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Auditor general Karen Hogan speaks at a news conference about four performance audit reports and three special examination reports of Crown Corporations in Ottawa on Nov. 15.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press

Rule of law

Re In Action (Letters, Dec. 6): A letter-writer says that the Trudeau Liberals may not have followed the “letter of the law” in invoking the Emergencies Act, but rather the “spirit of the law.” This feels like another way of saying that if the Trudeau Liberals don’t like a law, they will pretend that it says whatever they want, and then act as if that were the case.

That is not how a prime minister (or government) should act when they are supposed to be bound by the same laws as citizens. If Canadians choose to re-elect the Trudeau Liberals knowing that, among many other infractions, they may have invoked the Emergencies Act without meeting the necessary legal test, then it will be clear to me that society cares more about partisan ideology than the rule of law.

Don Moar Edmonton

Spent

Re Billions Of COVID-19 Benefits Went To Ineligible Recipients (Dec. 7): I have been in Canada 50 years and, each year, I dread the reports of auditors-general across the country.

It upsets me to discover how politicians can abuse taxes, this hard-earned money passed on to make this country function properly and honestly. Recommendations are made, but they never seem to be followed.

I wonder if taxpayers should go on strike to protest how poorly managed our governments can be. When we see the collapse of our medical system and, on the other side, billions of dollars wasted in wrong payments and wasted vaccines, it should be a total scandal.

I think politicians are so eager to be re-elected that they would send a few thousand dollars to anyone who would vote for them, rather than check if individuals qualify for payments. The federal government should attempt to recover what has been erroneously paid, and pass that money to health care.

Myriam Strauss Toronto

Alberta advantage

Re Any Action Taken To Oppose Ottawa Will First Need Legislature Approval: Premier (Dec. 7): I have lived in Edmonton for almost 50 years. Alberta has been good to me and my family. I don’t understand what the United Conservative Party’s hate with Ottawa is about.

The province has the lowest taxation in the country. We have low unemployment and lower inflation. By many measures, our economy leads all other provinces. We have generated a $12.3-billion surplus thus far this year.

How have Albertans been mistreated? How have we been shortchanged?

Stephen Crocker Edmonton

Access…

Re Officials Blame Privacy Request Delay On Staff Shortages, Backlog (Dec. 6): Thank you to The Globe and Mail for its continuing Secret Canada series. As a community journalist, access to information is a critical avenue in cutting through increasingly controlled government communications.

New fees, long wait times and significant redactions are recent concerns with the system in British Columbia. The truth needs champions. Keep up the good work.

Jessica Wallace Kamloops, B.C.

Zero in

Re Canadian Oil In A Net Zero World (Editorial, Dec. 6): Kudos to The Globe and Mail for reminding us of the limitations of the Canada Energy Regulator’s annual report and the need for more relevant insight into methods of weaning our economy off oil and gas.

We cannot bank on oil and gas exports to maintain our economic stability into the future. Any meaningful models should point to sectors of our economy that must grow if we are to achieve our national commitment to emissions reduction, while maintaining our place in the global economy and building a society that leaves no one behind.

Failure is not an option, as demonstrated by the B.C. heat dome and floods in 2021, and Hurricane Fiona in Atlantic Canada this year.

Sharon Bider Toronto


The Canada Energy Regulator should wake up to reality. Successful tackling of the climate crisis should mean large, fast cuts in fossil fuel use and extraction. It should take its head out of the oil sands and help the country plan for our Paris Agreement commitments.

The CER could start with recognizing the International Energy Agency’s prediction of renewable energy doubling in the next five years (Renewables Will Overtake Coal By Early 2025, Energy Agency Says – Dec. 7) and the need for electric-vehicle infrastructure (In A Future Of Electric Vehicles, Canada Is Driving On A Low Battery – Dec. 7).

Canada urgently needs guidance for a comprehensive, fair, cross-sectoral and countrywide transition to a healthier future, not stuck-in-the-oil status quo.

Elizabeth Snell Guelph, Ont.

Go on

Re No Go (Letters, Dec. 6): A letter-writer says Royal Bank of Canada should be prohibited from acquiring HSBC Bank Canada owing to loss of competition in the market. Competitive markets flourish where conditions allow. Conversely, don’t discourage them.

Restrictions on who can own what, for whatever reasons, are anti-competitive and discourage initial and subsequent investments. There is no surer way to cut off investment than to cut off exit strategies de facto or de jure, rewriting rules on political whims.

If we want competitive markets, our government should focus on what conditions create them. We can debate in policy forums whether the costs and benefits are acceptable, such as levels of foreign ownership or lower end-user prices.

Intervening at the individual transaction level would not create competition. Horse, barn, door.

John Madill Oshawa, Ont.

Epic experience

Re Why Visiting Richard Serra’s Unique Steel Sculpture In The Qatari Desert Requires Real Commitment, And A Rock-solid Vehicle (Dec. 5): One word comes to mind: Ozymandias?

Liseanne Forand North Saanich, B.C.

Made in Canada

Re Ottawa Shores Up CBC’s Future Funding From Tech Giants, But Blocks Kremlin-run Media From Bill C-18 Compensation (Dec. 7): So with Bill C-18, it turns out that the CBC, which has long planted homegrown seeds in Canada’s cultural garden, is being financially rewarded, while other broadcasters who mostly nurtured foreign and invasive species of culture, are left out. Makes sense to me.

Peter Keleghan Toronto

Word out

Re Word Up (Letters, Dec. 5): “Growing the economy” is another phrase that should be put to rest. An economy may grow, but one cannot grow an economy.

Amy Parker Guelph, Ont.


May I humbly submit another inaccurately used (and overused) word to be put out to pasture with other worthy grazers. It is hard to credit, I know, and beggars all belief, but “incredible” has lost all meaning for me.

Alison Kyba Guelph, Ont.


Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com

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