Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pose for a picture holding the 2024-25 budget, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 16.Patrick Doyle/Reuters
Blame game
Re “Trudeau says he’s trying to recruit Carney, but declined to say whether he wants Freeland to stay in Finance” (July 12): Reports out of the secure Liberal bunker say the latest party scapegoat may be Chrystia Freeland. She has not been able to convince the Canadian electorate that everything is sunshine and rainbows, even though storm clouds have been gathering for a long time.
The problem for the Liberals is with whom would they replace her? Being finance minister is a herculean task, considering that our country is slipping further down the drain than any time most of us can remember.
Shael Greenwood Thornhill, Ont.
While I am no fan of Chrystia Freeland, I do not believe she is entirely to blame for the poor showing of the Liberals.
The unnamed officials in the Prime Minister’s Office, pointing their fingers in her direction, should instead focus their ire inward.
James McCarney Oakville, Ont.
During all the speculation about Mark Carney and Chrystia Freeland, Mr. Carney was luxuriating in the Royal Box at Wimbledon with Queen Camilla, Keira Knightley, Sir David Suchet (who played Hercule Poirot) and ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus.
Why would he take on the job of mud-wrestling with the likes of Pierre Poilievre?
Tom MacDonald Ottawa
With age
Re “Not about age” (Letters, July 11): When my father was 75, he asked me to stop buying tickets to his beloved stage shows because he might be sick on that future date and it would be a waste. Sure enough, when I ignored him and bought tickets to Cats, he was feeling unwell on the performance date.
Now that I’m 75, I missed my niece’s wedding and my mother-in-law’s funeral because of illness. No, don’t buy me tickets to any shows or ball games unless they’re for today. Sometimes I just need to nap.
Joe Biden is campaigning to be re-elected to the most demanding job in the world. By the way, he could drop dead any minute, as many friends my age and younger have in the past few years. Being old does that.
Most of us accept this and govern ourselves accordingly. Hanging tough at our age is stubbornly irresponsible and cannot end well.
Claudette Claereboudt Regina
Prairie power
Re “A birthright squandered: How potash firms got rich and Saskatchewan got poor” (Report on Business, July 8): While I agree that windfall profit should go to raising Saskatchewan’s quality of life, why does it take a windfall to do so?
I have visited Saskatchewan for about 30 years to watch football. Why haven’t potash tax dollars in past years, meagre as they might be, changed the lives of the people I see?
Corporations should be taxed appropriately. But governments bear a responsibility to ensure that all tax dollars are put to best use for citizens.
Totals of $1-billion in 2008 and $1.4-billion in 2022 from potash alone are still a lot of windfall bucks for a population of one-million-plus. And a quick review of statistics paints a fairly positive picture for Saskatchewan’s economic growth.
Waiting for a windfall resolution is not going to address the “needs of children to be fed and to have a quality education, and of people to have a roof over their heads.”
Marianne Orr Brampton, Ont.
Were Saskatchewan a country, many economists would not be surprised to see poverty rising; it would be a common result of the “resource curse,” a term used to describe negative economic outcomes frequently suffered by resource-rich countries.
Ironically in such countries, a high share of the benefits from resources usually goes to foreign owners or local cronies through political corruption. The story told here is simpler: Saskatchewan has not bargained firmly enough for windfall profit resulting from high prices.
It is one more example of why public policy should be especially careful, competent and trustworthy when confronting situations like this one.
Albert Berry Toronto
Juvenal said: “Give them bread and circuses, and they will never revolt.”
Nutrien provides an annual fireworks exhibition and sponsors the Nutrien Playland in Saskatoon. We’ve got the circuses covered, how about some dough?
Catherine Folkersen Saskatoon
ROI
Re “Authors pull books from Giller Prize consideration over sponsors’ ties to Israeli interests” (July 11): It seems the good PR that Scotiabank was purchasing by sponsoring the Giller Prize has disappeared due to small-p politics.
As a shareholder, I would prefer the bank abandoned the Giller and apply the cost savings back to us as dividends. Then let us decide what organizations we wish to support or not.
S. Boyd Anderson Moncton
Now and then
Re “How The Globe amplified, and then outgrew, early Canada’s feuds between Protestants and Catholics” (July 8): Ah yes: King Billy astride his horse, fife and drums, proud British subjects striding along the streets of downtown Toronto.
The Glorious Twelfth used to be the annual showcase for the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada, that Protestant fraternal organization touting stern adherence to the monarchy. Today, attendee numbers have dwindled to a symbolic parade followed by a barbecue in some park.
It now pales in comparison to celebrations such as the Toronto Caribbean Carnival or Pride, events that would have shocked the Orangemen of yesteryear. The number of renovated former lodges, seen in towns and villages throughout Ontario, hearken back to an era when the Orange Order did wield clout politically and for those seeking employment.
The Toronto of my childhood now seems like ancient history.
Garry Burke Oro-Medonte, Ont.
View from here
Re “Last call for Ontario’s liquor board” (Editorial, July 9): To an Albertan, the LCBO strike and related changes to alcohol sales in Ontario is like an interesting news segment about cultural customs in far-off lands. One wonders how and why they are sustained in this day and age, but we respect the commitment.
In Alberta, one buys beer, wine and alcohol products from private licensed stores. Those stores – ranging from “warehouses” to specialty boutiques and mom-and-pops – buy stock from a government agency at set prices. Stores are free to set prices and run promotions and sales.
Alberta makes a lot of money on licences and, of course, their centralized buying power and subsequent markups to retailers. I doubt anyone here thinks about it – until we read about the extraordinary way it’s done elsewhere.
We can only wonder at the fervour but know it would be impolite to laugh.
Dave McClurg Calgary
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com