iran continues to supply groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, and by the reinstatement of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The media in Israel has taken pains to inform Israelis this week that Canada no longer is the valued friend it was under Stephen Harper. History will record that this shameful policy shift took place on Justin Trudeau’s watch.
Barbara Yaffe Vancouver
As a Canadian Jew, I thank you for your noble editorial.
Marty Cutler Toronto
Re “Hamilton Jewish Film Festival postponed over security concerns” (March 21): Yet again, a Canadian institution has bowed to pressure and threats from a vocal minority aiming to silence Jewish voices.
This is a trend that has been occurring at venues and even schools. Holocaust presentations are being cancelled for fear of protests, walkouts and “triggering emotions.”
Demonstrations organized by pro-Palestinian groups block access to roads, university buildings and community centres. Speakers are uninvited to International Women’s Day events because of their Jewish heritage.
As we cave in to hate out of fear, we normalize and escalate antisemitism. Bit by bit we are also eroding our values of openness and inclusivity, the cornerstones of democracy.
Our leaders should shut down threats meant to terrorize and control the narrative. But the duty applies equally to every one of us: Stand up to antisemitism or bow to mob rule.
Are we up to the challenge?
Marcy Bruck The Foundation for Genocide Education, Montreal
Call home
Re “Canada’s other (and worse) housing crisis” (Editorial, March 21): I have worked my entire career with Indigenous people in many capacities, and through that work I have visited over 85 Indigenous communities.
I have seen firsthand 1,000-square-foot houses on reserves with more than 20 people living there. Knowing the demographics, half of those residents are often children. This is not a healthy living situation on many fronts.
My city reports that the majority of homeless people are Indigenous. Given the housing situation on reserves, is it any wonder why they leave for the city? I find it interesting how not addressing one housing problem contributes to another housing problem: homelessness.
Stephen Crocker Edmonton
Yes, the federal government needs to move with greater speed and energy on this file.
Success requires a functional partnership with formal and informal First Nations leaders to create and nurture such outcomes. But do effective partnerships yet exist?
For a grounded perspective on this, I recommend Chief Clarence Louie’s 2021 book Rez Rules: My Indictment of Canada’s and America’s Systemic Racism Against Indigenous People, especially the chapter titled “No More Broken Windows.”
Don Taylor Mississauga
Other consequences
Re “Diversion of safer-supply drugs is a trivial issue distracting us from the real challenge: toxic drug deaths” (March 19): Diversion of safer-supply opioids, typically hydromorphone, is not “trivial.”
It is common to develop tolerance to hydromorphone, thus driving people to seek more potent opioids, namely fentanyl. People who use diverted opioid tablets sometimes inject them, which risks disabling or life-threatening bacterial infections.
Safer-supply advocates and government funders should measure the prevalence and harms of diversion, and use strategies to mitigate them. The most effective strategy would be to require patients to take tablets under the observation of health care professionals.
As addiction medicine doctors, we have witnessed new patients who become addicted to opioids through diverted safer supply, as well as previously stable patients who relapse. We have seen the outcomes: spinal infections and paraplegia from injecting tablets, progression to fentanyl and subsequent death from fentanyl overdose.
These are precisely the outcomes we are all working to avoid. They are hardly trivial.
Lisa Bromley MD, Ottawa
Barely understand
Re “A how-to for people caught up in CRA’s confusing new rules for reporting bare trusts” (Report on Business, March 19): The focus on Canada Revenue Agency’s clumsy rollout of new trust reporting rules feels like a distraction from the real issue: this government’s insidious creep into family finances.
Whilst an army of chartered professional accountants and the children of elderly parents are mired in confusing terminology and even more complex forms, not to mention the odious threat of penalties, is anyone asking why and why now?
Registration is the first step to confiscation, but here we are silently marching toward death, taxes and the confiscation of our hard-earned estates. Perhaps we should redirect our outrage from forms to financial freedoms.
Sarah Burrows Halton Hills, Ont.
Stanch the flow
Re “Federation opposes proposal to boost number of days retired Ontario teachers can work in classrooms” (March 19): By not raising the limit on how many days retired teachers can work, I believe the union is exacerbating the problems they protest.
Yes, there is a shortage of teachers and relying on retired teachers is a Band-Aid solution. But it is a solution that would at least stop the bleeding.
Our schools are already understaffed. Without the help of retirees who can cover classes for absent colleagues, teachers already feeling overwhelmed and unsupported will likely take more sick days. More of them may leave the profession.
Let retired teachers help fill the current shortage. Then there would be fewer libraries and gyms with multiple classes being “taught” by one teacher.
In the meantime, the union should find other ways to put pressure on government and foster the changes needed. That would support teachers, teaching and learning.
Fraser Landry Toronto
Stand tall
“Ontario chief justice Roy McMurtry issued same-sex marriage ruling that reverberated around the world” (Obituary, March 23): I cannot forget one lovely gesture by Roy McMurtry.
When I was a student, Mr. McMurtry came to my grade school. He was seated in the first row of the auditorium with other dignitaries.
With some hesitation, I went up to him and said, “Mr. McMurtry, it’s an honour to meet you.” He rose, his giant frame towering over me, and replied, “No, it’s an honour to meet you.”
What a lovely man. Truly a giant.
Shafiq Qaadri MD, HBA; Toronto
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