The National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 17, 2021.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
Ring the alarm
Re “Will anyone ever be held to account for China’s infiltration of the Winnipeg microbiology lab? Don’t make me laugh” (Opinion, March 9): Surely there were colleagues with lingering suspicions about what doctor Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng were up to. But I suspect that if they dared to speak the unspeakable, they would be dismissed as alarmists.
I think this is an example of the naiveté General Wayne Eyre spoke about the other day, when he came to Vancouver. He told the audience to start the adult conversation about the disturbing state of world affairs and the impact on Canadians: foreign interference, abuse of the rule of law, intellectual property theft etc.
Gen. Eyre used words such as unstable, precarious and dangerous to describe the state of the world right now. He reiterated that Canadians are unprepared and blissfully unaware of this tenuous global state. He identified China as a particular concern.
It’s time for Canadians to wake up. We sleepwalk at our peril.
L. H. MacKenzie Vancouver
History today
Re “Marcus Aurelius becomes emperor of Rome” (Moment in Time, March 7): There seems to be a real interest in all things ancient Rome, including classicist Mary Beard’s excellent series Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit and several other documentaries now streaming.
Marcus Aurelius was one of the “good” emperors. There were plenty of examples of “bad” emperors: Caligula, Nero, Commodus, Diocletian etc.
Why should we, in the 21st century, be interested in Rome? What happened to bring down the Roman Empire may be happening all over again.
Conventional wisdom states that the Roman Empire collapsed because of barbarian invasions. Not so quick: Internal corruption, greed and poor government also did the Romans in.
Isn’t that exactly what is happening in the United States, especially if Donald Trump wins the next election? The French have a saying for this: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
History has lessons to teach us all.
Dan Smith Hamilton
Best bet
Re “Handcuffing pension funds is not the answer to Canada’s economic woes” (Editorial, March 7): More than four-score and 10 weighty Canadian names are asking finance ministers to amend pension rules to encourage investment in Canada.
This would require clear rules to avoid placing fund managers in a nationalist dilemma. Most funds have a single objective: maximize returns, within legal and ethical bounds. If funds have two objectives, managers must know how much weight to give each one.
If a Canadian investment offers slightly less return than a non-Canadian one, by what criteria does the manager choose? Is “slightly” 5 per cent less? Seven per cent?
No question, investment in Canadian enterprise needs help. But there are options: John McKenzie, chief executive officer of TMX Group, sets out a number of solutions (”To grow Canada’s economy, we need more action and less talk,” Report on Business, March 6) involving our natural resources, scientific research and application of climate-related standards, to mention a few.
Clear policy and regulatory certainty are needed. No solution should require reducing returns to a single group.
John Edmond Ottawa
I was so relieved to read your take. Has the malaise in Canada come to this? Can we survive another 18 months of the federal government and these executives having their way?
All of a sudden, an Alberta pension plan looks like an option. But wait, will there be ironclad legislation to prevent government influence here, too?
Tom Kent Calgary
Climate challenges
Re “Saskatchewan’s response to carbon tax reveals how Liberals botched national unity” (March 8): This headline could be rephrased as “the devil made me do it,” and would be about as valid of an excuse.
James Astley Ottawa
Re “Get clean” (Letters, March 6): A letter writer who, like me, has lived in Alberta suggests that wind turbines, “if not too numerous,” are no more unsightly on the prairie than a pumpjack.
Setting aside that aesthetic judgment, it seems to me that if wind turbines are going to be of any use to us at all, they’re going to have to be numerous.
David McGrath Kingston
More to go
Re “Ottawa bans use of strychnine poison, though critics warn of another allowed toxin” (March 8): What will it take for this government to listen to Canadians and ban the use of Compound 1080 in all provinces?
While I applaud the new legislation that bans the use of strychnine, thereby preventing the painful and cruel deaths of many animals including wolves, coyotes and household pets, we know that Compound 1080 also kills wildlife in this agonizing way. I believe most Canadians would like to see harmful toxins that kill wildlife and pets eradicated from our environment.
Canada should strive to be a world leader in animal welfare and environmental protection. If our government takes action to ban this toxin, it would be another step in the right direction.
Christine Bell Toronto
Better value
Re “Watch out, lower cellphone bills can have unforeseen consequences” (Report on Business, March 5): My cellphone costs (I keep my cell services separate from other services offered) have gone up more than 5 per cent in the past year. This is for a base package, with no changes on my part.
Having travelled through Europe recently and turning off my domestic services, I bought an eSIM that gave me 10 gigabytes of data for $15. Daily usage, including tethering my wife’s phone through my hot spot, gave me well over 60 days of service. I could have added talk for slightly more, but didn’t need to with WhatsApp and Skype.
Now that is value.
Don Brommet Toronto
LOL
Re “Just for Laughs 2024 festival cancelled as group files for creditor protection” (March 6): It is unfortunate that the Montreal Just for Laughs event has been cancelled.
However, it provides a silver lining for the Quebec government: I have no doubt there will be fewer pesky English-speaking tourists on the streets as a result.
Jim Purser London, Ont.
Words to live by
Re “Regret is a human rite” (March 8): I recall the trenchant wisdom of Pope John XXIII, who said to “see everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.”
Paul Thiessen Vancouver
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