Many North American Jewish artists have made their mark on culture in the 20th century. Top row, from left: Irving Berlin, Nora Ephron, Lenny Bruce, Mordecai Richler; second row: Philip Roth, Tony Kushner, Saul Bellow, Neil Simon; third row: Mel Brooks, Leonard Bernstein, Helen Frankenthaler and Leonard Cohen.THE NEW YORK TIMES/AP/GETTY IMAGES/REUTERS/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Seize it
Re “Is the Jewish moment in North America over?” (Opinion, May 18): It struck me that if the Jewish moment in this country is over, the Canadian moment may be as well.
If Jews have had a period of acceptance in this country, it is because Canadians have learned from their history to appreciate the many cultures of those who have moved here over the centuries, the Jewish religion being only one.
More than that, they have come to understand that no matter how different the cultural or religious backgrounds of individuals, there is a spark, an essence, inside each of us that links us all in a common humanity. Up until now, this understanding has been part of our national character. It has made us the envy of the world.
Has it been lost? Is our Canadian moment done? It would be such a shame if it were.
Risa Klarman Toronto
Cash flow
Re “OMERS writing off stake in troubled British utility Thames Water” (Report on Business, May 18): This loss of capital should be recovered to pay for future pensions. If not, the Ontario taxpayer will likely pay higher property taxes as a result.
The Canadian economy is vulnerable. The ability to tax has reached its limits.
We have access to global markets at competitive interest rates because we maintain lower provincial net debt. Pension fund assets are also crucial to our credit rating. But if they lose capital, a rating downgrade and higher cost of borrowing would hurt all Ontarians.
More capital losses are expected to occur because many private equity and debt assets are expected to struggle refinancing at higher interest rates. The office sector stands out.
Private markets make the asset recovery process opaque and prolonged, hurting the availability of credit to functioning parts of the economy, including mortgage rates.
Avi Hooper CFA; St. Catharines, Ont.
Good care
Re “Increasing the capital-gains taxes will hurt health care in Canada” (Report on Business, May 21): I was diagnosed with cancer in September. Since then, the care I have received from BC Cancer has been nothing short of excellent.
I’ve gone through chemotherapy and surgery. I have contact numbers if help is needed. Every doctor who has treated me has followed up after a difficult treatment or experience, and the nursing staff has been amazing. I can’t say enough good about my experience.
Maybe our health care system is not broken. Maybe it needs help or change in some areas. But if anyone is starting the same journey I’ve been on, they should feel comforted by my experience.
Bernadette Craig Nanaimo, B.C.
Fill it (back) up
Re “Health professionals take climate action to care for patients and the planet” (May 18): I am reminded of my concern lately about the tens of millions of plastic pill vials that are discarded every year in Canada.
They may be recycled, but we are told that only a small percentage of them actually are. So until a child-safe non-plastic alternate is found, I have taken to going to my pharmacy with my “old” vial to refill, and eschewing a paper bag to put it in. Reusing is even better than recycling.
The packaging industry and the health professions should come together to at least explore suitable replacements.
Bill Bartle PharmD, FCSHP; St. Catharines, Ont.
Heat is on
Re “Toronto’s waterfront needs an anchor” (May 18): Calling the Ontario Place mega-spa fight “overheated” is apt, given the amount of heat that would be required to maintain the spa’s palm trees in a Canadian winter off Lake Ontario.
We would love to see Waterfront Toronto oversee Ontario Place redevelopment, as it has done excellent work rehabilitating our waterfront into a world-class destination. The organization should be funded appropriately, as some of its plans that would stitch together the wider waterfront have fallen by the wayside due to a lack of resources.
Norm Di Pasquale Co-chair, Ontario Place for All; Toronto
Keep ‘em
Re “New Maple Leafs coach Berube in tough to overturn the weight of history” (Sports, May 22): I think all this Mitch Marner trade talk is nonsense.
He regularly scores close to 100 points each season. He helps the Leafs get to the playoffs as much as Auston Matthews or William Nylander.
So he does not play all that well in the playoffs? Bench him when he can’t play, and keep him on when he can.
The Leafs, if they trade him, would never get anything nearly as good back. If traded, Mr. Marner would probably become an even bigger star.
Meanwhile, the chump change they get for him would become a fading memory.
Craig Proulx Fredericton
Meet the letter-writers
Throughout the late spring and summer, The Globe will feature personal insights and missives from some of our most frequent contributors every Sunday in Letters to the Editor. Survey responses were collected as a part of the research behind A Nation’s Paper: The Globe and Mail in the Life of Canada, a collection of history essays from Globe writers past and present, coming this fall from Signal/McClelland & Stewart.
(The following responses were received by The Globe after a call for submissions in May, 2023.)
My Globe relationship commenced in 1961, when I delivered the morning paper for three years in Stouffville, Ont. Also, we were on The Globe’s Caribbean cruise in 2008. Excellent.
Writing letters is a fun hobby. Interesting. It adds feedback to important issues.
I find that funny letters no longer get published. What happened to your sense of humour? There also seems to be a lot more competition to get published (or perhaps the quality of my letters has decreased).
Some days, letters are the best page in the paper. It is interesting to see the disparate perspectives and also what topics prompt letters to be written.
You can improve the letters page by not forcing the public’s letters to follow your style. Particularly, leave my Oxford commas alone.
Peter Hambly Hanover, Ont.
My parents always got The Globe when I was growing up. My late wife’s family got it as well, and the two of us shared the paper during our life together. She was interested in the letters, and I took her example and began reading them as well.
My main interest has been health care, not a surprise considering I was a health care professional. But I am also serious about music, hence letters submitted following the deaths of Jeff Healey and Rita MacNeil. Both were published.
One letter I do regret writing was not published, when Justin Timberlake performed at “SARSStock” in Toronto and was pelted with water bottles and booed. My letter said, in essence, he was all feathers and no chicken, and the crowd’s reaction was “truly justified.” How wrong I was.
The boy-band genre obscured just how enormously talented he is. I seriously underestimated him.
David Hughes Glass Saugeen Township, Ont.
If memory serves me correctly, I wrote my first letter to The Globe around 1967.
I was living in Toronto and of course it was submitted by snail mail. I recall that it concerned Toronto’s decision to issue daily air pollution measurements.
Much to my surprise, it was published. Needless to say, that encouraged me.
I also lived for a few years in Bangkok, where I had a letter published in the Bangkok Post. So I guess that makes me an internationally published crank. That letter was on the topic of toilets.
Why do I write letters to the editor? I guess some of it is the thrill of seeing my name in print. And having various friends call or e-mail (I have a small but faithful fan club).
Not quite as thrilling as getting a book published, but then one takes moments of glory where one can.
Patty Benjamin Victoria
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