Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz arrive at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, on Aug. 6.Matt Rourke/The Associated Press
Make a case
Re “Kamala Harris is losing the campaign” (Opinion, Oct. 19): Here’s what I hear Kamala Harris saying about the economics of living in America.
She supports continued enhancement of the Affordable Care Act, including reductions in drug costs and the cancelling of medical debt; continued enhancement of infrastructure initiated by the Biden administration; tax breaks for new small businesses; grants for first-time homebuyers; child tax credits; continued investment in climate action; continued forgiveness of student debt and provision of increased grants to college-bound low-income students; enactment of the bipartisan bill addressing border issues which Donald Trump lobbied against; continued work with NATO supporting Ukraine; continued engagement with United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trading partners; increased corporate taxes to cover costs.
Knowing Ms. Harris’s work history on these issues as U.S. Vice-President and California’s attorney-general, her platform and her character, I believe she does make a compelling case for America’s vote.
Ray Elgersma Ottawa
Hard decision
Re “Spilled milk that’s worth a political outcry” (Editorial, Oct. 22): I agree that it is time to end the outrageous policy of having government policies regulate, subsidize and supposedly protect farmers by regulating production and management of the dairy industry.
I believe the program, which may have been created with good intentions, harms the Canadian consumer and economy. Politicians should take an unpopular position that may alienate some constituents, particularly in Quebec, and do what is best for the majority of Canadians.
I find that supply management does not work. It is time for a policy change.
Bob Elliott Calgary
Fix it
Re “Jane Philpott says fixing health care not a ‘political football’ after appointment by Doug Ford’s government” (Oct. 22): As a physician in Ontario for more than 50 years, I am appalled by the deterioration in health care. A few modest suggestions.
There should be a one-year specialized training course for registered nurses to become nurse practitioners in either community walk-in clinics or emergency rooms.
Emergency services should be divided into walk-in clinics and emergency services, and triaged so that NPs can deal with the large percentage of non-urgent or relatively minor issues.
Emergency rooms should be partially staffed in all teaching hospitals with interns and residents required to do four-month emergency or walk-in placements.
All medical students and residents trained in Canada should be required to work a minimum four years in the country to decrease the loss of graduates to the United States.
All psychiatric hospitals should have a staff member rotating through community emergency rooms. Transfers to psychiatric hospitals should occur within days.
Hopefully someone listens.
Eric Knight MD, FRCPC (psychiatry); Ottawa
I would suggest that all physicians work full-time (but not the punishing hours they worked a generation or so ago) and not part-time.
My family doctor of many years is taking his well-deserved retirement. His replacement is working limited hours and limiting her patient load in order to do this.
Is this what we train physicians for? To start a family practice, only work part-time and then dismiss certain groups of patients, many with longstanding relationships, into an environment where there are no other doctors available?
David Shore Richmond, B.C.
See clearly now
Re “As we build a vision of Canada, let’s make sure it has more Canada in it” (Report on Business, Oct. 19): Contributor Dan Breznitz advocates for a vision of society with a business sector that innovates. He turns to the mining industry, including its suppliers, to provide an example of what might fuel future success.
As someone who led a Canadian mining supplier export-trade association for 22 years and then spent five years consulting to 70 individual mining supply companies, I could not have written a better prescription for the future. However, I see a missing element.
That is the need for marketing activities to grow companies in order to profit from innovations. Successful companies develop strategic plans and implement them. They strengthen weaknesses and work from strengths. These are long-term plans requiring dedication to a goal that may be far off.
For whatever reason, most of Canada’s thousands of mining supply firms remain small because they are not capable of, or interested in, developing and implementing long-term plans.
Jon Baird Former managing director, Canadian Association of Mining Equipment and Services for Export; Uxbridge, Ont.
Pass it on
Re “Ontario Legislature returns after extended summer break amid early election speculation” (Oct. 21): I have suggestions for those who can afford to donate Doug Ford’s $200 “gift.”
A local hospital should be at the top of the list, but next in line should be donations to the Ontario Liberal, NDP or Green election campaigns.
Gordon Ramer Kingston
I recently opened a letter from the Ontario Green Party. It was asking for help with preparing for the next provincial election that Doug Ford may call earlier than scheduled.
How easy to forward my $200 rebate to the Green Party, or any other organization that recognizes the reality of what we will face if our planet’s health is not intelligently dealt with.
Cobi Smithson London, Ont.
Get around
Re “Does it track?” (Letters, Oct. 20): Given that every single bike lane in Toronto was created after a vote by the city’s democratically elected council, I suggest that people who don’t like them vote for a new councillor or mayor. That’s how government works.
Meanwhile, I’m surprised to see so many Toronto residents arguing that the roads their taxes pay for should be made easier for people from the 905 region to drive on for free.
Tom Willis Oshawa, Ont.
I appreciate a letter-writer’s concern for the apparent duplication of process that greater provincial oversight on bike lanes in Ontario would have.
I do, however, take a degree of comfort in knowing that, in the case of Toronto, there would be greater scrutiny of decisions from the city’s provincial masters. In the case at least of Danforth Avenue, it is abundantly clear to me that bike-lane installation has resulted in heavily subsidized corridors for electric-bike food delivery a majority of the time.
The province keeping Toronto city council out of some housing decisions is also a welcome development, given that it is this same crop of councillors, while currently acting as champions on housing, who were the ones constraining development for the last several decades with deeply conservative zoning rules.
David Roy Toronto
It’s easy to see how bike lanes in downtown Toronto can be accused of impeding traffic flow, as they do take a lane or two to be accommodated. But they are not the prime source of trouble.
Many of Toronto’s four-lane streets are in effect two lanes, as on-street parking halves their ability to move car, transit and bicycle traffic. Add to that the ubiquitous left and right turns permitted along the same roads and we have endlessly snarled, impeded traffic flow, along with excessive air pollution.
End on-street parking on major downtown streets and let cars, bikes, buses and streetcars do the job of moving people and goods.
Richard Bingham Toronto
The Ontario government has vowed to dismantle bike lanes. But why stop there? If it’s serious about tackling congestion, it should remove a few other things.
Traffic lights and stop signs: They’re a dangerous nuisance and impede traffic flow.
Speed limits: a clear example of state overreach. Why should a car be held back by politicians’ arbitrary restrictions?
Seatbelts: an unwarranted constraint on drivers.
Sidewalks: Removal would significantly expand road width and facilitate vehicular movement.
It’s time to unshackle the automobile and finally give it the space and freedom it deserves.
Gideon Forman Climate change and transportation policy analyst, Toronto
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