Justin Trudeau walks to Question Period through the House of Commons foyer in Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Oct. 29.Blair Gable/Reuters
By the numbers
Re “Trudeau urges Liberal MPs to move on from dissent, focus on Canadians” (Oct. 31): Justin Trudeau is determined to lead his party into the next election. Perhaps more than 20 Liberal MPs want a change in party leadership to reflect the views of their constituents.
The solution is simple: If these Liberal MPs voted with the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois in a confidence motion, then both Mr. Trudeau and the dissident MPs could have their wishes fulfilled.
Even better, millions of Canadians would also have a say.
Jonathan Bamberger Toronto
Like clockwork
Re “Danielle Smith warns Alberta could face deficits with low oil prices” (Report on Business, Oct. 30): We know there will be potholes in our roads in the winter and spring. It’s a cycle.
That’s why we expect government to develop road-building codes, maintenance programs and budgets to reduce inconvenience, keep crosswalks passable and prevent vehicle damage. Plan ahead.
But here in Alberta, that is not how we approach oil and gas. We don’t budget for when the bottom drops out, we don’t create programs to ensure government services continue, we don’t create any small sales tax to ensure continuity of funding.
No, instead we warn about a rough season ahead, so we had better be prepared to fix the potholes in our own streets, smash our vehicles to pieces or stay home – and maybe curse carbon pricing while we are at it.
Lloyd Lovatt Edmonton
Production problem
Re “If you build it…” (Letters, Oct. 30) and “Priced out” (Letters, Oct. 31): Letter-writers refer to greedy homeowners and doubt that developers will pass on any cost savings.
Resolving the housing crisis requires the construction of new houses, and costs are such that much of the required new construction is not economic. Ideological rants will not convince private capital to build homes at a loss.
The whole premise – that if we build X number of houses, then supply and demand will come back into balance – ignores the cost of production. That is like saying if Porsche would flood the market with 911s at below cost, we could push down resale values and everyone could own a Porsche car. Sure, but why would Porsche do that?
Do people see all these projects going into receivership or shutting down? Meanwhile, government is throwing incentives galore at rental projects.
It is government policies in their totality, then, that encourage renting and discourage ownership.
Darryl Squires Ottawa
Don’t deny
Re “Special interlocutor says she received abuse, threats during work on residential schools” (Oct. 31): On the eve of Holocaust Education Week, I read with sorrow and anger about the rise in residential school denialism. This has to end, now.
My late father Jerry Kapelus, a child survivor of the Lodz ghetto and Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, ended his own silence about the Holocaust when faced with similar denialism in the 1970s and 1980s. Knowing that Holocaust survivors would not be around forever to educate the world about what they experienced and witnessed, my father used the rest of his days to speak out against hatred and Holocaust denialism.
I call upon Canada’s parliamentarians to move quickly to pass legislation to criminalize residential school denialism. And I urge residential school survivors to speak out and educate Canadians, louder than ever, about the horror and truth of their own experiences.
Never again.
Gary Kapelus Toronto
Keep talking
Re “For Quebec woman with Alzheimer’s, choice to request assisted dying in advance offers a sense of relief” (Oct. 29): I sympathize with Sandra Demontigny seeking the right to request medical assistance in dying in advance, rather than endure Alzheimer’s disease.
But what happens if she says “no” on the day? Can a requestor sign away rights for her future self?
We are not good judges of what our future selves would find tolerable. The Who famously sang, “I hope I die before I get old,” but Roger Daltrey is still alive at the age of 80.
As with so many difficult questions around MAID, there may be no simple answers. Still, they should be addressed concretely and in the open, if MAID is to keep our trust and continue to deliver relief from suffering to those who need it.
From what I see, the debate around Quebec’s “advance directive” law has not done so.
Tom Slee Waterloo, Ont.
Very fabric
Re “We’re a world awash in textiles, and that’s not a good thing” (Oct. 28): We no longer take our clothing seriously. It wasn’t always that way.
In the early 1950s, my father opened a men’s wear store in what was then a hardscrabble small town west of Toronto. His customers, largely factory workers and farmers, were practical, no-nonsense men who bought clothes to last, with not even a whiff of concern for fashion and style.
A suit with two pairs of pants from Henry’s was considered a wise purchase, and a typical customer would eventually own two. “One to be married in and one to be buried in” was his unofficial business model.
According to my father, a practical, no-nonsense widow would occasionally ask, “What does a dead man need an extra pair of pants for?”
“Folded nicely, they’d make a wonderful pillow” he would earnestly reply.
Who could argue with that?
Farley Helfant Toronto
Re “Conspicuous consumption” (Letters, Oct. 30): To the letter-writer who advocates “for a mass reduction of our consumption of goods and services,” I say thank you. Finally, someone points out the elephant in the room.
Now let’s continue the conversation. Bring on the inevitable rebuttal from someone who suggests that chaos will ensue, capitalism will die and our RRSPs will be worthless. The more naysayers, the better.
As long as it keeps this important and inevitable conversation front and centre.
Richard Row Toronto
More to give
Re “AI guru and Nobel winner Geoffrey Hinton donates half of prize money to clean-water charity for Indigenous peoples” (Report on Business, Oct. 30): Geoffrey Hinton is to be commended for donating half of his prize money to Water First.
Everyone deserves clean drinking water. Significant progress has been made, but we still can’t say that all Canadians have safe drinking water.
Let’s build on Mr. Hinton’s donation. Heck, there is one Premier in Canada who wants to give everyone a $200 pre-election gift (”Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces $200 tax-free rebate cheques” – Oct. 30).
If we don’t need it, Water First does.
Sally Plumb Toronto
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