Pedestrians make their way along Sparks Street Mall near the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. The mayor of Canada's capital city has urged the federal government to send its workers back to their downtown offices to bolster flagging local businesses. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean KilpatrickSean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Warm welcome
Re “Afghan family of Operation Abraham co-founder finally makes it to Canada: ‘The biggest joy of my life’” (May 10): Our troubled world today needs more organizations like Operation Abraham, an extraordinary, small, non-profit, interfaith group working together to welcome those who flee from tyranny.
I, and many others, send a sincere thanks to these few incredibly caring and kind human beings who worked tirelessly and persistently over many months to bring some 100 Afghans fleeing Taliban persecution to the safety of Canada.
Their selfless and determined efforts shall always be remembered by these new Canadians and their children as they adjust now to their new home and language, and plan a way forward to eventually contribute to the country that has welcomed them and given them hope and a new lease on life.
Hally Ruth Siddons Ottawa
Location, location, location
Re “A summer of discontent from Ottawa’s unions is worth the heat” (Editorial, May 13): The number of days that federal public servants should work out of offices should be based on analysis and not an arbitrary number.
The requirements of some jobs may require full-time in the office and others at an approved home-based office, while others a mix of the two. The private sector is wrestling with this same issue.
Work-life balance is a constant struggle for two-income families and in particular for women. Concerns for partially used transit systems, struggling downtown business and excess office space is having extreme negative impact, but should not be a rationale for bringing public servants back to the office.
Systemic changes have long been necessary. COVID-19 has forced us to face such changes in our personal and professional lives.
Leaders address the “hard stuff.” Tax dollars can no longer be used to camouflage the real issues facing the delivery of government services at all levels.
Jim Sanders Guelph, Ont.
Re “Unions for federal workers promise ‘summer of discontent’ of hybrid work rules” (May 9): It is contended that working in the office means federal civil servants must deal with “bedbugs. Bats. Mice. Cockroaches. Mould. Odours. Poor air quality. Missing or broken equipment. Trash littering workstations.”
I spent 40 years in the Saskatchewan civil service and never saw any of the above, and most federal office buildings I have been in here were immaculate. Where are these mouldy, rodent-infested workplaces, I wonder?
If hybrid work is not in the collective agreement, on what legal grounds will the union base its case? Have any assessments of productivity been done on the two-day in-office workweek? What did they show?
The civil service should not expect the working public to rally around its cause. We pay taxes to receive programs and services, not to maximize the comfort of our civil servants.
Roy Schneider Regina
Re “Back up” (Letters, May 13): A letter-writer suggests that environmental concerns are an argument for remote work. In the short term it would reduce car commuting, but longer term it would encourage low-density living.
As a general rule, the bigger an urban centre, the smaller an individual carbon footprint. When employers mandate attendance at work, real estate closer to downtown cores, and workplaces, goes for a premium. Car traffic goes down and strong communities evolve.
My grandparents had a brick row house in Montreal within walking distance of the rail yards where my grandfather worked. In the 1960s, my father moved us out of the “hood” to the suburbs, where he commuted by car into the city for 30 years. Life was car-centric.
I spent most of my adult life living close to downtown Calgary and walking to work. Mandating attendance at work is a powerful tool to incentivize people to live smarter, closer to downtown cores.
Ken Johnston Ottawa
Money and morals
Re “The economy we have taken for granted is not coming back” (Report on Business, May 10): A compelling case for the economic cost of sanctions. But what about the moral injury of maintaining commercial relations with pariah states that are authoritarian, genocidal, warmongering and actively attempting to sabotage both our democracy and infrastructure?
So what if sanctions cause pain. Aren’t our values and way of life worth some sacrifice? Can we truly not live without more cheap, obsolescent stuff?
This proves to me once again that economics truly is the dismal science.
Brian Green Thunder Bay
Wildfire worries
“Nearby wildfire brings back painful memories for Fort McMurray” – May 13.
“Alberta Forestry Minister comfortable with decrease in natural-disaster funds” – March 2.
Rob Young Toronto
Let’s hope oil prices go up and that Alberta pumps a great deal more. Then the royalties can be used to pay for the damage and dislocation due to wildfires.
Maybe there is a better approach. (And let’s also hope sarcasm isn’t taken for a recommendation.)
James Robert Brown London, Ont.
Paying for it
Re “The crisis in health care staffing is no secret – so don’t try to hide the gruesome data” (May 7): I am 92 and have lived in Ontario for more than 60 years. I have never seen such a dilapidated system of health care as exists now.
Everyone has heard about the shortage of physicians and our aging population. Yet, to my knowledge, nothing is being done.
We cannot stop aging, but we can get more doctors. For instance, Britain plans to import 2,000 physicians from abroad, give them short-term training and put them into practice.
Ontario has also boasted that it used recent surplus to repay billions of dollars of debt, which I find reasonable and manageable in this province. What is more important: debt payments or the health of our population?
I pay my taxes promptly. I have never received any help to pay my bills. Yet I am asked to go from pillar to post and vice-versa to get basic medical care.
What is wrong with Ontario?
John Samuel Ottawa
Winner takes all
Re “Parents, what money messages are you sending your kids?” (May 13): Just do what our parents did for my brother and me: They gave us a Monopoly set, far better than any lessons or strictures. We played many games together as a family, in our air raid shelter during the Second World War.
If one visits a communist country, as I have, leave behind a Monopoly set.
Gordon Salisbury Mississauga
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