Visitors look at MONA M03 electric vehicles, displayed outside the venue of XPeng's launch event, in Beijing, China Aug. 27.Florence Lo/Reuters
Charged up
Re “Ottawa to impose 100-per-cent tariff on Chinese-made EV’s” (Aug. 27): Seems to me Canadian auto and metal workers would be better served if our government worked with the Chinese electric-vehicle makers to open car plants in Canada rather than try to prevent sales of Chinese EVs here.
Why should Tesla have a monopoly, especially when most of us can’t afford one? No wonder Canada keeps missing climate change targets and its productivity is declining. Our government is prioritizing subsidies to giant car manufacturers over more inexpensive and climate-friendly alternatives.
Marsha Copp Toronto
The Canadian and Ontario governments provide funding for new battery plants – Volkswagen $14.4-billion, and Honda $5-billion. China subsidizes the production of electric vehicles and it’s labelled unfair. What am I missing here?
Robert Milan Victoria
Re “China vows to retaliate against EV tariffs” (Aug. 28): Sounds like we better strengthen our election interference safeguards immediately.
Patrick Stewart Toronto
Re “A tough calculation on EV tariffs” (Editorial, Aug. 23): So the government wants us all to be driving electric vehicles by 2035. Should we care where the car comes from?
We want the best car at the cheapest price. Especially since the Liberal government has put this plan out there with little or no planning and consideration as to the cost to Canadians.
I say, let the Chinese electric vehicles come. They may not need government assistance to sell, and let the free market decide to purchase them or scrap the ridiculous plan for 2035 until North American electric-vehicle suppliers can supply a vehicle to Canadians at an affordable price.
Kensel Tracy Chelsea, Que.
Sins of commissions
Re “The high cost of real estate commissions” (Editorial, Aug. 29): Exorbitant real estate fees in Ontario and elsewhere are a direct outcome of the monopoly that the industry has over the multiple listing system. One cannot get full market value for a property without it. The solution is simple: force the industry to turn the MLS system into a utility and enable anyone to post a standard listing for a fee. The market will then decide the worth of the additional value that the agents provide.
Lyle Clarke Whitby, Ont.
Canadian real estate commissions can’t be too lucrative – most realtors are still making do with a photo portrait from 35 years ago.
Cellphone charges, real estate commissions, mutual fund fees – Canadians are fish kept in a barrel to be shot.
Mike Firth Toronto
Toxic rhetoric
Re “By denouncing experts, Pierre Poilievre and his staff are degrading political debate” (Opinion, Aug. 27): Pierre Poilievre continues to ignore public-health emergencies, endangering the lives of vulnerable Canadians for political gains. His 2023 anti-vaccine private member’s bill aiming to undermine public-health officials was thankfully voted down. His latest move: attacking life-saving supports in the midst of a toxic drug crisis.
The reality: In Ontario, 10 people a day die from poisonous drugs. Supervised consumption sites are not “drug dens” as Mr. Poilievre has callously stated. They offer evidence-based gateways to treatment and recovery. They provide basic primary care, mental-health and substance-use supports, and prevent overdoses, HIV and hepatitis C.
As for his office’s recent mocking of expertise – yes, we nurses have many letters after our names and are proud of our education. It affords us the in-depth knowledge to care for people in health and illness. Mr. Poilievre would be wise to role-model kinder behaviours for his team. There is much more to a leader than slamming others.
Doris Grinspun RN, BScN, MSN, PhD, LLD (hon), Dr (hc), DHC, DHC, FAAN, FCAN, O.ONT. Chief executive officer, Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario; Toronto
Silence is golden?
Re “Poilievre must hold his tongue for the sake of his party’s image” (Aug. 29): John Ibbitson writes that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre “needs to hold his tongue” in the run-up to the next general election.
In essence, this is counselling more of the same old say-nothing or say-one-thing-and-do-another-once-elected strategy that’s in vogue in Ottawa. Not only is this cynical approach to politics hypocritical, it also sours people on politics and on politicians.
Oh, how I wish when they are campaigning our wannabe leaders would address important issues, tell us what their positions are on those issues, and then let us vote for the party that best represents our views. Isn’t that what a representative democracy is supposed to be all about?
Ken Cuthbertson Kingston
House always wins
Re “Responsible gambling is part of the problem” (Opinion, Aug. 12). The purpose of the article was to alert us to the dangers of gambling, which is one of the fastest-growing addictions. The promotion and availability of gambling is too tempting for many people to resist The gambling industry tells us to gamble responsibly but if we all did gamble in this manner the gambling industry would lose out on huge profits.
Rev. Edward Mahony Hamilton
Drilling down on oil
Re “Drillers strike oil in Pennsylvania” (Moment in Time, Aug. 27): I was surprised to see The Globe and Mail repeat a myth that the world’s oil industry began with an 1859 strike in Titusville, Pa.
In fact, oil was first discovered and extracted commercially in Enniskillen Township in Southwestern Ontario (Rivers of Oil; The Founding of North America’s Petroleum Industry, Quarry Press). First Nations used bitumen as pharmaceuticals and waterproofing and, by 1852, European settlers were collecting oil from shallow wells, developing processing industries and selling bitumen and asphalt to Canada and Europe.
Production rose rapidly when kerosene was patented (1854) and deeper wells tapped free-flowing oil (1858) (Sarnia Observer Advertiser, Aug. 5, 1858). The benefits included a rapidly growing oil economy around Oil Springs, Petrolia, Sarnia and London. Significantly, Ontario’s oil production tools and expertise provided the foundation for an emerging global industry, including the Titusville strike.
Peter Hodson Kingston
Forecasting follies
Re “Why economic analysts are often wrong” (Report on Business, Aug. 29): In his column explaining why economic forecasts are often wrong, Kevin Yin seeks our forbearance, saying “the problem is very hard.”
He then raises the ante by warning that in the absence of these methodical professionals, educated guesses would just become guesses. I suppose this is similar to the difference between being wrong and being really wrong. I long ago stopped reading proclamations regarding stock prices, the economy or the weather more than two days hence. As someone once said, I can predict anything but the future.
Stephen Shevoley Vernon, B.C.
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